Seasonal Shift from Spring to Summer: An Anti-Aging Approach to Low-Temperature Healthy Eating
Storing apples in the refrigerator keeps them fresh for two or three days. If you put a person in the refrigerator, would they have the same preservative effect and slow down aging? While this is just a joke, "low-temperature wellness" is a treasure in Traditional Chinese Medicine. During the seasonal shift in May, let's start practicing it in our daily lives.
The goal of "low-temperature wellness" is to maintain the body in a relatively low-temperature state, which slows down cellular metabolism and, in turn, delays aging. Human life activities operate according to the consumption law of "life energy." A person's "life energy" is finite; once it's depleted, life ends. Therefore, the faster it's consumed, the shorter the lifespan. Low-temperature wellness can regulate the consumption rate of "life energy," making it slower and steadier, like a continuous, gentle stream. This ensures health and extends lifespan. This is why people in cold climates live, on average, 10 to 30 years longer than those in tropical regions. Furthermore, in Georgia, with a population of only 5 million, there are as many as 2,000 centenarians, all benefiting from a low-temperature living environment.
Compared to men, women have a greater need for "low-temperature wellness." Because women belong to the "yin" category, they rely on the nourishment of "yin fluids," which include all liquid substances in the female body, such as saliva, blood, digestive fluids, tears, and vaginal secretions. Women between the ages of 20 and 40, in particular, may experience health issues that affect their entire lives if their "yin fluids" are not properly maintained. Moreover, women are prone to "yin deficiency," a condition with symptoms like hot palms, soles, and chest. "Low-temperature wellness" can lower the body's temperature, nourish "yin," restore the balance between yin and yang, and gradually alleviate or eliminate the discomfort caused by yin deficiency.
Control the cooking temperature of food, opting for appropriate low-temperature cooking.
Did you know that when cooking fish and meat at temperatures reaching 250°C, polycyclic aromatic carcinogens can form? And are you aware that when baking bread and cakes at 120°C, the acrylamide content increases significantly?
Low-temperature cooking reduces the likelihood of carcinogens forming at high temperatures. It can also lower harmful substances by 33%-40% that are induced by high-temperature cooking and can lead to fatal diseases like arteriosclerosis, heart disease, and stroke. Additionally, it maximally preserves nutrients like vitamins in food—a triple benefit. However, if the food is not organically or pesticide-free grown, the cooking temperature should not be too low.
Daily foods may contain varying levels of bacteria or parasites. Some parasite larvae can survive for at least 5 minutes in environments above 70°C, making it difficult to eliminate them without sufficient "heat." The first step to health is to ensure the safety of your food.
Adjust your three daily meals to include more cooling foods.
While women should not consume cold-natured foods year-round, during the spring and summer, cooling foods help balance the body's energy and remove internal heat. TCM-recommended recipes include low-temperature meats like waterfowl and fish/shrimp, aquatic plants like rice, lotus root, and bamboo shoots, overwintering vegetables like Chinese cabbage and radish, mushrooms that grow in shaded areas like winter mushrooms and shiitake, and winter-ripening fruits like winter pears, winter jujubes, apples, and winter melon. These foods are high in moisture, have a cool nature, and can nourish yin, moisten the lungs, regulate yin and yang, and lower body temperature.
Control your portion sizes, eating until you are 70% full.
The more you eat, the more heat your body produces, which can easily raise your body temperature. Foreign studies have shown that reducing food intake can lower an animal's body temperature and decrease its mortality rate by more than one-third.
Drink more water, preferably cool boiled water.
The method is: Boil tap water, pour it into a stainless steel or glass container, and let it cool naturally to 20-25°C. Besides cooling the body, cool boiled water also has a beautifying effect for the skin. The secret lies in the fact that after being heated and then cooled, the properties of the water change. For example, the amount of gases in it is halved, its cohesive force increases, the molecules become more tightly packed, and it becomes very similar to the water inside biological cells. This enhances its "affinity" with human skin, making it easier to penetrate and leave the skin looking soft, supple, and beautiful. Conversely, it is advisable to consume less of high-temperature beverages like very hot water and hot liquor, and high-temperature foods like hot pot and grilled meat.