The ancient Lu You maintained health and longevity often by eating porridge, which is beneficial to health
Introduction: Although the development of modern medicine has made people's lives longer and longer, the way to maintain health and longevity in the new century should not only rely on the advancement of medicine, but also on our usual health care. In daily health preservation, many ancient people's practices are worth learning from. Today, the editor will share Lu You's secrets to health and longevity with everyone. Let's learn together and have a healthy and long life.
Lu You was a famous patriotic poet of the Song Dynasty, and also a person who paid attention to health preservation. In that chaotic era of war and turmoil, he lived to be 86 years old, with a straight back, unshaky legs, good hearing, and clear vision. His body was strong, and sometimes he could even go up the mountain to chop wood. Lu You's ability to achieve such a long life was inseparable from his effective methods of health preservation. Lu You's philosophy of health preservation is broad in scope, involving aspects such as exercise, diet, and state of mind, all of which give us enlightenment.
Insist on physical labor - "Sweep the floor whenever you have time"
Lu You always considered organizing books, sweeping the floor, and wiping the table as activities to exercise his body.
He once wrote in a poem: "A broom is always by my side, I sweep the floor whenever I have time. This not only saves the trouble of ordering servants, but also calms my blood and qi. Massage and guiding exercises, although good, are too much trouble. It's not as good as sweeping the floor, a much easier way to prolong life." Sweeping the floor is a manageable activity that can promote blood circulation, activate muscles and bones, do housework, and exercise the body. He believed that doing a bit of manageable labor is beneficial, just like "a frequently used door hinge does not get wormy, and flowing water does not become stagnant."
When Lu You lived in the countryside, he often engaged in physical labor such as picking firewood and cutting grass. He often said of himself, "Though my body is old, it is still strong, and I live by learning to garden." Later, although he was old and weak and could no longer do heavy work, he still "leaned on a stick like a woodpecker," doing chores like raising chickens and pigs, not allowing himself to be idle, always wanting to move his muscles and bones.
Insist on outdoor activities - "At sixty, I can climb a mountain without support"
In his poem "Watching the Bell," Lu You wrote: "I am still pleased that my body is strong and healthy, at sixty I can climb a mountain without support." We can see that Lu You benefited greatly from the sport of mountain climbing. Climbing a mountain can allow one to breathe fresh air, cultivate one's sentiments, and relax one's mood. It can also exercise muscles and bones during the activity, so there are many benefits.
Nowadays, it is advocated that the elderly should often walk, exercise their muscles and bones, and relax their minds. Lu You also did this. "After drinking, avoid sitting for a long time; you must walk with a cane from time to time." After a meal, one must not sit still; walking appropriately is good for one's health. This kind of health preservation experience from the ancients is still very applicable to people today, and it is hoped that everyone can take time to move more.
Wide range of interests - "The old man at seventy still has a child's heart"
Growing flowers: Lu You regarded growing flowers as an act of a child's heart in an old man. His poem says: "I have moved the orchids to the middle of the forest, and there is still room to plant Hostas. I ask for two more clusters of fragrant flowers, the old man at seventy still has a child's heart." Growing flowers and plants can not only exercise the body but also cultivate love; it can not only cultivate one's character but also be pleasing to the eye, and it is really a good method for fitness and health preservation.
Tea and chess: Tasting tea and playing chess can cultivate one's sentiments. He wrote in his poem "Autumn Thoughts": "I often boil tea with a lively fire, and quietly play chess on a broken board."
Calligraphy: The effect of calligraphy on prolonging life is significant, and physicians of past dynasties have already noticed this. Lu You liked to practice calligraphy and said that practicing it could "drive away all the sorrow in his heart."
Diet for health preservation - "Only by eating porridge can one become immortal"
Lu You's diet was mainly vegetarian, and he did not advocate "using meat to nourish people." The foods that appeared more frequently in his poems were water caltrop, Chinese yam, and porridge.
After retiring to his hometown, Lu You picked and ate water caltrop every year. His poem "Returning Home at Night" says: "This year, the cold came to my hometown early, and I saw wild geese flying before the Mid-Autumn Festival. The eighty-year-old old man is as tough as iron, picking water caltrop in the wind and rain at midnight." "Compendium of Materia Medica" records: Eating water caltrop can "pacify the middle and nourish the five organs, making one not hungry and lightening the body." Eating fresh water caltrop raw can "relieve cold damage and accumulated heat, quench thirst, and detoxify from alcohol and arrow poison." After drying and grinding it into powder for consumption, it can "nourish the middle and prolong life."
Lu You liked to eat porridge all his life, and he even wrote a special poem "Eating Porridge": "Everyone in the world wants to learn to live long, but they don't realize that longevity is right in front of them. I have learned the simple method from Wanqiu, and only by eating porridge can one become immortal." Porridge is easy for the elderly to digest and absorb, and its health benefits for the gastrointestinal tract are undeniable.
Lu You believed that people who are weak and sick can enhance their physical fitness and benefit their health by eating Chinese yam. A poem says: "For a long time, I have been疏远云液 due to many illnesses, recently I have been cooking 'Yu Yan' (Chinese yam) for a long vegetarian diet." According to modern scientific analysis, Chinese yam is rich in various nutrients, especially its mucin protein, which can prevent fat deposition, maintain blood vessel elasticity, and prevent premature arteriosclerosis. The mucopolysaccharide substances in Chinese yam, combined with inorganic salts, can increase the elasticity of cartilage. Chinese yam also contains digestive enzymes, which can promote the decomposition of proteins and starches.
Broad-mindedness - "Why bother with slander and praise"
From Lu You's life experience, we can see that his life was full of frustrations and unfulfilled ambitions. He was dismissed from office, removed from his post, and even falsely accused. Despite this, he remained optimistic and broad-minded: "Why bother with slander and praise, don't get tired of meeting with a smile." Slander and praise, poverty and wealth, ridicule and praise were all trivial matters to him. He always faced adversity with a smile. He strongly advocated controlling anger and being good at forbearance, believing that anger is very harmful to the body. In his later years, he gave himself the name "Gui Tang" (Turtle Hall), meaning that he must always restrain his anger and maintain a calm heart.
Lu You's way of health preservation is multifaceted. People from past to present have drawn its essence. But it is not difficult to see that its most essential part is the love of life. Whether it is high mountains and great rivers or grass, trees, insects, and fish; whether it is the ordinary life of the countryside or the leisurely pleasures of the study, he has depicted them in meticulous detail. A person who loves life will pay attention to the way of health preservation, and have good regulation and practice in diet, exercise, and emotions. It will not be so difficult to achieve longevity.