Traditional Chinese Medicine Reminder: Eat Less Cold Food Around the Qingming Festival
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, spring corresponds to the liver in the five organs. Around the Qingming Festival, liver qi is dominant and can easily suppress the spleen and stomach.
Our country has a folk custom of "eating cold food for three days," also known as the Cold Food Festival. The Cold Food Festival is usually the day before Qingming. Nowadays, most areas in Shanxi Province still retain the custom of celebrating the Cold Food Festival, which involves not lighting a fire to cook and only eating cold food.
"From a health perspective, this practice is not advisable and may even have the opposite effect," experts explain. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, spring corresponds to the liver in the five organs. Around the Qingming Festival, liver qi is dominant and can easily suppress the spleen and stomach. Consequently, the function of the spleen and stomach is relatively weaker. At this time, eating too many cold foods can adversely affect the spleen and stomach, which is not conducive to the normal digestion and absorption of food.
Not only that, but recently, temperatures in most parts of the country have been fluctuating and unpredictable. In such a situation, the human digestive system can be quite sensitive, especially for those with chronic gastritis or stomach ulcers. Eating more cold foods can more easily trigger illnesses. It is recommended that people might consider eating more sweet-flavored foods to nourish the spleen and stomach.