As the Start of Winter has passed, and heating has begun in northern regions, the dry indoor air often leaves people with rough skin, chapped lips, a dry mouth and tongue, and a feeling of weakness and fatigue... These are all signs from your body that it needs more water. At this time, some people may drink large amounts of water, but dryness harms the body's fluids. Whatever water is consumed is quickly expelled, so drinking plain water is not very effective. In fact, we can replenish the body's "water" through our diet to keep it hydrated. Besides drinking water, it's also important to eat more fruits and vegetables.
Professor Yang Li from Xiyuan Hospital of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences explains that during autumn and winter, dryness depletes the body's fluids, and much of the water consumed is excreted through urine. At this time, dryness can lead to internal "heat." It's a good idea to eat more fruits and vegetables, which can help retain moisture and nourish the yin to moisten dryness.
In fact, if you look at a nutritional chart, you'll see that vegetables and fruits generally contain over 70% water. Even if you only eat 500 grams of fruits and vegetables in a day, you can still get 300-400 milliliters of water. Furthermore, a balanced diet includes both solid and liquid foods, making it not difficult to get 1500-2000 milliliters of water from your three daily meals. Therefore, you should take full advantage of meal times to hydrate. Besides drinking water, choosing fruits, vegetables, and unsalty soups or porridge can also be very effective for hydration.
So, which foods are most hydrating? In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the method to relieve dryness and heat is moistening. According to the Five Elements and Colors theory, it's beneficial to eat more "white foods." When cooking, you can choose white radish, cabbage, winter melon, lily bulb, tremella, lotus root, or lotus seeds. Among these, the two "common vegetables," cabbage and radish, are the most effective and can be considered the most economical and affordable nourishing foods. The "Compendium of Materia Medica" praises the radish as "the most beneficial of all vegetables." White radish is rich in various vitamins and minerals, with its vitamin C content being 8-10 times higher than that of pears and apples. Cabbage is rich in vitamins C and E, which can prevent dry skin caused by dryness and heat, and its fiber can promote intestinal peristalsis to prevent constipation caused by internal heat. However, people with a cold and weak digestive system should eat less of these in winter. As for fruits, pears are the "king of hydration." They not only increase water intake but also help supplement vitamins.
In terms of cooking methods, you can use the ingredients above to make juicy, liquid-based foods. For example, snow pear soup, made by boiling snow pears, tremella, and lily bulbs together with some lotus root starch, has the effects of clearing heat, generating fluids, resolving phlegm, and moistening the lungs. A lily bulb, lotus seed, millet, and red date porridge has the functions of nourishing yin to moisten dryness, nourishing the lungs and heart, and strengthening the spleen to generate fluids, making it suitable for consumption in the dry autumn. Additionally, you can make winter melon soup, lotus root soup, white radish and peanut soup, or Chinese cabbage soup.
Yang Li also reminds that it's best to drink a glass of honey water upon waking in the morning, or add some honey to your breakfast soy milk or milk. This can effectively relieve symptoms of dry, under-oiled skin and internal heat and dryness during winter. Eat more sour foods and less salt.
Winter hydration should also pay attention to two points. First, reduce spicy foods and increase sour ones. Professor Li Peiwen from the China-Japan Friendship Hospital explains that the diet should focus on strengthening the spleen, nourishing the liver, and clearing the lungs. It's recommended to eat more clear, moist, and sour fruits like hawthorn, pomelo, pomegranate, and apple. Because they contain tannins, organic acids, and fiber, they can stimulate digestive juice secretion and accelerate gastrointestinal motility, thus moistening yin and relieving dryness. Additionally, eat less spicy food such as green onions, ginger, garlic, chili peppers, and pepper, to avoid adding fuel to the fire and worsening lung dryness symptoms.
Second, eat less salt. Pharyngitis is often triggered by inflammation, heat, and dryness. The body's resistance is weaker in autumn and winter, making it more prone to recurrent attacks. At this time, you should check if your home cooking is too salty. If the salt content in your food is too high, it can reduce saliva secretion, which is favorable for various bacteria to survive in the upper respiratory tract. A high-salt diet can also reduce the mucous membrane's ability to resist disease, allowing various bacteria and viruses to take the opportunity to invade and induce pharyngitis. Furthermore, eat less roasted and salted snacks like melon seeds and peanuts, as these salty and dry foods are also major enemies of the throat.