Eat less sour and more sweet for a healthy spring diet.

For spring health preservation, the most direct and effective method is dietary therapy. The diet during this season should focus on sweet and warm foods, avoiding greasy, raw, cold, and irritating foods. Therefore, the three major principles of spring dietary therapy are: "nourishing Yang, reducing sourness and increasing sweetness, and consuming more vegetables and fruits."

I. Nourishing and Supplementing Yang

1. For staple foods, try to choose high-calorie options. In addition to rice, flour, and coarse grains, you can moderately add high-calorie foods like beans and peanuts.

2. Ensure a daily adequate intake of high-quality protein, such as from dairy, eggs, fish, poultry, and lean pork, beef, or lamb.

3. Ensure sufficient vitamin intake. Vegetables and fruits are rich in vitamins. For instance, tomatoes and green peppers contain a high amount of vitamin C, which is crucial for strengthening the body and resisting disease.

Chinese Jujube and Chinese Yam Porridge

II. Reducing Sourness, Increasing Sweetness

For spring dietary conditioning, it is advisable to choose pungent, sweet, and warm foods, and avoid sour and astringent ones. The diet should be light and palatable, avoiding greasy, raw, cold, and irritating foods. Foods that nourish the spleen in spring include: Chinese yam and jujube porridge, lily porridge, sweet potato porridge, mushrooms, rabbit meat, beef and mutton, eel, radish, soybeans, and seaweed.

III. Eat as Many Fresh Vegetables and Fruits as Possible

Fresh vegetables such as bok choy, rape, bell peppers, and tomatoes, and fruits such as citrus and lemons are rich in vitamin C and have antiviral effects. Yellow-green vegetables like carrots and amaranth are rich in vitamin A, which helps protect and strengthen the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract and the epithelial cells of respiratory organs. Cabbage and cauliflower are rich in vitamin E, which can effectively improve the human immune system and enhance the body's ability to resist disease. For spring dietary therapy, you should aim for at least four different vegetables and two different fruits daily.