Cilantro is a commonly consumed spice-like vegetable that stimulates appetite and aids digestion. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) holds that cilantro expels all pathogenic qi and has the effect of warming the middle burner to strengthen the stomach. People with a cold constitution can alleviate symptoms such as stomach cold pain, indigestion, and incomplete rash eruption by consuming an appropriate amount of cilantro.
However, individuals who are prone to catching colds should avoid cilantro. This is because such people often have varying degrees of qi deficiency. Cilantro's pungent nature can disperse qi, and excessive or prolonged consumption can deplete qi and damage the spirit, thereby triggering or worsening qi deficiency and leading to more frequent colds. In addition to recurrent colds, those with qi deficiency often experience symptoms like excessive sweating, fatigue, and lassitude. Individuals with obvious signs of qi deficiency should eat cilantro sparingly or not at all. Postpartum and post-illness recovery patients often have a certain degree of qi deficiency as well, so they should also "keep their distance" from cilantro.
Although people who frequently catch colds should "draw a clear line" from cilantro, those who are robust, in good health, and only catch colds occasionally can use it to treat a cold. In clinical practice, TCM often uses pungent and warm herbs that release the exterior to treat wind-cold colds, and cilantro恰好 has this effect. For a wind-cold cold, one can take 9 grams of cilantro and 10 grams of green onion, decoct them in water, add sugar for flavor, and consume. Furthermore, people with a cold spleen and stomach can moderately consume cilantro to warm the stomach, dispel cold, aid digestion, and relieve stomach pain. You can make a cilantro porridge by adding digesting and qi-regulating dried tangerine peel and stomach-warming ginger while the congee is cooking, then sprinkling chopped cilantro just before serving.
For those experiencing stomach pain from indigestion due to greasy food, cilantro can also "help out": take 50-100 grams of fresh cilantro, wash and pound it to extract the juice, and consume it to effectively relieve stomach pain.