Friends who often have health check-ups in the winter may find that their blood pressure, blood lipids, blood sugar, and other indicators are often higher than usual. This is actually related to the climatic characteristics and dietary preferences of winter. The cold weather in winter causes blood vessels to constrict, leading to an increase in blood pressure. People's diets in winter tend to be high in calories and fat, and rich, greasy food is one of the important reasons for high blood lipids.
White-collar workers' winter health: Eat more of the "Three Winters"—Winter Sugarcane
After entering winter, many office workers often feel dizzy, drowsy, and have reduced reaction ability. At this time, eating fruits that promote fluid production, quench thirst, and moisten the throat can help alleviate these discomforts.
Experts suggest that office workers might consider eating some sugarcane in the winter. It not only nourishes the blood and moistens dryness but also has the effect of refreshing the mind. Traditional Chinese Medicine classifies sugarcane as a "tonic medicine" because it has special effects of clearing heat, promoting fluid production, regulating qi, moistening dryness, and nourishing the lungs and stomach. The "Shi Liao Ben Cao" (Materia Medica for Diet Therapy) records that sugarcane "mainly supplements qi and also regulates qi." The "Sui Xi Ju Yin Shi Pu" (Dietary Manual for Daily Living) states that sugarcane can "benefit the throat, strengthen muscles and bones, calm wind and nourish blood, and greatly supplement the spleen yin." Sugarcane also contains a large amount of essential trace elements for the human body, such as iron, calcium, phosphorus, manganese, and zinc. Its iron content is particularly high, earning it the reputation of a "blood-nourishing fruit."
White-collar workers' winter health: Eat more of the "Three Winters"—Winter Jujube
Winter jujubes are currently at their peak season. Some unscrupulous vendors, in order to make more profit, purchase green jujubes and simply blanch them in hot water at seventy to eighty degrees Celsius. After drying, the green jujubes will gradually turn red. Furthermore, the blanched jujubes are soaked in a solution containing saccharin and sodium saccharin, which makes them sweeter, crispier, and increases their weight. Normally sold winter jujubes have a red patch on the sun-facing side of the skin, which eventually turns completely red. The color is reddish-brown, and the uncolored underside of the skin is milky white, with a shiny surface.
White-collar workers' winter health: Eat more of the "Three Winters"—Winter Melon
Friends who experience the above-mentioned conditions might consider eating some winter melon in the winter. Winter melon is very high in dietary fiber, containing about 0.9g per 100g. Foods high in dietary fiber are effective for improving blood sugar levels; a person's blood sugar index is negatively correlated with the dietary fiber content in food. In addition, dietary fiber can also lower cholesterol in the body, reduce blood lipids, and prevent arteriosclerosis. Both potassium and sodium affect blood pressure. Reducing sodium salt intake and moderately supplementing potassium is a good way to control high blood pressure. Winter melon is high in potassium and low in sodium, making it an excellent therapeutic food for patients with high blood pressure.