6 Major Dietary Mistakes That Most Easily Cause Autumn Fatigue
[Introduction] As the saying goes: "Spring sleepiness, autumn fatigue, summer naps." Once autumn arrives, many people start to feel drowsy. If they don't take a nap at noon, they will lack the energy to work in the afternoon, and experience physical fatigue. So, which habits can easily lead to autumn fatigue?
1. Eating Too Little - Leads to Autumn Fatigue
Nowadays, some young people often diet to lose weight. People who eat little, especially those who skip breakfast, are often prone to fatigue and drowsiness. Students who need to go to school in the morning or office workers constrained by work hours often skip breakfast. Skipping it once or twice can become a habit over time. However, nutritional research has proven that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Breakfast is the "switch" that starts the brain. After a night of sound sleep, hormone secretion reaches a low point, and stored glucose is depleted after 8 hours. The cells of the human brain can only get energy from this one nutrient, glucose. Breakfast, like a timely rain, can quickly bring hormone secretion to a peak and provide energy for brain cells. If you eat too little for breakfast, it will make you listless and reduce work efficiency. Over time, it can also make people feel tired and weak, dizzy, emotionally unstable, and even cause nausea, vomiting, or fainting, making it impossible to study and work with full energy.
2. Eating Too Much - Leads to Autumn Fatigue
After a large meal, the gastrointestinal tract has to increase blood supply to complete the task of digestion and absorption. This means a large amount of blood flows to the digestive system, and the blood supply to peripheral tissues and the brain will be correspondingly reduced. The brain, in particular, cannot store energy, so once it is deprived of blood and oxygen, energy metabolism will be disrupted, directly affecting the normal function of the brain and making people feel drowsy. Recent research also shows that long-term overeating can accelerate cerebral arteriosclerosis and easily lead to senile dementia. Therefore, relevant experts remind everyone that regardless of age or gender, one's diet should not be too full. For the elderly, it is best to eat until about 70% full.
3. Overeating Greasy Food - Leads to Autumn Fatigue
Occasionally consuming too much fat is not a big problem for the body, but if people with high blood lipids consume too much fat, it will make their already high blood lipids even higher. Due to high blood lipids, the flow rate of blood decreases, oxygen supply function is reduced, and the heart will also compensate by increasing its contractile force. At this time, a person is not only prone to drowsiness, but also any strenuous activity will increase the heart's load and thus worsen the feeling of fatigue.
4. Overeating Seafood - Leads to Autumn Fatigue
Seafood contains a substance called monosodium glutamate, which is the main chemical component of MSG. During digestion, it can break down into glutamic acid. After entering the human body, monosodium glutamate can be converted to synthesize gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter. Insufficient production can easily cause over-excitation of the central nervous system, such as mania or convulsions. However, excessive production will have an inhibitory effect on the central nervous system, making people drowsy.
5. Excessive Intake of Foods Containing Tryptophan - Leads to Autumn Fatigue
Tryptophan is an essential amino acid for the human body, and it can promote the secretion of serotonin by brain nerve cells. Serotonin has the effect of inhibiting brain thinking activities. Therefore, consuming a diet rich in tryptophan can easily make people feel tired and sleepy. Foods rich in tryptophan include millet, milk, shiitake mushrooms, sunflower seeds, black sesame, soybeans, pumpkin seeds, meat floss, fried tofu, eggs, etc.
6. Drinking Acidic Beverages in Large Quantities After Exercise - Leads to Autumn Fatigue
After strenuous or extensive exercise, the body accumulates a large amount of lactic acid. At this time, drinking a large amount of acidic beverages will cause acidic metabolic products to accumulate in the body, worsening the feeling of fatigue. The correct approach at this time is to eat more light and easily digestible foods, with alkaline foods such as vegetables and fruits being the best.
What to Eat for Autumn Fatigue?
1. Lotus Leaf Porridge
Preparation: Cook porridge in a clay pot, using a lotus leaf as a lid, making sure the leaf does not touch the water. When the lotus leaf softens and collapses, replace it with a new one. Repeat until the porridge is cooked.
Benefits: Lotus leaf is neutral, neither cool nor dry, with a bitter and astringent taste. It is a gentle herb in medicine, subtly effective without being forceful, so there is no risk of harming the body. It relieves summer heat not through coldness, but through its bitter taste which enters the heart to pacify heart fire. The heart is the residence of blood; once the heart fire is pacified, blood heat naturally dissipates. It strengthens the spleen and stomach not through nourishment, but through its astringent taste which enters the liver to raise clear yang. Once clear yang is raised, dampness is transformed, turbid yin descends, the burden on the spleen and stomach is relieved, and the function of the spleen and stomach is naturally improved.
2. Ginseng and Astragalus Porridge
Preparation: You can use 15g of Astragalus root, 15g of Codonopsis root, 60g of stir-fried Job's tears, 15g of stir-fried hyacinth bean, 2 red dates, and 100g of rice. First, stir-fry the Job's tears and hyacinth beans until slightly yellow. Remove the pits from the red dates. Wash the Astragalus and Codonopsis roots and place them in a clay pot with water to decoct. Once the medicinal juice is ready, remove the dregs. Put the stir-fried Job's tears, stir-fried hyacinth beans, red date flesh, and rice into the medicinal juice and bring to a boil. Then, simmer over low heat until it becomes porridge.
Benefits: This porridge can tonify the middle jiao, replenish qi, strengthen the spleen, and remove dampness. It is especially suitable for those who feel mentally fatigued and have loose stools during the humid spring weather.
3. Red Date and Glutinous Rice Porridge
Preparation: 400g of Chinese yam, 500g of Job's tears, 100g of water chestnut powder, 50g of red dates, 2500g of glutinous rice, and 250g of sugar. Wash the Job's tears clean and grind the Chinese yam into powder. Use the Job's tears, glutinous rice, and red dates to cook porridge. When the Job's tears bloom and the glutinous rice is well-cooked, sprinkle the Chinese yam powder into the pot while stirring. About 20 minutes later, sprinkle in the water chestnut powder, stir well, stop heating, and ladle the porridge into bowls. Add 25g of sugar to each bowl. Eat one small bowl at a time, 2-3 times a day, while warm.
Benefits: Tonifies the middle jiao, replenishes qi, strengthens the spleen, and removes dampness. Suitable for symptoms such as weak spleen and stomach, poor appetite, loose stools, and fatigue.