Introduction: To protect your stomach, it's essential to eat a good breakfast. After a night's sleep, the body's stored glucose has been depleted, and there is an urgent need to replenish energy and nutrients. Skipping breakfast fails to make up for the water and nutrients lost overnight, increases blood viscosity, hinders the elimination of waste products produced during the night, and thus raises the risk of developing stones, as well as stroke and myocardial infarction.
From a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) perspective, to care for your stomach, you should pay attention to the following two points:
Carrot and Egg Cake
1. Breakfast should be hot
Eating "hot food" is necessary to protect the "stomach qi." In TCM, stomach qi is a broad concept that not only refers to the stomach itself but also includes the digestive and absorption abilities of the spleen and stomach, acquired immunity, and muscle function. In the morning, the body's muscles, nerves, and blood vessels are still in a state of contraction. If you consume cold and raw food at this time, it will cause the body's various systems to constrict further and blood flow to become more sluggish. Over time, you may find that you cannot absorb the essence of food, always feeling weak, or having loose stools, or your skin getting worse, or always having a slight phlegmy feeling in your throat, frequently catching colds, and constantly having minor ailments. This is what it means to damage the stomach qi and weaken the body's resistance.
Nut and Milk Oatmeal Porridge
2. Breakfast combinations should be reasonable
Reasonable means rich in moisture and nutrients. You should have hot congee, hot oatmeal, hot goat's milk, hot tofu pudding, hot soy milk, sesame paste, Chinese yam porridge, etc., and then pair them with vegetables, bread, sandwiches, fruits, and pastries. Milk can easily produce phlegm and cause allergies, making it less suitable for people with respiratory, gastrointestinal, or skin problems, and for those living in humid climates. Cereal foods are broken down into glucose in the body, which can correct the hypoglycemia that may occur after a night's fast and can enhance brain activity and the body's utilization of nutrients in milk and soy milk.
Milk Steamed Egg
A moderate amount of protein and fat, such as eggs, bean products, lean meat, and peanuts, can not only make food stay in the stomach longer but also keep you energetic all morning. Fruits and vegetables not only supplement water-soluble vitamins and fiber but can also neutralize the acid radicals generated after the oxidation of foods like meat, eggs, and grains in the body, achieving acid-base balance.
Potato and Egg Cake
Potato omelet
Porridge
Milk stew
Carrot eggcake