Winter is the most suitable season for nourishment, but it is also a season with higher rates of certain diseases, such as respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, as well as a higher incidence of accidents.
Therefore, some say that winter is the "arch-nemesis" of the elderly. How can the occurrence and development of winter diseases in the elderly be prevented? Traditional Chinese medicine believes that in winter, Yang energy is stored, and Qi and blood tend to move inward. Therefore, winter is beneficial for the body to absorb nutrients and store them to enhance disease resistance. Thus, actively and timely dietary supplementation and therapy are of great significance in preventing diseases.
The dietary prevention method is that elderly people with bronchial asthma should start dietary supplementation before winter. Take 1-2 walnuts and 1-2 slices of ginger, chew them slowly in the mouth. This has the effect of moistening the lungs, relieving asthma and coughing, and preventing the recurrence of bronchial asthma. It is reported that long-term consumption of radish-boiled eggs has a good effect on preventing and treating bronchial cough and asthma. The specific method is: buy 1500 grams of red radish at the winter solstice, remove the head and tail, wash it, and cut the radish into slices about 3 mm thick with a clean, oil-free knife. Then string them with a thread, air-dry them, and store them. Each time, take 3 pieces of dried radish, 1 egg, and a small handful of mung beans, put them in a pot together, add water and cook for 30 minutes until the beans are soft. When taking, peel the egg, and eat it together with the radish, mung beans, and the soup. Once a day for 30 consecutive days. Elderly people with hyperlipidemia can often take black sesame and mulberry paste.
Its preparation method is: take 60 grams of black sesame, 60 grams of mulberry, 10 grams of sugar, and 30 grams of rice. After washing the black sesame, mulberry, and rice separately, put them together in a medicinal mortar and grind them into a paste. Then, put 3 bowls of clear water in a clay pot, bring to a boil, add sugar, and wait for the sugar to dissolve and the water to boil again. Slowly add the medicinal paste and cook it into a paste-like food to eat. For elderly people with coronary heart disease, take 10 grams of white fungus and 10 grams of black fungus, soak them in warm water, wash them, add a small amount of water rock sugar, and steam them for 1 hour before eating. For elderly people with high blood pressure, take 6 grams of black fungus, 50 grams of persimmon cake, and an appropriate amount of rock sugar, cook them until soft and eat them to lower blood pressure.
"Winter pestilence" is also a common symptom for the elderly in winter. The "winter pestilence" in traditional Chinese medicine refers to certain symptoms similar to a cold, such as wind-cold cough, fever, headache, and nasal and throat irritation. In addition to exercising to improve the body's resistance and maintaining a regular diet and daily routine, radish can be eaten frequently because it has the effects of eliminating food stagnation, resolving phlegm-heat, detoxifying, promoting the descent of Qi, and relieving chest tightness. If "winter pestilence" causes internal dryness leading to mouth sores and ulcers, you can slice radish and cook it with raw pear slices, add an appropriate amount of rock sugar, and consume it. Drinking this juice frequently can clear internal heat and nourish Yin to heal sores. If suffering from wind-cold cough, take 1 radish, dig a hole in it, put an appropriate amount of honey in the hole, roast it on a fire until cooked, and eat it warm, one per day. For those with cough and hoarseness, you can mash raw radish to get the juice, mix it with an appropriate amount of ginger juice, and take it together.