Introduction: In spring, as the weather warms, people with poor adaptability often experience poor appetite and drowsiness throughout the day. This is mainly caused by excessive dampness in the spleen and stomach. While a thousand colds are easy to dispel, one dampness is difficult to remove. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, dampness is considered one of the six major pathogenic factors. So, how can one remove dampness from the body? Below are ten foods recommended for removing dampness in spring, so you don't become a "damp" person this spring.
1. Winter Melon
Many people may not know that besides being a common vegetable, winter melon peel and seeds are also used in Chinese medicine. Winter melon is sweet in taste and cold in nature, with the effects of clearing heat, promoting urination, and reducing swelling. Winter melon is low in sodium and has a good auxiliary therapeutic effect on arteriosclerosis, liver cirrhosis with ascites, coronary heart disease, hypertension, nephritis, and edema.历代本草记载, 冬瓜皮能治肿胀、消热毒、利小便. 冬瓜利水作用较强，容易水肿的人应该常吃。煮汤效果好，需少加盐，淡食为佳。
Shrimp and Winter Melon
2. Red Beans
Red beans have excellent effects on moisturizing the skin, nourishing complexion, moisturizing dryness, and relieving itching. At the same time, their function of transforming dampness and tonifying the spleen is also outstanding. Red beans are very suitable for patients with a weak spleen and stomach, and they also have a good therapeutic effect on hypertension, edema, heatstroke, and stomach discomfort. Red beans also have the effect of removing dampness. Medical experts tell us that if the body's fluid cannot flow with qi and blood, but stagnates in the cells for a long time, the body will become obese as the fluid increases. Red beans are rich in vitamin B group, as well as iron, protein, and fat, which gives them the effects of removing dampness, clearing heat, and promoting urination.
Honeyed Red Beans
3. Chinese Yam
Chinese yam is sweet in taste and neutral in nature, and it acts on the spleen, lung, and kidney meridians. It has multiple functions such as strengthening the spleen, tonifying the lungs, securing the kidneys, and benefiting essence. In history, it was known as one of the "Four Famous Huai Medicines" along with Achyranthes, Rehmannia, and Chrysanthemum, and was sold abroad. There is a saying that "Among the Four Famous Huai Medicines, Chinese yam ranks first, and among the yam family, the iron-rod variety is the king." In spring, pairing Chinese yam with other ingredients has a good effect on strengthening the spleen and removing dampness. "Compendium of Materia Medica" believes that Chinese yam can "benefit kidney qi, strengthen the spleen and stomach, stop diarrhea and dysentery, transform phlegm, and moisten the skin." Recent research has shown that Chinese yam can induce interferon and enhance the body's immune function. The choline and lecithin it contains help improve human memory. Regular consumption can strengthen the body, delay aging, and is a favorite health food for people.
Chinese Yam and Shrimp Congee
4. Corn
Corn is sweet and neutral in nature, strengthening the spleen and whetting the appetite, and promoting urination and relieving strangury. Corn is rich in fiber, which can not only stimulate gastrointestinal motility and prevent constipation, but also promote cholesterol metabolism and accelerate the excretion of toxins in the intestines. Corn oil, pressed from the germ, contains a large amount of unsaturated fatty acids, of which linoleic acid accounts for 60%, which can remove harmful cholesterol from the blood and prevent arteriosclerosis. Corn contains lysine and trace element selenium, which have the effect of preventing tumors. Corn is also rich in B vitamins and niacin, which are effective in protecting nerve conduction and gastrointestinal function, and preventing beriberi and myocarditis.
Pea, Corn, and Shrimp Stir-fry
5. Coix Seed (Job's Tear)
Coix seed is sweet, bland, and slightly cold in nature. It has the effects of promoting urination to reduce swelling, strengthening the spleen to remove dampness, relaxing muscles to relieve arthralgia, and clearing heat to discharge pus. It is a commonly used diuretic and dampness-removing medicine. Coix seed is also a beauty food. Regular consumption can keep the skin shiny and delicate, eliminate acne, freckles, age spots, chloasma, and has a good effect on desquamation, acne, chapping, and rough skin. If you feel that your body has dampness, such as issues related to turbid fluid in the body, such as effusion, edema, eczema, abscesses, etc., coix seed is your best helper. "Coix seed is best at promoting urination without damaging the true yin. It is most suitable for dampness that is abundant in the lower body." TCM often uses it to treat spleen deficiency with diarrhea, soreness and heaviness in the muscles, joint pain, edema, and beriberi.
Burdock and Coix Seed Pork Rib Soup