To prevent diarrhea, the first thing to pay attention to is keeping warm. Some people like to eat cold dishes and pair them with cold drinks, resulting in an uncontrollable bowel movement, which is a sign of catching a chill.
Chinese people call cold dishes "food to go with alcohol," with the purpose of using the cool nature of the dishes to balance the hot nature of alcohol. However, for those who don't drink, or who drink iced beer, eating cold dishes every day, how can they not be affected by the cold? Therefore, we should be careful not to over-consume cold and raw foods, and should also eat more dampness-eliminating foods, such as carp, red beans, daylilies, lettuce, and winter melon. These foods can help expel dampness through urination and bowel movements.
Of course, if you can use medicinal diets to assist in the treatment, the effect will be even more significant. Common ones include "Angelica and Ginger Lamb Soup" and "Carp and Red Bean Soup." Here, I will introduce another medicinal diet recorded in "Bingbu Shouji Fang" by the Tang Dynasty physician Li Jiang. This is the Ginger and Jujube Congee. Don't be fooled by its simple preparation; it has a very good effect on summer diarrhea.
First, prepare 15 grams of ginger, peeled and shredded. Then take 100 grams of japonica rice, wash it clean. Put the rice in a pot, add 1000 ml of water and bring to a boil. Then add the shredded ginger, 5 pitted red dates, and simmer over low heat until it becomes a congee. It can be eaten warm twice daily, in the morning and evening.
In this congee, ginger is an excellent remedy for warming the stomach and dispelling cold. It acts on the lungs to stimulate the appetite and can remove cold from the abdomen. Red dates are the fruit of the spleen and are one of the ideal foods for those with a weak spleen. Traditional Chinese medicine often uses them to treat symptoms such as emaciation, weakness, poor appetite, and loose stools caused by a weak spleen. The combination of the two indeed has an ideal effect of warming the lungs, stomach, and dispelling cold.
It should be noted that people with yin deficiency and internal heat, who have symptoms such as emaciation, a reddish complexion, dry mouth and tongue, and excessive thirst that is not quenched by drinking water, are not suitable for eating this congee.