Introduction: I have never liked winter, especially this year when Beijing's heavy snow arrived before the start of winter, seemingly validating the prediction for "the coldest winter in 30 years." "The cold wind shortens the day," "the north wind rolls the ground and breaks the white grass." The cold of winter is gradually setting in, and the dryness of winter follows like a shadow. Especially in the morning, my throat is so dry and uncomfortable. What should be done? How to regulate diet?
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Hydration should be "sufficient in quantity and excellent in quality," and honey water is a good choice
One of the symptoms of dehydration is dryness, not just a dry mouth and a sore throat, but even dry skin and eyes. For a normal adult male, at least 1700ml of water should be consumed daily, and for a female, at least 1500ml. Of course, this recommended amount is for mild climates and relatively light physical activity. In dry, hot, and other environments, water intake should be appropriately increased.
This water shouldn't be drunk all at once. It's best to drink a large glass of warm water every morning after getting up, and take a few sips proactively at other times throughout the day. Also, the biggest mistake in drinking water is to wait until you are thirsty to drink. It's better to drink proactively and in a timely manner. By the time you feel thirsty, it's a signal that your body is already dehydrated. At this point, replenishing fluids is like closing the barn door after the sheep have escaped—while it's not too late, the effects of dehydration on the body are still there.
Drinking plain water, while the quantity may be met, may not be the most effective way to relieve a dry mouth and throat, because the water you drink is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream and then excreted by the kidneys after metabolism, leaving little time to moisten the throat. It might be a good idea to add a little honey to the water to make a lightly sweet honey drink, which is more effective for relieving the dryness of the oral and pharyngeal mucosa. This is because honey is rich in fructose, and among all sugars, fructose has the strongest hygroscopicity, able to absorb moisture even from the air. This can slow down the absorption of water, preventing it from being quickly excreted by the body, allowing more time for the water to moisten the mouth, throat, and digestive tract mucosa, and more time for the water to remain in the body. When the body is full and not lacking in water, you won't have a dry mouth and throat.
Of course, besides honey, the sugar in some fruits is also mainly fructose, such as pears, grapes, apples, loquats, bananas, persimmons, etc. Additionally, some vegetables like pumpkin are also rich in fructose. Eating more of these fruits and vegetables in the fall is another trick to relieve dryness.
Lemon Honey Water
Plant gum shows unique effects, Tremella/Oats are both rich in it
Many foods expand in volume and become sticky in texture after being cooked. Such foods mostly contain plant gum. For example, in grains, soap nuts and oats expand several times in volume after cooking, thanks to a special soluble plant gum they contain, which acts as soluble dietary fiber. During the process of making congee, this dietary fiber acts like a sponge, continuously absorbing water and expanding, making the congee, soup, or paste thick and sticky. These sticky soups and pastes can make water adhere to the mucosa for a long time, making the throat and digestive tract feel very moist. At the same time, because they cannot be digested by the human body, they can carry water all the way to the large intestine, adding moisture to the stool and making it softer, thus avoiding dryness.
In addition to soap nuts and oats, these two "grain brothers" rich in plant gum, there are many other plant-based foods that contain it. For example, the fungal polysaccharides found in mushrooms like wood ear and silver ear belong to soluble plant gums. The traditional practice of drinking silver ear soup to nourish the body is highly recommended. There are also alginates found in algae like kelp and wakame, which are also plant gums. Furthermore, pectin in fruits is also a type of plant gum, especially the pectin content in hawthorn is particularly rich, which is of course why hawthorn can be made into hawthorn cake.
Lily and Snow Pear Silver Ear Soup
Get enough Vitamin A, see dark green/orange yellow vegetables every day
Vitamin A helps maintain the integrity of the respiratory mucosal epithelial cells, enhance the ciliary movement and disease prevention ability. A deficiency in Vitamin A not only leads to a decrease in mucus and sebum secreted by the mucosa, causing dryness, but also affects ciliary movement, thereby reducing immunity, causing bacterial infections, and possibly leading to throat discomfort.
Vitamin A is a "unique character" among vitamins. Although it exists in both animal and plant foods, in animal foods, it is mainly concentrated in foods that are not particularly commonly consumed in daily life, such as "liver, egg yolks (especially goose egg yolks)". For example, two or three slices of pork liver can basically meet the daily requirement of Vitamin A. However, in other animal foods, its content is far from as effective. This is also the reason why Vitamin A is relatively easy to be deficient.
The presence of Vitamin A in plant foods also has obvious characteristics, mainly abundant in dark green and orange-yellow foods, such as carrots, goji berries, and dark green leafy vegetables (broccoli, spinach, kale, mustard greens). However, what plants provide is not direct Vitamin A, but beta-carotene. Six beta-carotenes can be converted into one Vitamin A in the liver. This conversion is safe, and you won't get even if you eat too much. Therefore, it is recommended to eat dark green and dark yellow vegetables every day.
Red Grapefruit and Carrot Juice
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Less dried goods: Dried nuts, dried fruits, and other foods have had most of their moisture removed during processing, causing these foods to have a strong "desire" to absorb water. Once you eat too much, you will feel a dry and uncomfortable sensation as if your mouth and tongue have been pickled. This is because they not only fail to provide water but instead absorb moisture from the mouth and digestive tract. Therefore, in dry seasons, it's best to eat less of these foods and replenish water promptly after eating.
Less salt: Eating too many high-salt foods can also have the effect of absorbing extra moisture from the body. This is mainly because after sodium ions from salt are absorbed into the bloodstream, they increase the osmotic pressure of the blood, causing water in the tissues to be "drawn" into the blood vessels to balance this high osmotic pressure. This increases blood volume in the vessels while reducing water in the tissues, naturally causing dryness. At the same time, the kidneys will work hard to excrete salt through urine to restore blood volume and osmotic pressure to normal. However, when salt is excreted, it also takes a large amount of water with it, making the body even drier.
Less chili: These types of irritating foods can speed up skin blood circulation, make the body feel hot, and increase sweating, leading to the loss of body moisture. For people living in humid and cold regions, eating chili is very appropriate. However, in the dry north, eating too much can make the body uncomfortable, including symptoms like a dry throat and "heatiness".