"Spring gives birth, summer grows, autumn harvests, winter stores" is a maxim for many friends who pay attention to health preservation in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Generally speaking, whether your body will be healthy next year depends on how you spend this winter. Now is the prime time for "storing," so how should one "store"?
When it comes to "storing," people naturally think of "nourishing." "A bowl of Gu Yuan Gao in the morning and evening to nourish blood and Qi, and to strengthen the foundation and cultivate the original Qi" was probably the hottest saying in folk health preservation in 2009. Now, whether in pharmacies or shopping malls, all kinds of Gu Yuan Gao are on display, along with the basic ingredients for making it, such as Ejiao, black sesame seeds, walnuts, and red dates.
Gu Yuan Gao, according to legend, first originated from a folk secret recipe known as the "Concubine's Beauty Paste." Its formula, in addition to walnuts and Ejiao, also includes black sesame seeds, yellow wine, and rock sugar. It is said that this formula was created by Yang Guifei of the Tang Dynasty, and regular consumption can nourish the blood, moisturize the skin, and keep hair black. This formula has also been frequently recorded in books on medicinal diets.
As the name suggests, Gu Yuan Gao is meant to "fix the original Qi and prevent it from leaking away," making it a top-grade product for nourishing Yin and Yang. However, recently, among the patients I have seen, quite a few have over-nourished themselves. They ask, "Why is it that after a major bout of nourishing, my appetite has worsened, my bowel movements are not good, and I always feel very weak?" What they don't realize is that when the body lacks sufficient original Qi, eating more Gu Yuan Gao or Snow蛤 (Lin Chi) won't help "fix" anything.
I have always believed that "our bodies are not comparable to those of people over a thousand years ago." In today's society, the vast majority of people have weak spleens and stomachs, which falls under the category of deficiency syndromes. Only one in ten thousand people finds supplements like Gu Yuan Gao effective, such as those who are obese and have heavy phlegm-dampness. Others may experience varying degrees of side effects. The principle of Traditional Chinese Medicine in regulating the body is: do not nourish when there is deficiency, and do not drain when there is excess. Why? If a person's Qi and blood are weak, excessive nourishment is too much for the weak body to accept. It's like forcing someone who is extremely fatigued to exercise, which is bound to be life-threatening. As for not draining when there is excess, it is because draining a healthy body will greatly harm its original Qi and easily lead to collapse.
Gu Yuan Gao is a good thing, but after all, it is not a food. Therefore, everyone must consume it under proper guidance. It is recommended that before taking Gu Yuan Gao, one should consult a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner to adjust the recipe based on the user's constitution, to determine the right amount for the best effect.
Finally, to prevent intolerance reactions after nourishing, it is best to start with a "leading nourishment" first. For example, drink a soup of lamb, ginger, and red dates, and eat more vegetables and fruits to regulate the spleen and stomach functions. After this leading nourishment, taking the tonic naturally won't lead to the situation of "deficiency not accepting nourishment." At the same time, maintain sufficient sleep, get appropriate outdoor exercise, and don't forget to keep your mind calm. By adhering to these small points, the work of "storing" for the winter will be worry-free.