Traditional Chinese medicine health knowledge, treatment strategies for wind, heat, dampness, dryness and cold

For the sake of health, modern people are of course paying more and more attention to health preservation. Effective health preservation methods can make the body and mind healthier. The most popular way of maintaining health among Chinese people is naturally traditional Chinese medicine. Compared with Western medicine, Chinese medicine is closer to our daily life, and all the food in our life can achieve the effect of health preservation, so we might as well learn about the knowledge of Chinese medicine.

There is a lot of knowledge about health preservation in traditional Chinese medicine. Of course, the most subtle thing is that we can use the common ingredients around us to achieve the best health-preserving effect. So if you want to be healthy, you must not miss the health-preserving common sense around you to make your body and mind healthier.

Everyone knows that if you catch a cold, you can drink some ginger and brown sugar soup, cover yourself with a thick quilt and sweat, and then have a good sleep to feel refreshed, and the cold will be cured without treatment. ——In fact, ginger, brown sugar, garlic and green onion are all commonly used Chinese medicines in our lives. When we eat ginger, we feel that the taste is warm and spicy, which is a "warm" type of Chinese medicine.

And "mint" (such as the mint candies we eat, mint toothpaste we use, etc.) feels a bit cool. In fact, mint is also a commonly used Chinese medicine, which belongs to the "cold" type of Chinese medicine.

Why can traditional Chinese medicine cure diseases? If you have a fever, which is a heat symptom, use "cold" Chinese medicine (such as mint) to restore the body to normal; if you have a chill, which is a cold symptom, use "warm" Chinese medicine (such as ginger) to restore the body to normal and restore health.

The above is just the simplest classification method, that is to say, diseases and Chinese medicines are divided into only two categories: hot type and cold type.

In fact, the classification of traditional Chinese medicine is more detailed, generally divided into five categories: wind, heat, dampness, dryness and cold. --This division is actually a reflection of the "Five Elements".

It is easy to have "wind" in spring (wood month); it is "hot" in summer (fire month); the long summer with heavy rain produces "humid" air; it is easy to have "dry" air in autumn (metal month); and it is "cold" in winter.

Next, let’s talk about the Chinese medicines that are common or often heard in daily life:

Wind-relieving medicine: can dispel "wind" type diseases.

Ginger (hotter); mint (colder); chrysanthemum - these are the most common in life. You may not have thought that eating a mint candy or drinking a bowl of chrysanthemum tea can both have the effect of "dispersing" pathogenic factors.

Antipyretic drugs (cold and cool drugs): can eliminate "heat diseases".

Everyone will remember that during the SARS period, in order to prevent SARS with fever symptoms, Banlangen became the most popular medicine in pharmacies for a time, and it was out of stock for a long time. At that time, if you wanted to give a gift, a large bag of Banlangen was the most valuable and sentimental gift. --The symptom of SARS is fever, and the characteristic of Banlangen is that it is a "cold medicine" and can dispel fever.

Coptis chinensis is the most familiar traditional Chinese medicine. “Good medicine tastes bitter but is good for the disease” refers to Coptis chinensis.

Dehumidifying drugs: can purge and dispel dampness, resolve blood stasis and activate blood circulation, regulate qi and resolve stagnation (note: the concept of "dampness" is very broad, including phlegm, blood stasis, stagnation, etc.).

Winter melon peel is also a traditional Chinese medicine. If you have urinary obstruction, boiling the winter melon peel in soup can quickly clear the urination. Croton is something we often see in movies. Ancient people liked to play pranks on others and let them accidentally eat croton, which would cause them to have diarrhea.

Rose is also a traditional Chinese medicine; peach kernel is also a traditional Chinese medicine. You can imagine: in the martial arts novels, Huang Yaoshi on Peach Blossom Island can use roses and peach kernels to make a miraculous medicine for removing blood stasis and activating blood circulation, thus avoiding blood stasis diseases caused by martial arts fights.

Anti-dryness medicine: can eliminate "dryness diseases".

Almonds can moisturize dryness. Drinking almond tea often in autumn can moisturize dryness and open the lungs (autumn belongs to gold and lungs).

Honey is also a traditional Chinese medicine. If the elderly have dry and uncomfortable stools, honey has the effects of moisturizing and venting. Drinking some honey can help clear the intestines and facilitate bowel movements.

Anti-cold medicine (warming and hot medicine): can dispel "cold type diseases".

Sichuan peppercorns and black pepper can make people sweat profusely when eaten (Chen Peisi played a person who liked to sprinkle pepper powder and sweated profusely while eating noodles in a skit during the Spring Festival Gala). Zanthoxylum bungeanum and pepper are typical heat-type Chinese medicines.

In this way, we have a simple and intuitive understanding of traditional Chinese medicine.

In fact, we have only talked about half of traditional Chinese medicine above. Now let’s talk about the other half. Why do I say so? Because Chinese medicine includes two major categories. One category is used to "eliminate evil", that is, to expel pathogenic evil (specifically the six evils of "wind, heat, dampness, dryness, and cold" mentioned in the previous section). ——In traditional Chinese medicine, this type of disease is called "evil real".

In fact, "evil excess" is only an external cause, caused by the invasion of pathogenic factors; there is another type of situation: it is not caused by the invasion of pathogenic factors, but due to one's own weakness. In traditional Chinese medicine, this type of disease is called "positive deficiency."

"Evil excess" is divided into five categories: wind, heat, stasis, cold, and water, and "health deficiency" is also divided into five categories: yin, yang, qi, blood, and body fluids.

For "deficiency of body energy", the approach adopted by traditional Chinese medicine is to "replenish the deficiency/strengthen the body energy".

"Replenishing Yin": Turtle shell is the most common Chinese medicine for replenishing Yin. Eat a turtle to replenish your Yin. Turtles live in deep water and are "yin" so they are used to replenish yin rather than yang.

"To replenish Yang": Deer antler is used to replenish Yang. Anyone who has read the novel must remember the story that drinking deer blood can stimulate a man's sexual desire, so it becomes particularly easy to understand that deer antlers can replenish yang.

"Replenishing Qi": We have often heard that ginseng is a great tonic. In the movies, when encountering a patient who is about to die, the Chinese medicine doctor will use ginseng soup to replenish the qi. --What you may not think of is that the red dates we eat in daily life also have the same effect of replenishing qi as ginseng.

"Blood tonic": People think that the bright red wolfberry is a tonic that nourishes yin and strengthens yang. In fact, in traditional Chinese medicine, it is a good medicine for blood tonic. Similarly, donkey-hide gelatin given as a gift is also a traditional Chinese medicine used to replenish blood.

"Replenishing body fluids": It is said that the reason why the voice of Song Shixiong, a famous Chinese broadcaster, is so good is because he follows the advice of an old Chinese doctor and drinks Dendrobium tea every day. Dendrobium can produce body fluids and moisten the throat, making Song Shixiong's broadcasting more loud and mellow.

The magic of Chinese medicine health care knowledge is that it can use ordinary things around us to achieve health care effects. Of course, for many people who like Chinese medicine health care, they can still stew some health care soups in daily life. Of course, they must also cooperate with proper exercise and good work and rest habits to achieve the health care effects.