On cold and dry days, people are prone to various respiratory diseases due to poor air quality. However, if you have good eating habits, you can also avoid these common illnesses. I believe that eating delicious food is much more comfortable and relaxing than taking medicine from a doctor's prescription. Therefore, to prevent diseases from finding their way to us, let's take the initiative to start with our diet and find the path to health.
After entering winter, the cold climate causes people to spend more time indoors. To keep warm, office buildings, homes, school classrooms, and other public spaces are often kept in a sealed state, causing indoor air to become continuously polluted. The spread of various viruses and bacteria also significantly increases the incidence of respiratory diseases. Common winter respiratory diseases include the common cold, influenza, acute viral upper respiratory infections, and lung infections.
Children under 5, the elderly, and patients with chronic diseases are the primary groups affected. In addition to frequently opening windows for ventilation to keep indoor air circulating and reducing activities in crowded public places, these groups can also prevent respiratory diseases by adjusting their diet.
Supplement with foods rich in Vitamin A and β-carotene. Medical research shows that children and the elderly with recurrent respiratory infections have Vitamin A levels in their serum that are below normal in about 70% of cases. A deficiency in Vitamin A can impair the function of the respiratory epithelium and immunoglobulins, easily leading to prolonged or persistent respiratory infections.
In daily diets, attention should be paid to providing foods rich in Vitamin A for children and the elderly. Animal liver, egg yolks, and dairy products are the richest sources of Vitamin A. β-carotene, a precursor to Vitamin A, is found in orange-yellow plants such as carrots, sweet potatoes, corn, and persimmons. Additionally, many dark green vegetables like spinach, kale, chives, and pea shoots also contain relatively high amounts of carotene. After consuming carotene from plant-based foods, the body can convert it into Vitamin A in the liver and intestinal mucosa for utilization.
The β-carotene in vegetables like carrots and kale is fat-soluble. It combines with fat micelles and bile in the small intestine and is absorbed along with fatty acids. Therefore, it is best to cook these vegetables with oil to facilitate the body's full absorption.
Supplement with foods that nourish yin and moisten the lungs
You can eat more foods that have the effect of nourishing yin and moistening the lungs, such as tremella, lily, lotus seeds, pears, lotus root, radish, water chestnuts, Chinese yam, soy milk, and honey. Examples include tremella, lily, and lotus seed soup; red date, lily, and japonica rice porridge; honey radish soup; honey snow pear soup; or stir-fried carrots, celery, and lily.
Food is the first necessity of the people, and water comes before food. Proactively drinking water is also very important for preventing respiratory diseases. It is best to drink 6-8 glasses of water proactively every day. Do not wait until you are thirsty to drink. Thirst indicates that the body's water balance has been disrupted, and cells are dehydrated to a certain extent, with the central nervous system sending a signal to replenish water.
Among these, drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning is the most important. After a night of sleep, urination, skin evaporation, and breathing through the mouth and nose, a significant amount of water is lost, and the body is already in a dehydrated state. The mucus in the small bronchi becomes thick and difficult to cough out, which can even cause blockages, leading to lung and bronchial inflammation. Drinking water in the morning can effectively relieve dehydration of the respiratory tract. It is best to drink plain water in the morning, though a small amount of honey can be added. (Source: Aili Forum)