The Key to the Year Lies in Spring: Spring Dietary Taboos
[Introduction] The cold winter has passed, and a vibrant spring has arrived. Spring is full of life, a period when the body's physiological functions and metabolism are most active. However, with its continuous spring rains, humid weather, and fluctuating temperatures that are warm one moment and cold the next, climate is very unstable, making dietary conditioning even more important.
Spring Diet Should Follow the "Five More, Five Less" Principle
More Poultry, Less Livestock to Protect the Heart
When it comes to meat, people often have a love-hate relationship. They love it for its rich nutrition and good taste, but fear it for its high fat content, which is easily linked to hyperlipidemia and even coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and other diseases. How can this dilemma be solved? One trick is to eat more poultry and less livestock.
Compared to livestock meat such as pork, beef, and mutton, although poultry is also an animal fat, the structure of its fat is different. Livestock meat is high in saturated fatty acids and cholesterol. In contrast, poultry like goose, duck, and chicken not only contains less fat (only one-fourth to one-third of the former), but its fat structure is closer to olive oil, thus having a protective effect on the heart.
More Raw, Less Cooked to Reduce Carcinogens
When it comes to poultry, if you have a choice between raw and cooked, which would you prefer? Cooked meat products are convenient to eat and taste good, so you might prefer them. However, in doing so, you will make the mistake of consuming nitrites. This is because nitrites are added during the processing of cooked meat products to preserve them with their preservative properties. But once nitrites enter the human body, they can break down into nitrosamines, substances with strong carcinogenic effects, posing a serious threat to human health.
More Reducing, Less Oxidizing to Activate the Brain
How can you ensure brain health and improve mental efficiency? Nutritionists point out: eat more reducing foods and fewer oxidizing foods.
Oxidizing foods refer to those rich in peroxidized lipid compounds, with fried foods, instant noodles, and hamburgers being typical examples. High-calorie oily foods, fatty meat, and juice also fall into this category. These foods can undergo oxidation reactions in the body, damaging the normal molecular structure of cerebral blood vessel walls, narrowing them, affecting blood flow, and adversely stimulating the brain's physiological activities, leading to slow thinking.
Reducing foods, on the other hand, contain components like carotene and superoxide dismutase, which can prevent oxidation reactions in the cerebral blood vessel walls or "reduce" already occurring oxidation reactions. This ensures the cerebral blood vessels remain unobstructed, the brain is well-supplied with blood, and stays in a clear, active, and healthy state.
More Coarse, Less Refined to Protect Blood Vessels
Currently, the incidence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease and cerebral infarction is increasing daily, becoming the "number one killer" for our people. In addition to the traditional "three highs"—high blood lipids, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar—there is another major culprit: hyperhomocysteinemia.
Experts have found that a substance called homocysteine, if its concentration in the blood is too high, can cause atherosclerosis in humans, ultimately leading to myocardial infarction, stroke, and senile dementia. And one of the reasons why homocysteine levels in the blood rise is the increasing consumption of finely processed foods.
More Green, Less White for Longevity
Nutritionists have analyzed the nutrients in various vegetables and discovered a pattern: the nutritional value of vegetables is related to the depth of their color. The darker the color, the higher the content of vitamins and carotene, and vice versa. According to this pattern, the order is: green vegetables, red and yellow vegetables, white vegetables.
Green vegetables are rich in calcium, and their content of folic acid and vitamin C is also very high. Additionally, they contain a particularly large amount of chlorophyll, which has anti-cancer and disease-prevention effects.
Spring Dietary Precautions
Spring (from the Start of Spring to the Start of Summer) is the season when all things grow and the world is renewed. What nutrients should be consumed in spring and how should the diet be adjusted? It's simple. We can summarize it with this saying: "As spring comes and the days grow warm, rich foods should turn light. Fresh vegetables should be eaten more, and wine, meat, and spicy foods less, to ensure health and longevity."
(I) Maintain Nutritional Balance in Your Diet
From a dietary science perspective, spring emphasizes maintaining a relative balance between protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. It is important to avoid overeating and bingeing to prevent liver dysfunction and abnormal bile secretion.
(II) Prioritize Liver Nourishment in Spring Diet
According to traditional Chinese medicine, nourishing Yang in spring focuses on nourishing the liver. In the Five Elements theory, the liver belongs to Wood, corresponding to spring, and is responsible for growth and development, sprouting and growing in spring. Therefore, people with hypertension and coronary heart disease should pay special attention to nourishing Yang in spring. Furthermore, spring is the peak season for the breeding of bacteria and viruses. The liver, with its detoxification and detoxifying functions, bears the heaviest burden. Also, due to the rising of liver Qi, old illnesses can relapse. For example, a rise in liver fire in spring can make already deficient lung Yin even more deficient, allowing tuberculosis to take advantage of the weakness. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the liver governs the body in spring, and liver Qi is naturally prosperous in this season. If health preservation in spring is improper, it is easy to damage liver Qi. To adapt to seasonal climate changes and maintain health, attention should be paid to liver nourishment in dietary conditioning.
(III) Nourish Yang in Your Diet
Yang refers to the body's Yang Qi. Traditional Chinese medicine states that "Yang Qi protects the exterior of the body," meaning Yang Qi plays a protective role, making the body strong and immune to the invasion of the six pathogenic Qi from nature. In terms of diet in spring, one should follow the principle of "nourishing Yang in spring and summer" as proposed in the *Huangdi Neijing*. It is advisable to eat more warming and Yang-nourishing foods to make the body's Yang Qi abundant, enhance resistance, and defend against the invasion of pathogenic Qi, mainly wind pathogenic factors. Li Shizhen, in his *Compendium of Materia Medica*, also advocated eating "pungent and tender vegetables such as onions, garlic, chives, knotweed, wormwood, and mustard, mixed together." On the other hand, since kidney Yang is the root of the body's Yang Qi, nourishing Yang in diet should also include the intention of warming and nourishing kidney Yang. In spring, the body's Yang Qi is abundant on the surface, but relatively deficient internally. Therefore, the diet should include more foods that nourish and strengthen kidney Yang. Currently, except for wild vegetables like knotweed and wormwood which are less commonly eaten, onions, garlic, and chives are all excellent products for nourishing Yang.
(IV) Eat More Sweet, Less Sour
The famous Tang Dynasty physician Sun Simiao said: "In spring, one should reduce sour and increase sweet to nourish the spleen Qi." This means that when spring arrives, people should eat less sour food and more sweet food. The benefit of doing so is that it can replenish the spleen and stomach Qi of the body. Chinese medicine believes that the spleen and stomach are the foundation of acquired health and the source of Qi and blood production. If the spleen and stomach Qi are strong, one can live a long life. However, spring is the season when liver Qi dominates. According to the Five Elements theory of traditional Chinese medicine, the liver belongs to Wood and the spleen belongs to Earth. Wood overcomes Earth, meaning an excessive liver can damage the spleen, affecting its digestion and absorption functions. Traditional Chinese medicine also holds that the five flavors enter the five organs; for example, sour flavor enters the liver, sweet flavor enters the spleen, and salty flavor enters the kidney. Therefore, eating more sour food will strengthen the liver's function, making the already excessive liver Qi even more prosperous, which in turn can harm the spleen and stomach Qi. In view of this, in spring, people should eat less sour food to prevent the liver Qi from becoming too excessive. Sweet food enters the spleen and can replenish spleen Qi, so one can eat more of it, such as red dates, Chinese yam, and scorched rice.
(V) Diet Should Be Light
Transition from the rich and heavy foods of winter to light and plain ones. Food should be warm, avoiding raw and cold. In terms of animal products, one should eat less fatty and high-fat foods because greasy food can easily cause a feeling of fullness and lead to fatigue in the body. People with a cold stomach can often eat some ginger to dispel cold and warm the stomach; those with asthma can drink ginger and honey water to moisten dryness and calm wheezing; people with chronic bronchitis should avoid or eat less spicy food. Others should also not eat too much pungent, hot, and stimulating food to avoid harming the body by adding fire.
(VI) Drink More Water
Drinking water can increase circulating blood volume, which is beneficial for nourishing the liver and excreting metabolic waste, reducing the damage of toxins to the liver. In addition, replenishing water is beneficial for gland secretion, especially for digestive fluids like bile. Drinking fragrant scented flower tea in spring can help dispel the cold evil accumulated in the body during winter, promote the generation of human Yang Qi, and resolve stagnation. Moderate tea drinking can also refresh the mind and relieve drowsiness, but one should not overindulge in cold drinks in spring.
(VII) Eat More Vegetables
After winter, most people will have insufficient intake of various vitamins, inorganic salts, and trace elements. For example, in spring, people often suffer from stomatitis, angular cheilitis, glossitis, night blindness, and some skin diseases. Therefore, with the arrival of spring and the abundance of various fresh vegetables, people must eat more fresh vegetables to ensure balanced nutrition and good health.
Scientific Diet is Especially Important in Spring
Spring is the season when the climate changes from cold to warm. The temperature fluctuates, with large differences between morning and evening. To adapt to these climate changes, the body needs to consume a certain amount of energy to maintain its core temperature. Bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms begin to reproduce and become more active, easily invading the body and causing disease. Therefore, at this time, a scientific diet is particularly important.
Spring is the time when liver Qi is prosperous. An excessive liver Qi can affect the spleen, so it is easy to have weak spleen and stomach symptoms in spring. Eating more sour food can make liver function overly active. Therefore, for spring dietary conditioning, it is advisable to choose pungent, sweet, and warm foods, and avoid sour and astringent ones. The diet should be light and palatable, avoiding greasy, raw, cold, and irritating foods. In addition, spring is the off-season for vegetables, but wild vegetables and mountain vegetables grow earlier than ordinary vegetables and are rich in vitamins. They can be picked and eaten to supplement the deficiency of ordinary vegetables.
Yellow and Green Vegetables Prevent Spring Drowsiness
"Spring drowsiness" makes the body tired and the spirit listless. Eating red, yellow, and dark green vegetables like carrots, pumpkin, tomatoes, green peppers, and celery is very helpful for restoring energy and eliminating spring drowsiness.
Choose Food Carefully to Avoid Diseases
As the temperature gradually rises in spring, bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms also begin to reproduce and become more active, easily invading the body and causing disease. Therefore, the diet should provide sufficient vitamins and minerals. Fresh vegetables like tatsoi, kale, and broccoli, and fruits like citrus and lemons are rich in vitamin C and have antiviral effects. Yellow-green vegetables like carrots and spinach are rich in vitamin A, which can protect and enhance the function of the upper respiratory tract mucosa and respiratory epithelial cells, thereby resisting the invasion of various pathogenic factors.
Be Wary of Gastrointestinal Diseases
Diseases such as stomach and duodenal ulcers are prone to occur in spring. The diet should avoid consuming broths, chicken soups, fish soups, animal offal, and irritating condiments rich in substances like creatine and purine alkaloids. This is because these foods strongly stimulate gastric juice secretion or form gas, causing bloating and increasing the burden on the gastrointestinal tract.
Remove Phlegm and Nourish the Lungs to Stay Safe
Chronic bronchitis and bronchiolitis are also prone to flare up in spring. It is advisable to eat more foods that remove phlegm, strengthen the spleen, nourish the kidneys, and moisten the lungs. For example: loquats, oranges, pears, walnuts, and honey can help alleviate symptoms.
Spring Dietary Guide
Spring is the first of the four seasons. At this time, willow branches turn green and spring flowers sprout, and the Yang Qi of nature begins to rise. This environment is most conducive to the transformation of essence and blood into Qi and fluid, enriching the body's tissues and organs. However, the changeable spring climate directly affects the body's defense functions, and overall disease resistance also decreases. On the other hand, various bacteria and viruses begin to multiply in large numbers. When one's constitution is not good, germs and viruses will take advantage of the weakness. Therefore, in our diet, we need to pay attention to some details.
1. Correct Breakfast
In spring, human metabolism is vigorous, and people wake up very early. However, people today generally go to bed very late, so there can be sleep problems. Northerners often eat noodles, fried dough sticks, etc., which is not a very good eating habit. Long-term practice often leads to drowsiness. Breakfast should be based on high-protein foods, such as a bag of milk, an egg, and porridge. It is also good to drink a little tea to refresh the mind. Generally, people in the south have this habit.
2. Supplement Vitamins
Authoritative nutrition experts point out that a lack of vitamin A can easily lead to respiratory and digestive tract infections. Once you catch a cold or have diarrhea, the level of vitamin A in the body will further decrease. Vitamin A deficiency can also reduce the body's antibody response, leading to a decline in immune function. The protective effect of vitamin A on respiratory and gastrointestinal mucosa has been widely confirmed. Supplementing vitamin A from food is a safe and effective health method. Among many foods, carrots are the best for supplementing vitamin A. Therefore, when spring arrives, be sure to eat more foods containing vitamins, such as carrots.
3. Eat More Edible Fungi
The spring diet should be lighter, with more vegetables and some edible fungi, such as black fungus, tremella, mushrooms, and shiitake mushrooms. Spring is a time when viruses are rampant, and many viruses can take advantage of the weakness and enter your body. Eating more edible fungi can increase your antiviral ability.