Spring is a season of growth and renewal. As written in the *Huangdi Neijing - Suwen*: "In the first three months of spring, all things are born and flourish. Heaven and Earth are both giving birth, and all things prosper."
In the early spring, the temperature is still quite cold, and the body consumes a certain amount of energy to maintain its basic functions to keep warm. Therefore, the nutritional composition in early spring should be based on high-calorie foods. In addition to grains, foods such as soybeans, sesame seeds, peanuts, and walnuts should be chosen to replenish energy in a timely manner. The stimulation of cold can accelerate the breakdown of protein in the body, leading to a decrease in resistance and illness. Therefore, during early spring, it is also necessary to supplement with high-quality protein foods, such as eggs, fish, shrimp, beef, chicken, rabbit meat, and soy products. These foods are rich in methionine, which has the function of enhancing the body's cold tolerance.
Spring is also the season when the climate transitions from cold to warm, with significant temperature fluctuations. Bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms begin to re-emerge and become more active, easily invading the body and causing disease. Therefore, the diet should include sufficient vitamins and inorganic salts. Fresh vegetables like bok choy, rapeseed, bell peppers, and tomatoes, and fruits like citrus and lemons are rich in vitamin C, which has antiviral effects. Yellow-green vegetables like carrots and amaranth are rich in vitamin A, which can protect and enhance the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract and the epithelial cells of the respiratory organs, thereby resisting various pathogenic factors. Foods rich in vitamin E should also be consumed to improve the body's immune function and enhance its disease resistance. These foods include sesame seeds, green cabbage, and cauliflower.
Traditional Chinese medicine also believes that "in spring, one should reduce sour foods and increase sweet ones to nourish the spleen." This is because spring is a time when liver energy flourishes, and when liver energy is excessive, it affects the spleen, making one prone to a weak spleen and stomach. Eating more sour foods can cause liver function to become overactive. Therefore, for dietary conditioning in spring, 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. In addition, spring is the off-season for vegetables, but wild vegetables and mountain greens grow earlier than ordinary vegetables and are rich in vitamins. They can be picked and eaten to supplement the lack of common vegetables.
How to use diet for nourishment in spring
Traditional Chinese medicine holds that for health preservation in spring, "one needs to nourish with food." However, it is essential to choose foods that are gently nourishing or clearing in nature according to the body's gradually rising yang energy in spring, to avoid the opposite effect.
Nutritionists believe that the following groups of people are suitable for nourishment in spring: middle-aged and elderly people with signs of premature aging; those suffering from various chronic diseases who are thin and weak; those with sore waist, dizziness, sallow complexion, and listlessness; those who are prone to repeated colds due to climate changes in spring; those who have a history of asthma attacks in spring but are currently asymptomatic; and those who have summer low-grade fever. Anyone in the above situations can use this season, according to their individual constitution and condition, to choose appropriate food-based nourishment methods to prevent and treat diseases.
For the elderly or those with the above conditions, a gently nourishing diet can be adopted. Foods with this effect include grains like buckwheat and Job's tears, beans like soy milk and red beans, fruits like oranges (including kumquats) and apples, and seeds like sesame and walnuts, which can be taken long-term. They can also be chosen by those with yin deficiency, yang deficiency, qi deficiency, or blood deficiency.
If the elderly have yin deficiency with internal heat, a clearing method can be used first. These foods include pears, lotus root, shepherd's purse, lily, soft-shelled turtle, and river snails. These foods are cool in nature and have the effect of clearing heat and purging fire after consumption, which helps to improve a poor constitution.
For the elderly who are ill or in the recovery period, the diet should generally be cool, light, tasty, and easy to digest. Foods such as rice porridge, Job's tears porridge, red bean porridge, lotus seed porridge, vegetable puree, and meat floss can be chosen. It is crucial to avoid overly sweet, fried, raw, cold, and indigestible foods to prevent damage to gastrointestinal function.
Dietary prevention and treatment of spring diseases
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that "when all grasses sprout, all illnesses flare up," meaning that old diseases are prone to relapse in spring. Due to the warm and windy weather in spring, it is suitable for the breeding and transmission of bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms. Therefore, there are many cases of external illnesses (exogenous diseases) in spring. This should receive special attention, especially for the elderly with weak constitutions.
It is a fact that in spring, people with liver yang rising are particularly prone to headaches and dizziness. This is the reason why traditional Chinese medicine has long pointed out that "in spring, all diseases are in the head." Modern medicine has also found that climate changes in spring can easily lead to high blood pressure, causing symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, and insomnia. The dietary prevention and treatment method is to eat 250 to 500 grams of bananas or oranges daily; or use 100 grams of banana peel, decocted in water to make a tea, to be drunk frequently. This is because bananas contain potassium ions that can lower blood pressure. In addition, regularly consuming foods rich in potassium, such as lemons, pears, and mung beans, is also beneficial for preventing and treating high blood pressure. You can also decoct 500 grams of celery in water, add an appropriate amount of sugar, and drink it as a tea; or decoct 250 grams of celery with 10 red dates and drink it as a tea; or soak peanuts in vinegar for 5 days and eat 10 pieces on an empty stomach each morning, all of which have good blood pressure-lowering effects.
Gastric and duodenal ulcers also tend to flare up in spring. The diet should avoid consuming broths rich in creatine and purine bases, such as rabbit meat soup, chicken soup, fish soup, and beef soup, as well as spinach, beans, animal organs, and irritating condiments. This is because the above foods strongly stimulate gastric juice secretion or form gases that cause bloating, increasing the burden on the gastrointestinal tract. For dietary prevention and treatment, the honey therapy can be used: steam honey in a double boiler, take it on an empty stomach before meals, 100 ml daily, divided into 3 doses. Alternatively, fresh green cabbage can be washed, mashed, and the juice squeezed through sterile gauze. Slightly warm the juice before drinking, twice a day, for 15 days as a course of treatment. Or, boil 250 ml of milk, mix in 50 grams of honey and 6 grams of white peony root, and drink the mixture. These methods all have the effect of nourishing yin and protecting the stomach.
Chronic bronchitis in the elderly is also prone to flare up in spring. The dietary prevention and treatment method is to eat more foods that can expel phlegm, strengthen the spleen, nourish the kidneys, and moisten the lungs, such as loquats, oranges, pears, lotus seeds, lilies, red dates, walnuts, and honey, which can help alleviate symptoms. The diet should be light, and avoid seafood and greasy foods. As the saying goes, "Fish causes fire, meat causes phlegm; cabbage and tofu bring peace," which has a certain scientific basis. Irritating foods such as chili, pepper, green onions, and garlic, as well as overly sweet or salty foods, should also be eaten sparingly to avoid irritating the respiratory tract and worsening the condition.