Autumn and Winter Health Taboos: 9 Things to Avoid When Replenishing Your Body
As autumn transitions from warm to cool, although the mornings and evenings are pleasant, people are prone to fatigue and lethargy. According to the traditional Chinese medicine principle of "nourishing yang in spring and summer, and nourishing yin in autumn and winter," replenishing the body during this season is essential. However, autumn being a suitable time for replenishment does not mean you should do so indiscriminately. You should be mindful of the "Nine Taboos."
First Taboo: Replenishing without illness
Replenishing without illness not only increases expenses but is also harmful to your health. For example, an excessive intake of cod liver oil can lead to poisoning, and long-term use of glucose can cause weight gain, increased blood cholesterol, and a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Second Taboo: Confusing deficiency and excess
The therapeutic principle of traditional Chinese medicine is to "tonify the deficient." Those who do not have a deficient condition should not use tonics. Deficiency itself is categorized into yin deficiency, yang deficiency, qi deficiency, and blood deficiency. Only by taking the right medicine for your specific condition can you benefit your body; otherwise, the effect will be counterproductive and harmful. While health preservation is not as strict as treating illness, it should at least be divided into two main categories: cold-natured and heat-natured. Those with a cold-natured constitution are sensitive to cold, prefer warmth, have cold hands and feet, a pale taste in the mouth with excess saliva, loose stools, clear and long urination, a pale tongue with a deep, thready pulse. Those with a heat-natured constitution have hot palms and soles, a dry mouth with a bitter or foul taste, constipation, short, dark urine, a red tongue, and a rapid pulse. Indiscriminately using medicinal food without distinguishing between cold and heat can be like "adding fuel to the fire."
Third Taboo: Believing more is better
Any tonic taken in excess is harmful. The idea that "taking more tonics cures diseases if you have them, and strengthens the body if you don't" is unscientific. For instance, excessive consumption of ginseng and antler products can cause abdominal bloating and loss of appetite; an overdose of vitamin C can lead to nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Fourth Taboo: Assuming all tonics must be meat
Animal-based foods are undoubtedly excellent remedies among tonics, offering high nutrition and a delicious taste. However, meat is not easily digested and absorbed. For the elderly, whose gastrointestinal function may have declined, long-term or excessive consumption can be an unbearable burden. Furthermore, certain "byproducts" from digesting meat, such as excessive fats and sugars, are often contributing factors to common and frequent illnesses in old age, like cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
Fifth Taboo: Replacing food with medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine considers autumn a suitable season for replenishment, but one must be mindful not to do so indiscriminately. It's crucial to avoid toning without a need or confusing deficiency and excess. You should also ensure moderation and not replace food with medicine. Many foods also have therapeutic properties.
For example, eating more celery can help treat high blood pressure; more radish can aid digestion, soothe the chest, and resolve phlegm; more Chinese yam can strengthen the spleen and stomach. Food-based tonification should focus on nourishing yin and moistening dryness. Specific examples include black-bone chicken, pig's lung, bird's nest, tremella fungus, honey, sesame seeds, soy milk, lotus root, walnuts, Job's tears, peanuts, duck eggs, spinach, and pears. When these foods are combined with other beneficial foods or Chinese herbs, their effects are enhanced.
Sixth Taboo: Focusing only on "taking in" while neglecting "expelling"
With the improvement of living standards, many families have rich, fatty foods every day. The acidic and toxic substances produced from the metabolism of these foods need to be expelled promptly. However, the fast pace of life has led many to have irregular bowel movements or even suffer from constipation.
Therefore, health experts have recently proposed a new health concept focusing on "negative nutrition," which emphasizes the importance of expelling body waste, reducing the retention and absorption of "intestinal toxins," and promoting timely and smooth bowel movements in conjunction with replenishment.
Seventh Taboo: Sticking to the same tonic all the time
Some people prefer to take only one type of tonic based on their personal taste, which can develop over years into a form of "picky eating" or "addiction." This is detrimental to health because both medicines and foods have therapeutic effects as well as certain side effects. Long-term consumption of a single tonic can disrupt the body's nutritional balance.
Eighth Taboo: Believing the more expensive, the better
"Rarity makes a thing precious." High-end traditional foods like bird's nest and shark's fin do not actually have remarkable therapeutic effects, whereas very common foods like sweet potatoes and onions have significant medicinal value. Furthermore, every medicinal food has specific indications and is suited for certain conditions. Therefore, one should choose medicinal food based on need—what your body is lacking. Do not judge by price, especially for the elderly, who should prioritize practicality and affordability when it comes to tonics.
Ninth Taboo: Over-indulging in "gaining autumn weight"
During the hot summer, energy expenditure is high, and people often lose their appetite, leading to insufficient heat supply for the body. In autumn, as the weather cools, the sense of taste sharpens and appetite greatly increases, making it the perfect time to "gain autumn weight." However, food intake can easily become excessive, leading to a significant increase in calorie intake. To prepare for winter, the body also actively stores fat for warmth.
Therefore, the body takes in more heat than it expends. In autumn, people can gain weight with just a little carelessness, which is an even greater threat for those who are already overweight. Therefore, obese individuals and those who need to control their weight should not "gain autumn weight." Instead, they should pay attention to dietary moderation and engage in appropriate exercise to prevent rapid weight gain.
Thus, obese individuals should focus more on weight loss in autumn. First, they should adjust their diet by eating more low-calorie weight-loss foods, such as red beans, radish, bamboo shoots, Job's tears, seaweed, and mushrooms. Second, they should increase their calorie consumption in autumn by planning and increasing their physical activities.