As autumn arrives, the weather becomes cool and pleasant, temperatures drop, and people's appetite gradually increases, with improved digestion. It's an ideal season to make up for the nutritional deficiencies caused by the summer heat. At the same time, it is the harvest season, with a wide variety of fatty and delicious meats, as well as abundant vegetables and fruits. This makes it the best time to plan for autumn nourishment. However, if not managed properly, it can easily lead to nutritional excess or improper diet that harms the body. Therefore, autumn diet requires attention to eating seasonal foods. Here are nine dos and don'ts for autumn eating.
Do - Tremella
Tremella has the effect of enhancing human cellular and humoral immunity. It can also counteract the decrease in immune function caused by radiotherapy and chemotherapy in cancer patients and inhibit the growth of tumor cells. Eating more tremella in autumn can prevent dry skin.
Don't - Rich and Greasy Foods
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) believes that autumn is associated with lung qi, and the lungs govern pungent flavors. Excess lung qi can often lead to liver qi depression. Autumn dryness easily damages body fluids. Therefore, the diet should focus on preventing dryness, nourishing yin, and moistening the lungs, and it is advisable to avoid rich and greasy foods.
Do - Apples
The vitamin C in apples is a protector of the cardiovascular system and a healthy element for heart patients.
TCM believes that apples have the effects of promoting saliva to quench thirst, moistening the lungs to relieve restlessness, strengthening the spleen and benefiting the stomach, nourishing the heart and replenishing qi, moistening the intestines, stopping diarrhea, relieving summer heat, and sobering up.
Apples are rich in nutrients such as dietary fiber pectin, sugars, vitamins, and minerals, all of which are very beneficial to health. For example, pectin and dietary fiber not only promote bowel movements but also help lower blood sugar, reduce blood lipids, and clear internal waste and toxins.
Eating more apples in autumn can help eliminate fatigue, moisten the lungs and nourish yin, and is also beneficial for preventing colds and other illnesses.
Don't - Strong Tea and Coffee
In autumn, it's easy to have internal heat and "fire," leading to symptoms like a dry mouth, throat, and even a sore throat. During this season, it's best to drink less strong tea and coffee because the theophylline and caffeine in them have a diuretic effect, accelerating the loss of body fluids and worsening symptoms of internal heat and "fire."
Drinking too much strong tea and coffee can lead to excessive caffeine intake, over-exciting the nervous system and causing symptoms like palpitations and a rapid heartbeat.
Do - Honey
Honey contains a large amount of amino acids, vitamins, and sugars that are easily absorbed by the body, making it an excellent skin care product. It can strengthen the body, improve intelligence, increase hemoglobin, and improve heart function. Consuming more honey in autumn can promote digestion, prevent the harm of "autumn dryness" to the body, moisten the lungs, and achieve the effect of detoxifying and nourishing the skin.
Experts suggest drinking some salt water during the day and honey water at night, which is a good way to replenish the body's fluids and an excellent dietary method for autumn health preservation and anti-aging.
Don't - Spicy Foods
"Reduce pungent flavors and increase sour ones" is a principle of TCM nutritional therapy for autumn. Reducing pungent flavors means eating less spicy food because the lungs belong to the element Metal, which corresponds to autumn. Lung qi is abundant in autumn, and eating less pungent food prevents lung qi from becoming excessive. Autumn is characterized by high, clear skies, dry air, and low humidity, making people prone to a dry throat and cough. This is caused by the pathogenic dryness injuring the lungs. At this time, one should eat less spicy and pungent food such as onions, ginger, chili, and pepper to prevent them from generating heat and worsening lung dryness.
Do - Lily Bulb
In autumn, the air is dry and windy. Under these conditions, the body's sweat evaporates quickly, easily leading to a significant loss of body fluids, which is known as "pathogenic dryness injuring the body, easily damaging body fluids." Lily bulb is sweet and slightly cool, affecting the heart and lung meridians. It has the effects of moistening the lungs to stop coughing, clearing the heart to calm the spirit, and is effective in preventing and treating autumn dryness.
Don't - Fried Foods
Fried foods like fried chicken legs and fried quail are difficult to digest after being consumed in autumn and can easily accumulate in the stomach and intestines. Coupled with weaker digestive function, eating greasy and fried foods can increase internal heat and stagnation, making it difficult for the body to adapt to the dry nature of autumn.
Do - Carrots
Also known as "little ginseng," carrots are rich in vitamins A, C, and carotene. They have the effect of tonifying the spleen and strengthening the stomach, and nourishing the liver to improve vision. The carotene and vitamin A in carrots are fat-soluble substances and can only be absorbed by the body with the help of oils. In the dry season, eating carrots can enhance the skin's resistance to damage and has a moisturizing effect.
Don't - Aquatic Plants
Most aquatic plants mature in autumn, but this is also when they contain the most metacercariae. Eating raw aquatic plants like water chestnuts, water bamboo, and water caltrops at this time can easily lead to infection with the liver fluke. The liver fluke is a type of trematode that parasitizes in the human body, usually in the small intestine. It firmly attaches to the intestinal wall using suckers, easily causing inflammation, bleeding, edema, ulcers, diarrhea, and loss of appetite in the intestinal mucosa.
Do - Brown Rice
Although polished white rice is white and fine, it is heavily processed. During milling, the germ, aleurone layer, and bran are all ground away. Brown rice retains more comprehensive nutrition and a higher amount of vitamins. Regularly consuming brown rice in autumn can prevent arteriosclerosis, improve memory, and eliminate feelings of anxiety and restlessness.
Don't - Greasy Foods
Greasy foods contain a lot of calories and are difficult to digest. They can also hinder the absorption of nutrients. For autumn stomach care, it is best to eat less or no greasy foods.
Do - Eggplant
Eggplant is not only an inexpensive and popular vegetable but also an excellent therapeutic food. TCM believes that eggplant is cool in nature and sweet in taste. It has functions such as clearing heat to stop bleeding, reducing swelling and relieving pain, expelling wind to unblock the meridians, and relaxing the bowels to promote qi. Eating eggplant after the Start of Autumn can reduce "fire" and alleviate autumn dryness.
Don't - Ginger
"Within a year, do not eat ginger in autumn; within a day, do not eat ginger at night." It is best to eat less ginger in autumn. Because the autumn climate is dry, the pathogenic dryness injures the lungs. Eating pungent ginger on top of that can more easily harm the lungs and worsen body dehydration and dryness.
Do - Lotus Root
Lotus root can be eaten as a fruit or as a delicacy, and it is suitable for both raw and cooked consumption. Whether raw or cooked, lotus root has significant medicinal value. TCM believes that raw lotus root is cold in nature, sweet and cool, and enters the stomach meridian. It can eliminate stasis and cool the blood, clear vexation and heat, and stop vomiting and thirst. There is a folk saying, "Freshly picked tender lotus root is better than a good doctor." Eating lotus root in autumn can nourish yin to moisten dryness and calm the mind.
Don't - Barbecue
Barbecue is generally made with chicken, beef, or lamb, grilled over an open flame or in a microwave. These foods are warm in nature and require more saliva for digestion. Eating them can easily cause "fire" and worsen the symptoms of autumn dryness.
Do - Red Beans
Red beans have high medicinal value and good health benefits. Eating red beans in autumn can promote health because in most parts of China, the temperature remains high and the air is humid for a long time after the Start of Autumn. In such climatic conditions, replenishing the body requires first regulating the spleen and stomach. Regulating the spleen and stomach should focus on clearing heat, promoting urination to remove dampness, and strengthening the spleen. Red beans have exactly these functions, allowing the body's damp-heat pathogen to be expelled in a timely manner, promoting the recovery of spleen and stomach function. At the same time, red beans also have a good blood-nourishing effect, laying the foundation for autumn and winter nourishment.
Don't - Cold Fruits
The saying "Autumn melons harm the stomach" refers to the fact that eating large quantities of raw melons after the Start of Autumn can easily cause gastrointestinal diseases. Watermelon, pear, and grape are themselves cool in nature. After the Start of Autumn, the gastrointestinal tract's adaptability to cold foods decreases. Therefore, cold fruits should be eaten less after the Start of Autumn. Especially frozen watermelon should not be eaten as heartily as in the height of summer, as it can easily damage the spleen and stomach and lead to other diseases.