Cilantro is a commonly consumed spice-like vegetable that stimulates appetite and aids digestion. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) believes that cilantro expels all pathogenic qi and has the effect of warming the middle and strengthening the stomach. People with a cold constitution can appropriately eat cilantro to alleviate symptoms such as stomach cold pain, indigestion, and incomplete measles rash.
However, individuals who are prone to colds should avoid cilantro. This is because such people often have varying degrees of qi deficiency. Cilantro's pungent nature can disperse qi, and excessive or long-term consumption can deplete qi and damage the spirit, thereby triggering or worsening qi deficiency and leading to more frequent colds. In addition to recurrent colds, those with qi deficiency often experience discomforts such as excessive sweating, fatigue, and listlessness. Individuals with obvious qi deficiency symptoms should eat cilantro sparingly or not at all.
Postpartum individuals and those recovering from illness also often have a certain degree of qi deficiency, so they should also "keep their distance" from cilantro.
Although people who frequently catch colds should "draw a clear line" with cilantro, those who are strong, in good health, and only occasionally catch a cold can use it to treat colds. In clinical practice, TCM often uses pungent and warm herbs to release the exterior for treating wind-cold colds, and cilantro has exactly this effect. For wind-cold cold patients, you can take 9 grams of cilantro and 10 grams of scallion white, decoct them in water, add sugar for flavor, and then consume. In addition, people with a cold spleen and stomach can moderately eat cilantro to warm the stomach, dispel cold, aid digestion, and relieve stomach pain. You can make cilantro porridge by adding tangerine peel (to aid digestion and regulate qi) and ginger (to warm the stomach and dispel cold) while cooking the porridge, and sprinkle chopped cilantro just before serving.
People who suffer from stomach pain due to indigestion from greasy food can also ask cilantro to "help": take 50-100 grams of fresh cilantro, wash and pound it to extract the juice, and consume it to effectively relieve stomach pain.