Hydrating Herbal Teas for the Transition from Winter to Spring
Core Tip: What's good to drink in spring? This article uses water chestnut, radish, and snow pear as main ingredients to teach you how to make several teas suitable for the transition from winter to spring.
Recently, a fellow patient called me and asked: "It's been so dry this winter, and it will be dry again after the Start of Spring in a few days. I make sure to drink water every day. Could you recommend some simple health remedies that can both hydrate and relieve dryness?" This is an excellent question from the elderly person, and it's also a seasonal health concern that many people encounter. Below, I recommend several health-promoting teas to help prevent dryness.
I. Water Chestnut Tea
Ingredients: 5g green tea, 150g water chestnut (chufa).
Method: Wash the water chestnuts, peel them, and soak in light salt water for 10 minutes. Brew the green tea. Squeeze the soaked water chestnuts to extract the juice and set aside. Take the brewed tea (temperature according to your body's constitution), add it to the water chestnut juice, mix well, and drink. Once daily.
Effects: Promotes fluid production to moisten dryness, clears heat and resolves phlegm, stimulates appetite and aids digestion, promotes bowel movements and urination.
Note: Those who are weak with diarrhea or have a spleen deficiency and fear cold should drink less or not at all. Steamed Egg with Water Chestnut Pulp: Beat the remaining water chestnut pulp with one egg, mix well, and steam or microwave until cooked. Season and eat. It moistens the intestines to promote bowel movements and relieves dryness and phlegm.
II. Radish Tea
Ingredients: 100g large white radish, 5g green tea, 25g honey.
Method: Wash the radish, slice it, and boil it to extract 500ml of juice. Use the juice to brew the tea, then add honey after brewing and drink.
Functions: Regulates qi and stimulates appetite, clears lung heat, and expels dampness to resolve phlegm.
Note: Use with caution if you often have diarrhea, a spleen deficiency, or a cold stomach. Those with unstable blood sugar can omit the honey. Use the remaining radish slices to make a salad, which regulates qi and promotes bowel movements.
III. Snow Pear Tea
Ingredients: 1 snow pear, 5g green tea, 10g rock sugar.
Method: Chop the washed snow pear, add rock sugar, and boil it with water to make 500ml of pear water. Use the pear juice to brew the tea and drink.
Functions: Relieves dryness and moistens the lungs, stops coughing and resolves phlegm, promotes fluid production to quench thirst, and nourishes yin to clear heat.
Note: Use with caution if you have a cold body constitution, a spleen deficiency, or loose stools. In my recipes, I use green tea, but you can replace it with oolong tea according to your own body's constitution.