The autumn climate is dry, and for those who love spicy food, issues like excessive internal heat, constipation, and a sore throat may arise. How can they stay more nourished and moist?
Garlic and Shrimp with Loofah in a Pot
Autumn diet should focus on strengthening the spleen, nourishing the liver, and clearing the lungs. It is best to eat more foods that are clear, moistening, sweet, and sour, as the saying goes, "reduce pungency and increase sourness." It is best to eat less spicy food, but if you have a habit of eating spicy food, you can try to regulate it through the following methods.
Pair with cooling ingredients. Since chili peppers are warm and heating, when cooking spicy dishes, it is best to choose foods that have the effects of nourishing yin, reducing dryness, and purging heat, such as duck, shrimp, crucian carp, lean meat, bitter herbs, bitter melon, loofah, cucumber, lily, pagoda tree flowers, toon sprouts, and turnip. These foods have the effects of clearing heat, reducing fire, and detoxifying, and are especially suitable for people with a "heaty" constitution.
Eat some sour fruits. Some sour fruits and vegetables contain tannins, organic acids, dietary fiber, and other substances that can stimulate the secretion of digestive fluids and accelerate gastrointestinal motility, helping people who often eat spicy food to nourish yin and moisten dryness. Among fruits, hawthorn contains the most types of acidic substances. It can stimulate the secretion of various digestive enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract, aid digestion, and prevent fat accumulation. In addition, pomelo, pomegranate, and apple are also commonly eaten sour fruits in autumn.
Drink more water or soup. Eating spicy food during the dryness of autumn can easily lead to yin deficiency and internal heat, causing symptoms such as a dry throat, a lack of saliva in the mouth, chapped lips, nosebleeds, and constipation. At this time, it is essential to frequently replenish the body's water intake, and a small amount of salt can be added to the water. When making soup, you might consider choosing a hot and sour soup, which can promote the production of body fluids and moisten dryness.
Special attention should be paid to the cooking process: if chili peppers have already been added, do not add other heating ingredients like Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, or cinnamon, as this can easily lead to "adding heat to heat."