During the "south-back" weather, everyone hopes for the sun. When the sun comes out, seize the opportunity to bask in the sun, dry your towels and bedding, and use UV rays to keep your mood, body, and environment from getting "moldy." This is also a great way to remove dampness.
Less food: Shrimp, crab, mango, durian and other damp-heat and greasy foods.
More food: Hyacinth bean, corn, carp, crucian carp, fox nut and other dampness-removing foods.
The early spring "south-back" weather arrives in full force. The floors and walls are covered in "tears," leaving a damp and unpleasant feeling, and a chill in your feet. In a damp environment, a person can also suffer internal harm and become a "damp person," showing symptoms of "excessive dampness" such as body fatigue, chest tightness, diarrhea, and poor appetite. "Damp people" are also prone to eczema and joint pain. Even more unpredictable is that dampness can lie dormant in the body for a long time and, when conditions are right, it will emerge to cause trouble, triggering chronic illnesses to flare up again.
The "south-back" weather is humid and hot, which in Traditional Chinese Medicine is considered "dampness evil," which can invade the body through the skin. In fact, not only during the "south-back" period, this type of hot and humid weather is common in the Lingnan region. Therefore, the diet of Guangzhou people has many taboos; for instance, they avoid spicy food for fear of "internal heat," which is related to this climatic characteristic. When in Rome, do as the Romans do; "damp people" really should be picky with their food to remove dampness.
Don't be a "damp person"
Eat less tropical fruit, and eat more dampness-removing corn.
The so-called "dampness-evil foods" refer to foods that, after being eaten, cause "internal dampness" in a person, leading to various discomforts such as bloating and pain, a bitter taste in the mouth, poor appetite, and heavy limbs. Many tropical-specific fruits like jackfruit, durian, and mango are considered dampness-promoting foods. During the "south-back" period when dampness is heavy, it's not advisable to eat too much of them, especially when you clearly feel the discomfort caused by the environmental dampness. Seafood like shrimp and crab also promotes dampness. If you want to satisfy a craving, don't eat it at this time; it's better to use aquatic products with dampness-removing effects like carp and crucian carp as substitutes.
During the "south-back" weather, everyone hopes for the sun. When the sun comes out, seize the opportunity to bask in the sun, dry your towels and bedding, and use UV rays to keep your mood, body, and environment from getting "moldy." This is also a great way to remove dampness.
Moisture-proofing Mistake: Eating ginger to drive away dampness?
When the weather is humid, some people believe they should expel internal dampness by eating spicy foods, increasing things like ginger, garlic, and chili in their diet. This is wrong.
Dispelling cold is not the same as removing dampness. The corn, hyacinth beans, Job's tears, and fox nuts recommended above can remove dampness relatively mildly and are suitable for people of any constitution. The hot and humid climate in the Lingnan region is predominant, so regardless of whether it's the "south-back" season, these ingredients can be added to meals. However, choosing warming and nourishing foods like ginger and garlic depends on your individual constitution. If you have a "cold constitution" and often suffer from diarrhea and aversion to cold, you can eat more of them to achieve the effect of both removing dampness and dispelling cold. If you have a "hot constitution" with a lot of "internal heat," eating "heat-inducing" foods will instead increase the dampness evil in your body. In addition to choosing the neutral-natured foods mentioned above, you can also drink soup made with Smilax glabra, a "cooling soup" that achieves the purpose of removing dampness.