White radish is widely used in both diet and traditional Chinese medicine. In daily life, we often boil white radish in water to drink, which can promote qi, aid digestion, and prevent colds. Li Shizhen, in his "Compendium of Materia Medica," explicitly stated that radish can "descend qi, eliminate food stagnation, harmonize the middle jiao, and expel pathogenic heat." There is even a folk saying, "Eating radish often keeps all illnesses away." Skillfully using radish boiled in water as tea can prevent colds.
Specific method: Take 250 grams of fresh, juicy white radish, no need to peel. Wash and cut it into thin slices. Add three bowls of water and boil it down to two bowls. Drink one bowl while it is hot (you can add sugar to taste according to your preference). One hour later, warm up and drink the second bowl. Follow this method for two to three consecutive days to effectively prevent colds.
It should be noted that because radish is cooling in nature, people with a weak spleen and stomach constitution, or those with a yin-cold constitution, should not eat too much. Furthermore, patients with duodenal ulcers, stomach ulcers, and chronic gastritis should avoid radish. Moreover, given that radish promotes and breaks qi, people taking traditional Chinese medicine, especially tonifying herbs like Ginseng and Astragalus, should not consume radish at the same time, to avoid the effort of "one tonifying and one breaking canceling each other out."