Introduction: The weather is dry now, which can easily lead to "heatiness" (上火), and heatiness can cause symptoms like a sore throat. At this time, you need to pay attention to your diet. Spicy foods and "warming" fruits should not be eaten, such as longan, lychee, durian, pomegranate, cherries, oranges, etc. Because these fruits are considered "warming," the more you eat, the more "heat" builds up in your body, and the harder it is for your illness to recover. So, what fruits are good to eat when you have a sore throat? Below are several fruits commonly recommended for sore throats.
1. Cherry
Cherry is sweet and sour in taste, and warm in nature. It has the effects of nourishing blood and beautifying the skin, and warming the spleen and stomach. Modern research shows that cherries are rich in iron, as well as citric acid and vitamin C, making them an excellent fruit for blood nourishment. Being the first fruit to ripen, it is honored as the "first branch of spring fruits." For patients with pharyngitis, it can enhance spleen and stomach function and boost the immune system.
2. Pear
Pear is sweet and sour in taste, and cool in nature. It has the effects of promoting the production of body fluids to quench thirst, moistening the lungs to stop coughing, and nourishing yin to reduce fire. Pears are rich in water and vitamin C, making them an excellent fruit for adapting to the dry autumn climate. Pears are effective for dry throat, hoarseness, and thick phlegm caused by upper respiratory tract infections. Steaming pears with Fritillaria powder (川贝母粉) is a good remedy for persistent coughing. Pears are rich in potassium and can also lower blood pressure; cooked pears help the kidneys excrete uric acid and may prevent gout.
Snow Pear and Tremella Soup
3. Sugarcane
Sugarcane is sweet, neutral, and non-toxic. It mainly promotes the descent of qi, harmonizes the middle jiao, aids the spleen, benefits the large intestine, resolves phlegm, quenches thirst, relieves vexation and heat in the chest, and detoxifies. Sugarcane can purge heat-fire, relieve heat and thirst, harmonize the middle jiao and widen the diaphragm, promote the production of body fluids and moisten dryness, aid the spleen and stomach, and promote urination and nourishment. It can be used for dry mouth and tongue, insufficient body fluids, difficult urination, constipation, nausea and vomiting, indigestion, and fever with thirst. Raw sugarcane juice is sweet and cold in nature, suitable for heat-damage to body fluids, vexation and thirst, high fever with dark urine, and dry lung cough. For febrile diseases, drinking raw sugarcane juice is considered best, likened to "Heavenly Pulse-Regulating Soup." Patients with pharyngitis can eat it raw or cooked. Cooked sugarcane juice has a tonic effect on patients with pharyngitis.
4. Loquat
The entire loquat plant can be used as medicine, and its fruit can moisten the lungs and promote urination, clear heat and strengthen the spleen, and has a good nourishing effect on the liver. It is rich in vitamin C, an anti-scorbutic factor. Loquat can relieve coughing, moisten the lungs, promote urination, strengthen the stomach, and clear heat, providing a moisturizing effect for patients with chronic pharyngitis. It is an important nutritional and health fruit in early summer. However, it should be avoided by patients with vitiligo, as vitamin C can inhibit melanin deposition.
Clear and Moistening Loquat Syrup
5. Pomelo
Pomelo has tender and soft flesh, a light and sweet fragrance, and is rich in nutrition. Its vitamin C content is more than 20 times that of an apple. It is a nutritious fruit, rich in carbohydrates, vitamins, phosphorus, iron, citric acid, insulin, and various vitamins and amino acids. It has the effects of nourishing blood and qi, moistening the lungs to resolve phlegm, stopping coughing and wheezing, and lowering cholesterol. It has a good auxiliary therapeutic effect on sore throat, high blood pressure, diabetes, and coronary heart disease.
6. Bayberry
Bayberry contains various organic acids, and eating it raw can promote the production of body fluids and moisten dryness. It has a certain alleviating effect on sore throat, dryness, and itching cough. Bayberry is very rich in vitamin C, which can not only directly participate in the body's sugar metabolism and redox processes and enhance the permeability of capillaries, but also has the effects of lowering blood lipids and preventing cancer cells from forming in the body. The fruit acid it contains can whet the appetite and promote the production of body fluids, aid digestion and relieve summer heat, and also prevent the body's sugar from converting to fat, which helps with weight loss. Bayberry has an inhibitory effect on bacteria such as *Escherichia coli* and *Shigella dysenteriae*, and can treat dysentery and abdominal pain, and is effective for those with persistent diarrhea. Bayberry contains vitamins B and C, which have a positive effect in preventing cancer. Cyanamide and fatty oil in the bayberry kernel also have an inhibitory effect on cancer cells. Furthermore, it has a certain preventive and therapeutic effect on laryngeal cancer.
Bayberry Ice Jelly
Breakfast egg roll
- Soccer fish chops
A chicken ham fort without sugar