Cilantro is a commonly consumed vegetable spice that stimulates appetite and aids digestion. Traditional Chinese medicine holds that cilantro expels all pathogenic qi and has the effect of warming the middle energizer and strengthening the stomach. People with a cold constitution can appropriately eat cilantro to alleviate symptoms such as stomach cold pain, indigestion, and incomplete measles rash.
However, individuals who are prone to 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 long-term consumption can deplete qi, impair vitality, and subsequently trigger or worsen qi deficiency, 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 little to no cilantro. Postpartum and post-illness recovery patients also often have a degree of qi deficiency and should therefore "steer clear" of cilantro.
Although those who frequently catch colds should "draw a clear line" with cilantro, robust individuals with a good constitution who only catch colds occasionally can use it to treat colds. In clinical practice, Traditional Chinese Medicine often uses pungent and warm herbs to release the exterior for treating wind-cold colds, and cilantro has precisely this effect. For wind-cold cold patients, take 9 grams of cilantro and 10 grams of scallion white, decoct in water, add sugar to taste, and consume. Additionally, people with a cold spleen and stomach can moderately eat cilantro to warm the stomach, dispel cold, aid digestion, and relieve stomach pain. You can make a cilantro porridge by adding tangerine peel (to aid digestion and regulate qi) and ginger (to warm the stomach and dispel cold) while cooking the congee, and then sprinkle in chopped cilantro just before serving.
People who suffer from stomach pain caused by indigestion from greasy food can also ask cilantro for "help": take 50-100 grams of fresh cilantro, wash and crush it to extract the juice, and consume it to effectively relieve stomach pain.