In autumn, the weather is crisp and clear, the air is dry, and the humidity is low, making people prone to symptoms like a sore throat and dry cough. This phenomenon is caused by the pathogenic dryness injuring the lungs. At this time, one should eat less pungent and spicy foods, such as onions, ginger, chili peppers, and pepper, to prevent these pungent and warm foods from adding heat and worsening lung dryness symptoms. For autumn health preservation, it is important to eat less pungent food and more sour food, so eating more vinegar is essential. Honey is an excellent product for autumn beauty and skincare, so the key to autumn health preservation is to "strive for bees" and "eat vinegar".
Honey Moisturizes Dryness
The Ming Dynasty pharmacologist Li Shizhen recorded in "Compendium of Materia Medica" that "honey has six functions: when raw, its nature is cool, thus it can clear heat; when heated, its nature is warm, thus it can tonify the middle; it is sweet and mild, thus it can detoxify; it is soft and moistening, thus it can moisten dryness; its slow nature can alleviate urgency, thus it can stop pain in the heart and abdomen."
Modern nutritional research shows that honey is extremely nutritious. Its main components not only include monosaccharides like glucose and fructose, but also contain 16 amino acids such as alanine, phenylalanine, glutamine, asparagine, and histidine. Honey is also rich in minerals, mainly phosphorus, copper, iron, magnesium, nickel, and more. Furthermore, the body's metabolic process relies on the help of various enzymes, and honey contains multiple types of enzymes such as sucrase, amylase, glucose invertase, and catalase.
Ancient Chinese medical practitioners advocated "salty water in the morning, honey soup at night." The best time to consume honey is at the beginning of autumn, when the dry qi prevails. Because in autumn, the body's internal dryness often leads to symptoms of pathogenic dryness injuring body fluids, such as a dry throat, thirst, sore throat, hoarseness, dry cough without phlegm, dry and cracked skin, and constipation. According to the principle of "dryness should be moistened," this is the best time to consume honey for health preservation. And honey's functions of being sweet,缓和 (moderating), harmonizing the middle, moistening the lungs to stop coughs, and moisturizing the skin are precisely the perfect remedies. The reason honey has nourishing and skin-moistening effects is that the various nutrients in honey can stimulate cell growth, promote metabolism, and improve the skin's nutritional condition. Because honey contains substances that can kill bacteria "eliminating bacteria on the body surface," it can reduce facial pigmentation and promote local tissue regeneration. Therefore, it has a good therapeutic effect on acne, dermatitis, chapped hands and feet, dry skin, and a dull complexion.
Honey also contains various vitamins necessary for maintaining human health, enhancing immune function, and preventing cardiovascular diseases, such as vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin C, folic acid, and niacin. The monosaccharides in honey can be absorbed by the body without digestion, making it especially suitable for the elderly whose digestive systems have weakened and metabolic functions have declined. For example, for elderly people with high blood pressure, drinking a glass of honey water in the morning and evening is very beneficial because honey contains potassium, which has the function of excreting sodium after entering the body, helping to maintain the balance of electrolytes in the blood. For arteriosclerosis, eating honey often has the effects of protecting blood vessels, promoting bowel movements, and lowering blood pressure. For example, honey-soaked loquat can relieve coughs. Loquat and honey mainly relieve coughs by moistening the lungs, and they are more suitable for treating coughs that are of a hot or dry nature, applicable to chronic coughs and the later stages of cough treatment. They are not suitable for wind-cold coughs or acute coughs. Honey covering the throat mucosa helps to reduce the irritation of inflammation on the mucosa, alleviating cough symptoms. Therefore, for patients with chronic hepatitis or poor liver function, eating honey often can improve liver function. For patients with tuberculosis and chronic coughs from deficiency, honey is a good natural nutrient that can enhance physical fitness.
Honey Bitter Melon
Eating Vinegar Promotes Fat Conversion
Vinegar is also known as "bitter wine." Since ancient times, it has been an important traditional Chinese medicine, and its health-preserving functions have long been known to people. Medical scholars of past dynasties have accumulated much experience in using vinegar for treatment and health preservation.
Research has found that as long as a person drinks 20 ml of vinegar daily, cholesterol will decrease by an average of 9%, neutral fat will decrease by 11%, and blood viscosity will also decrease. Peanuts contain 40% to 50% fat, which is twice that of soybeans and higher than rapeseed. Their protein content is 30%, which is more than twice that of wheat. The combination of the two is very helpful to the body.
There are many examples of using vinegar for beauty both in ancient and modern times, China and abroad. Legend has it that the Tang Dynasty Empress Wu Zetian always drank a small cup of Hubei Laokou double-head vinegar with every meal in her imperial dining. Wu Zetian was outstanding in appearance from a young age, and even in her old age, she still retained her charm with a ruddy complexion. Persistently eating vinegar throughout her life was one of the important reasons for her lifelong health and beauty. The amino acids in vinegar can not only promote the conversion of excess fat in the human body into energy consumption but also ensure the smooth metabolism of ingested sugars and proteins, thus having a good weight-loss effect. Furthermore, compounds in vinegar such as acetic acid, lactic acid, amino acids, glycerin, and aldehydes have a mild stimulating effect on human skin, causing blood vessels to dilate, increasing skin blood circulation, and making the skin glossy and ruddy. For example, if the ratio of soybeans to vinegar is 1:2, stir-fry the soybeans, put them in a bottle, pour in vinegar to soak, seal tightly, and place in a cool, ventilated, and dry place. It can be eaten after 1 week. Take 15 to 30 grains at a time, 3 times a day, chew and take. Because vinegar-soaked soybeans contain phospholipids and various amino acids, they are effective in reducing facial pigmentation.
Eating vinegar can remove grease. The taste of vinegar can stimulate the receptors in the nose and oral mucosa, which is transmitted back to the digestive system and the whole body through nerves, increasing appetite and aiding digestion. However, vinegar should be consumed in moderation, and patients with stomach ulcers and excessive stomach acid should be especially careful. Because vinegar is acidic after all, it can not only corrode the gastrointestinal mucosa but also promote the digestive organs to secrete a large amount of digestive fluid, increasing stomach acid and worsening ulcers. In addition, eating vinegar often has the effect of enhancing digestive function and protecting the liver, but it is important to know when to stop. Eating too much can damage the liver.