Modern nutritional research confirms that under low-temperature conditions, the human body's energy expenditure increases significantly. Therefore, the nutritional characteristics of a winter diet are: to increase caloric intake and ensure an adequate supply of energy corresponding to the cold exposure and labor intensity.
Eight Treasure Congee
In the deep winter season, the temperature drops sharply, and the cold is biting. The body's basal metabolism and all physiological activities require more energy to maintain themselves, thereby resisting the severe cold. At the same time, winter is the season of "storage," making nutrients entering the body easily absorbed and stored internally, preparing for the "spring growth and summer flourishing" of the following year. Therefore, winter diet should be rich and sufficiently nutritious with ample calories to adapt to the needs of natural climate changes.
Modern nutritional research confirms that under low-temperature conditions, the human body's energy expenditure increases significantly. Therefore, the nutritional characteristics of a winter diet are: to increase caloric intake and ensure an adequate supply of energy corresponding to the cold exposure and labor intensity. The appropriate proportion of thermogenic nutrients should be 13%-15% for protein, 25%-35% for fat, and 60%-70% for carbohydrates. This means that the protein supply should be limited to the required level at normal temperatures, and the increased caloric intake should be guaranteed by increasing the supply of carbohydrates and fats. The supply of inorganic salts should be kept slightly higher than the requirement at normal temperatures. For vitamin supply, special attention should be paid to increasing the requirement for Vitamin C. On a freezing winter day, sufficient animal foods and soybeans should be consumed to ensure a supply of high-quality protein, and fats should be moderately increased, with vegetable oils preferably accounting for more than half. Ensure an adequate supply of vegetables, fruits, and dairy products. If the above requirements can be met, one can resist the winter cold and maintain good health.
Winter is the best season for dietary nourishment. As the saying goes, "Nourish the body for one winter in the coldest days, and you will be free from illness the whole year." Foods that are high in heat production and have a warming nature mainly include mutton, dog meat, sparrow meat, venison, beef, chicken, shrimp, longan, and red dates. These are particularly beneficial for those with a naturally weak constitution and insufficient yang energy. To achieve "yin balance and yang harmony," it is also advisable to consume foods that nourish yin in winter, such as soft-shelled turtle, tortoise, duck, goose, lotus root, and wood ear fungus. This is especially true for some weak and sick middle-aged and elderly people with depleted vital essence, in order to seek a balance between yin and yang. "Black foods" can benefit the kidneys and strengthen the body, such as black rice, black beans, black sesame seeds, black dates, black fungus, black mushrooms, Silkie chicken, kelp, and seaweed. Consuming them in winter is very timely. In addition, many nuts such as walnuts, chestnuts, peanuts, pine nuts, and hazelnuts have the effect of nourishing both the body and the mind, and are also suitable for consumption in winter. In China, there are folk customs of eating red bean congee on the Winter Solstice, "Labazhou" (Eight Treasure Congee) on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, and "Eight Treasure Congee" on the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month. It is especially recommended to eat hot congee in winter. If the above-mentioned foods are cooked into the congee, it can dispel cold, provide nourishment, and even help cure diseases.
Winter is also a season with frequent festivals and holidays. Many families often fill their refrigerators and have a continuous supply of leftover food. It should be noted that a refrigerator is not a safe deposit box, and frequently eating leftovers is very harmful to health. Even in the severe winter, attention must be paid to food hygiene to prevent diseases from entering through the mouth, and to avoid "summer diseases occurring in winter." Because the salty flavor enters the kidneys and can make the kidney water colder, disturbing the heart's yang, salt intake should be reduced in winter. Raw, cold, and cool foods should be strictly avoided, so as not to "add frost to snow" and damage the body's yang energy.
Porridge