Spring is the season of growth and renewal. As written in the "Huangdi Neijing·Suwen": "In the three months of spring, all things are born and flourish; heaven and earth are both generating, and all things prosper." This means that during the spring season, all life emerges with renewed vitality. A person should adapt to the seasons, nurture their vital energy, and harmonize the body with the external environment. This is called "the way of health preservation corresponding to the spring qi." For the elderly, it is especially important to pay attention to dietary conditioning in the spring to ensure health and longevity.
In the early spring, the temperature is still relatively cold. The body consumes a certain amount of energy to maintain its core temperature. Therefore, the nutritional composition during this period should be high in calories. In addition to grain products, foods such as soybeans, sesame seeds, peanuts, and walnuts should be chosen to replenish energy in a timely manner. Due to the stimulation of cold, the body's protein decomposition can accelerate, leading to reduced resistance and illness. Therefore, it is also necessary to supplement with high-quality protein foods during early spring, such as eggs, fish, shrimp, beef, chicken, rabbit meat, and soy products. These foods are rich in methionine, which has the function of enhancing the body's cold tolerance.
Spring is also the season when the climate transitions from cold to warm, with significant temperature fluctuations. Bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms begin to multiply and become more active, easily invading the body and causing disease. Therefore, the diet should include sufficient vitamins and inorganic salts. Fresh vegetables like bok choy, rapeseed, bell peppers, and tomatoes, as well as fruits like citrus and lemons, are rich in vitamin C and have antiviral properties. Yellow-green vegetables like carrots and amaranth are rich in vitamin A, which can protect and strengthen the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract and the epithelial cells of the respiratory organs, thereby resisting various pathogenic factors. Foods rich in vitamin E should also be consumed to improve the body's immune function and enhance its disease resistance. These foods include sesame seeds, green cabbage, and cauliflower.
Traditional Chinese medicine also believes that "in spring, it is advisable to reduce sour foods and increase sweet ones to nourish the spleen." This is because spring is the time when liver qi is abundant, and an excess of liver qi can affect the spleen, leading to weakness in the spleen and stomach. Eating more sour foods can cause the liver function to become overly active. Therefore, for dietary conditioning in spring, it is best 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. Additionally, spring is the off-season for many vegetables, but wild vegetables and mountain greens grow earlier than common vegetables and are rich in vitamins. They can be picked and eaten to supplement the lack of common vegetables.