What to Eat for a Cough in Autumn: Ten Foods That Soothe Coughs and Moisturize the Lungs

The autumn weather is very dry, and the incidence of respiratory diseases suddenly rises, making cough the most common symptom in autumn. Many people experience symptoms such as dry cough with phlegm and chapped lips and a dry mouth. A persistent cough can easily damage the lungs and even lead to pneumonia. The editor reminds you that for an autumn cough, you might want to eat more of the following 10 foods, which can relieve coughs, reduce phlegm, and moisten the lungs.

1. Winter Melon

Winter melon is cool in nature and can resolve phlegm and clear heat. "The Materia Medica of Southern Yunnan" says: "Winter melon moistens the lungs, clears heat-phlegm, and stops coughs." Those with wind-heat cough or lung-heat cough should choose winter melon stew for consumption. Research has found that the malic acid contained in winter melon can effectively inhibit the conversion of carbohydrates into fat. Coupled with the fact that winter melon itself is fat-free and low in calories, it is of great significance for preventing weight gain and can help maintain a beautiful figure.

Moreover, the seeds and skin of winter melon can also be used as medicine. The flesh and pulp of winter melon have diuretic, heat-clearing, phlegm-resolving, and thirst-quenching effects. It can also treat conditions like edema, phlegmatic wheezing, summer heat, and hemorrhoids. Drinking winter melon soup with the skin on can achieve the effects of reducing swelling, promoting urination, clearing heat, and relieving summer heat.

Osmanthus Winter Melon Tea

2. Pear

Pears are sweet and slightly sour, and cool in nature, entering the lung and stomach meridians. They have the effects of promoting fluid production, moistening dryness, clearing heat, resolving phlegm, and detoxifying alcohol. They are used for dry cough, thirst, and constipation caused by injury to yin from febrile diseases or yin deficiency, as well as for vexation, thirst, cough, and yellow phlegm caused by internal heat. Moreover, in addition to being eaten raw, pears can also be used to make wine, pear paste, preserved pears, and for medicinal purposes. For example, pear fruit can treat a hot cough, and applying its slices can treat fire burns. Its pounded juice can moisten the lungs, cool the heart, and resolve toxins from sores and alcohol. Pear flowers can remove dark spots and acne; pear leaf decoction can treat wind-cold and infantile hernia; and its bark can remove stagnant qi and coughing. If consumed with juice from water chestnuts, honey, or sugarcane, the effect is even better.

Celery and Pear Smoothie

3. Almonds

In autumn, it is easy for body fluids to be consumed by autumn dryness, leading to a dry mouth and throat pain. Almonds can moisten the lungs and stop coughs, providing some relief for dry cough without phlegm and chronic cough due to lung deficiency. Almonds are divided into sweet and bitter almonds, among which sweet almonds have a better effect in moistening the lungs. Moreover, sweet almonds not only contain rich unsaturated fats, vitamin E, high-quality protein, and dietary fiber, but also minerals like calcium, magnesium, zinc, and iron, which are easily absorbed by the body. Eating them in the summer can not only beautify the skin but also has a weight-loss effect. Recent scientific research has also shown that sweet almonds can promote skin microcirculation, making the skin ruddy and lustrous, and have a beautifying effect.

Almond and Purple Sweet Potato Cake

4. Pomegranate

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, pomegranate has the effect of promoting fluid production and stopping vexation and thirst. For those with insufficient body fluids, a dry mouth, and a sore throat, pomegranate can be pounded for juice or decocted for drinking to clear heat and toxins, moisten the lungs, and stop coughs. Pomegranate is a berry with rich nutritional value, and its vitamin C content is 1-2 times higher than that of apples and pears. It is native to China's Western Regions and was spread to the Central Plains during the Han Dynasty. After pomegranates ripen, the whole fruit can be used: the peel can be used as medicine, and the fruit can be eaten or juiced. It has high nutritional value for the health of the elderly, so the elderly should eat pomegranates regularly. Pomegranate is a rare berry with high nutritional value in its fruit.

Research has found that pomegranates contain large amounts of organic acids, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, and potassium. Traditional Chinese Medicine believes that pomegranate has the effects of clearing heat, detoxifying, pacifying the liver, nourishing blood, activating blood circulation, and stopping diarrhea. It is suitable for patients with jaundice hepatitis, asthma, and chronic diarrhea, as well as women with excessively long menstrual periods.

Pomegranate Juice

5. Tofu

Tofu is extremely nutritious, containing iron, magnesium, potassium, niacin, copper, calcium, zinc, phosphorus, folic acid, vitamin B1, lecithin, and vitamin B6. In every 100 grams of firm tofu, water accounts for 69.8%, it contains 15.7 grams of protein, 8.6 grams of fat, 4.3 grams of carbohydrates, and 0.1 grams of fiber, providing 611.2 kilojoules of energy. Tofu also has the effect of clearing heat and moistening dryness. "The Essentials of the Medical Forest" says: "Tofu clears heat, stops coughs, and resolves phlegm." It is especially suitable for coughs of the wind-heat or lung-heat type.

Moreover, the high amino acid and protein content in tofu makes it an excellent supplementary food for grains. 78% of the fat in tofu is unsaturated fatty acid and it contains no cholesterol, earning it the name "plant meat." The digestibility and absorption rate of tofu is over 95%. Two small pieces of tofu can meet a person's daily calcium requirement.

Prawns and Tofu Casserole