Fall Diet Blacklist 1. Ginger
The weather in autumn is dry, and the body is prone to "heatiness" (上火), which easily damages the lungs. Ginger is warm and pungent. During cooking, a lot of its moisture is evaporated. Therefore, eating too much ginger in autumn most easily damages the lungs and causes heatiness, leading to adverse reactions such as coughing and a sore throat, and aggravating the harm of autumn dryness to the body. Therefore, one should eat less ginger in autumn.
However, as a kitchen staple, it's impossible to completely avoid ginger. Moreover, eating ginger in moderation can effectively alleviate a cold constitution. So, if you have a cold constitution, you can eat some ginger in moderation, but not too much.
Fall Diet Blacklist 2. Barbecue
Barbecue is not only fragrant, but also has a special texture with a variety of seasonings. Although the weather in autumn is not as hot as in summer, it is still a season where one is prone to heatiness. Barbecue is a relatively "hot" and dry food, and the various seasonings used are also "heaty" in nature. Eating it requires a lot of saliva to participate in the digestive process, which can easily deplete the body's fluids, leading to heatiness and aggravating the symptoms of autumn dryness.
Fall Diet Blacklist 3. Cold Drinks
Due to the dry autumn weather, people can sometimes feel inexplicably irritable and easily angered. When in a bad temper, one might really want to eat a popsicle or drink an iced beverage to "cool down," but the harm of eating cold drinks in autumn is significant.
Autumn is characterized by large temperature differences between day and night, and the temperature is relatively low, making the human immune system susceptible to invasion. If you consume a lot of cold drinks at this time, it will lower the temperature in the stomach, thereby affecting gastric acid secretion and the action of digestive enzymes, and impacting the stomach's normal digestion.
Moreover, if you drink cold drinks on an empty stomach, it can irritate the stomach and intestines, causing stomach cramps. This can lead to a decrease in gastrointestinal immunity, weakened digestive capacity, and result in discomfort such as diarrhea.