Diet therapy to relieve dryness and resolve the four internal fires

"Shanghuo" is a term in traditional Chinese medicine, which refers to an internal heat syndrome that occurs when the yin and yang of the human body are out of balance. If you experience symptoms such as dry and sore throat, red eyes, hot nasal cavity, dry mouth, sore mouth, nosebleeds, toothache, etc., Chinese medicine believes that you are "getting angry". According to the five internal organs, there are mainly several types of fire: stomach fire, heart fire, liver fire, and lung fire.

Eating disorders trigger the first fire: stomach fire

Typical symptoms: acne, swollen gums, sore corners of mouth

Stomach fire can be divided into two types: false and real. False fire is manifested by mild cough, poor appetite, constipation, red tongue, and little coating. These people generally have a chronic stomach disease, which is called "deficiency of stomach yin and loss of body fluid" in traditional Chinese medicine, coupled with irregular living habits and fatigue causing stomach fire. During the Chinese New Year, the most common fire is the real fire caused by eating, "spicy and strong liquor, rich and greasy food", which is manifested by upper abdominal discomfort, dry and bitter mouth, and dry and hard stools.

Fire prevention tips: Eat more whole grains and drink more water

Since the heat is caused by eating, the way to deal with it should be to address the source of eating. In our daily lives, we don’t eat enough whole grains. Eating more whole grains can prevent stomach fire. Overeating spicy, barbecued and other irritating foods will damage the spleen and stomach, cause internal heat, and in severe cases, cause erosions at the corners of the mouth.

To deal with this kind of "fire", you should eat more whole grains such as beans, millet, and green fresh vegetables to increase the variety of food intake. The second thing is to eat more light food. During the holidays, many young people sleep less than usual, which causes their internal heat to increase. Many girls also like to eat while playing, and they always have snacks such as melon seeds, peanuts, chocolate, etc. in their hands. Too much calories accumulate in the body, and many pimples appear on the face. This kind of "fire" comes from internal heat, so the lighter the food, the more beneficial it is to improving skin conditions. In addition, drinking plenty of water is a good habit, which can speed up the body's metabolism.

Heat-reducing food recipes

Lily and Mung Bean Porridge

The ability of lily and mung bean to clear away heat, detoxify and reduce fire is recognized by everyone. Mung bean tastes sweet and is cool in nature. It has the effects of clearing away heat and detoxifying, relieving heat and relieving restlessness, quenching thirst and strengthening the stomach, and promoting diuresis and reducing swelling. Eating lilies regularly can moisten the lungs and clear the heart, and can relieve cough, stop bleeding, and stimulate the appetite. It is also relatively simple to make. Boil the mung beans and lilies for 15 minutes, then add the rice and bring to a boil, then turn to low heat and simmer until the porridge is of appropriate thickness, then add rock sugar as needed.

Water chestnut and lotus root soup

Select 250 grams each of water chestnuts and fresh lotus root, boil them together and add appropriate amount of rock sugar. Eat it in three days, it has the effect of moistening the stomach, cooling blood and reducing fire.

Often staying up late triggers the second fire: liver fire

Typical symptoms: headache, dizziness, unstable sleep, temper tantrum

Staying up late often disrupts the body's normal work and rest schedule. The liver cannot rest and detoxify as scheduled, so it has to work overtime to remove accumulated impurities and toxins in the body. This undoubtedly increases the burden on the liver itself, and the liver fire will be "ignited" accordingly. No wonder some people become grumpy during long holidays. In fact, it has a lot to do with lack of sleep.

Some liver fire may also manifest as headache, dizziness, tinnitus, dry eyes, dry mouth, bitter taste in the mouth, bad breath, pain in the ribs, unstable sleep, stuffy body, thick tongue coating, etc.

Fire prevention tips: stabilize your emotions and get enough sleep

People with high blood pressure and a quick temper should be careful to prevent liver fire. This is called "yang qi is strong" in traditional Chinese medicine. Try not to get angry, "anger can easily generate fire, which can easily damage the liver." It can cause liver qi to accumulate in the body, which can lead to liver qi stagnation and poor blood circulation. To prevent liver fire, sleep is very important. Try to fall asleep before 12 o'clock every night. If you can't stay up late, you must make up for it with sleep afterwards.

To prevent excessive liver fire, in addition to getting enough sleep and relaxing, some simple herbs or foods can also help clear the fire. People with excessive liver fire should eat more cool foods such as black fungus, chrysanthemum and lotus seeds. Eat less spicy, fishy, ​​greasy, sour, fried foods, as well as lamb, shrimp, fatty meat, black plums, etc., so as not to "add fuel to the fire".

Heat-reducing food recipes

Fried Pork Liver with Black Fungus

As the saying goes, you are what you eat, and to deal with liver fire, you also need to nourish the liver. Stir-fried pork liver with black fungus is effective in calming liver fire. Choose about 40 grams of fungus and 240 grams of pork liver.

Soak the fungus until soft, cut off the hard lumps at the bottom, and then cut into thick strips; wash and wipe dry the pork liver, then cut into thick slices, add in the marinade and marinate for about 10 minutes; heat up a pan, add 2 tablespoons of oil, sauté the ginger slices, add the pork liver slices and stir-fry over high heat until cooked; then add the fungus strips and green onions, stir-fry evenly, add a little sugar and salt to taste and serve.

Wolfberry Chrysanthemum Tea

To prevent the rise of liver fire, you can also drink wolfberry chrysanthemum tea. The method is as follows: boil the wolfberries for 30 minutes, then add the chrysanthemum and boil for another 3 minutes. It can be used as tea. It is suitable for people who use their brain frequently.

Excessive thinking leads to the third fire: heart fire

Typical symptoms: oral ulcers, sore throat, dry throat, insomnia

Traditional Chinese medicine says that "overthinking and worrying will drain your energy", which roughly means that if you overwork your mind, you will easily damage your mind. If you are too happy in your daily life or work too hard at housework, you will have "heart fire and uneasy mind", which means you have heart fire.

Heart fire can also be divided into false and real. Generally speaking, the false fire manifests as low fever, night sweats, palpitations, irritability, insomnia, forgetfulness, etc. The elderly, especially those with cardiovascular diseases, often have such symptoms; the real fire manifests as recurrent oral ulcers, short and red urine, irritability, etc., which are more common in young and middle-aged people with strong bodies.

Fire prevention tips: stabilize your emotions and get enough sleep

Since heart fire is mostly caused by fatigue or excessive happiness, the way to deal with it should also start from these two aspects. In normal times, you need to control your emotions, reduce tension, and worry less. In particular, reduce thinking about those troublesome things that are delayed, complicated to deal with, and involve many interpersonal relationships, so as to avoid excessive anger and induce cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Eating more vegetables and fruits can help control heart fire. Stay away from spicy food, tobacco and alcohol, and exercise more. You can eat more foods that are cold in nature and bitter in taste, such as bitter gourd, bitter herbs, lily, and kuding tea, and eat more sour jujube, red dates, lily or clean animal placenta to nourish the heart and kidneys.

Heat-reducing food recipes

Rock Sugar Lotus Seed Soup

People with rising internal heat can often drink rock sugar lotus seed soup which can clear the heart and moisten dryness. "Compendium of Materia Medica" records that lotus seeds "clear the heart and remove heat", eliminate irritability and heat, clear heart fire, nourish the heart and calm the nerves, and it has a good therapeutic effect on irritability and insomnia caused by internal heart fire.

Stir-fried bitter melon with ginkgo

Eating appropriate amounts of bitter food in winter can help reduce heart heat. Choose 1-2 bitter gourds and 20 ginkgo nuts. Wash the ginkgo nuts and the bitter gourd, and cut them into cubes; soak the bitter gourd and ginkgo nuts in boiling water for a while, and immediately remove them for later use; add a little oil to a wok, add the ginkgo nuts, bitter gourd and seasonings and stir-fry until cooked; thicken with starch and serve on a plate. But it should be noted that you should not eat too many ginkgo nuts at one time, and each person should not eat more than 10 nuts.

Repeated colds trigger the fourth fire: lung fire

Typical symptoms: sore throat, dry mouth and thirst

Autumn is also the peak season for respiratory diseases. People who frequently go in and out of public places and air-conditioned rooms are naturally prone to various respiratory diseases. In traditional Chinese medicine, these are all triggers of lung fire. People with high lung fire often have dry mouth and nose, hot breath, and are prone to catching colds. After catching a cold, they will have symptoms such as high fever, cough, thick and sticky yellow phlegm, red tongue and yellow coating. Some children cannot cover themselves with quilts when they sleep, like to lie on their stomachs, like to eat cold drinks, and have red lips, which are also manifestations of excessive lung fire.

Fire prevention tips: Keep warm and add or remove clothes in time

Since respiratory diseases such as colds are the cause of lung fire, the first thing to prevent lung fire is to take good warming measures and add or remove clothes when entering and leaving air-conditioned rooms. To eliminate lung heat, you can also use the breathing and coughing method to wash the lungs. Through deep breathing and active coughing, you can help the respiratory tract expel secretions and enhance immunity. You can choose a place with fresh air and breathe in and out repeatedly to expel the gas in your lungs as much as possible. In addition, coughing a few times a day is also an active protective reflex action that can effectively clean the lungs.

Heat-reducing food recipes

Tremella and pear soup: choose 50 grams of tremella and two pears. Cut the pear into pieces, add 500 ml of water to the white fungus and boil it for 20 minutes. Add a little rock sugar and drink it to moisten the lungs and relieve cough.

In the eyes of many people, "getting angry" is really a minor problem and can be cured by drinking some herbal tea. If it doesn't work, you can take some Niuhuang Jiedu Pills or Qingyan Lihuo Tablets. In fact, although the symptoms of "getting hot" are similar, everyone's physique is different and the treatment methods are also different. Especially for real fire and false fire, the treatment is exactly the opposite. If it is obviously false fire, but you are still using the method of treating real fire to treat it, it will undoubtedly add fuel to the fire. Therefore, if you encounter something that is difficult to grasp, you must seek expert help in a timely manner.