During the Spring Festival, both adults and children tend to indulge in feasting and overindulgence. Babies especially seize the opportunity to gobble up their favorite snacks. Consequently, a significant proportion of children visiting hospitals during the holiday suffer from indigestion. Proper dietary management during the festive period is crucial. We can employ certain dietary therapies to help alleviate discomfort caused by indigestion in babies.
I. Signs of Infant Indigestion
The baby may toss and turn restlessly during sleep, sometimes grinding their teeth; appetite decreases; the baby may complain of a bloated or painful stomach; other possible symptoms include nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, bad breath, warm hands and feet, yellowish skin tone, and lethargy.
II. Dietary Remedies for Infant Indigestion
1.Yam Rice Porridge
Prepare 100g dried yam slices, 100g rice or millet, and sugar to taste. Rinse the rice or millet thoroughly, then grind it with the yam slices. Place in a pot with water and simmer into porridge. Serve with sugar added to taste, or enjoy plain.
2.White Radish Porridge
Ingredients: 1 white radish, 50g rice, brown sugar to taste. Wash the radish and rice separately. Slice the radish. Add sufficient water to a pot and simmer the radish slices for about 30 minutes. Add the rice and continue cooking until the rice is tender and the broth thickens. Stir in brown sugar to taste, bring to a boil, and serve.
3. Candied Hawthorn Berries
Prepare brown sugar (or substitute white sugar/rock sugar if the child has a fever). Melt the sugar in a pan over low heat, then add pitted hawthorn berries. Stir-fry for 5-6 minutes until a sweet-tart aroma emerges.Hawthorn Malt Tea
Ingredients: Hawthorn berries (30g), raw barley malt (15g), raw rice malt (15g), dried tangerine peel (6g). Preparation: Soak ingredients for 1 hour, then simmer for 30 minutes. Yields 2–3 bowls. Drink as tea to aid digestion, relieve food stagnation, and reduce bloating.Hawthorn possesses medicinal properties. Its mildly warm nature and sour-sweet taste aid digestion, resolve food stagnation, promote blood circulation, and disperse phlegm. For those feeling bloated after overeating, hawthorn helps digest food and relieves chest and abdominal distension.
2. Apple-Pear Lean Meat Soup
Ingredients: Apples (3), Pears (2), Chinese Yam (15-30g), Southern Apricot Kernels (15g), Northern Apricot Kernels (10g), Lean Meat (as needed).Preparation: Cut apples and pears into chunks. Simmer with remaining ingredients to make soup. This soup promotes gastrointestinal motility and aids digestion. 3. Seven-Vegetable Congee Overindulgence in chicken, duck, fish, and meat often leads to indigestion. Consuming Seven-Vegetable Congee during holidays helps cleanse the digestive tract and regulate digestive system function.
Method:
1. Rinse rice thoroughly and place in a clay pot. Add sufficient water and simmer over low heat for 30-40 minutes. During cooking, slightly lift the lid to allow excess water to evaporate;
2.Wash and finely chop a suitable amount of seven vegetables (spinach, celery, cilantro, mustard greens, chives, scallions, garlic). Add them to the pot about 5 minutes before the porridge is done, along with a small amount of salt;
3. Once cooked, ladle the porridge into bowls and sprinkle with black and white sesame seeds before serving.Benefits: The vegetables in the porridge are rich in vitamins and trace elements, aiding digestion and promoting stomach health. Spinach contains the highest levels of vitamins and iron; celery aids digestion and lowers blood pressure; cilantro aids digestion and helps clear rashes; mustard greens warm the middle burner and eliminate phlegm; chives warm the kidneys, boost yang energy, disperse blood stasis, and promote blood circulation; scallions dispel cold and strengthen the stomach.Garlic possesses potent antibacterial properties, promotes gastric juice secretion, and aids digestion. 4. Hawthorn for Fat Reduction Research indicates hawthorn ranks first among fruits for fat-reducing capabilities. Thus, people traditionally consume hawthorn to aid digestion when experiencing gastrointestinal discomfort.However, unlike apples or bananas, hawthorn berries are often too tart and unpalatable when eaten raw. Thus, they are typically processed into snacks, with hawthorn slices being the most common form.For men who aren't big on snacks, hawthorn offers another delicious option. Today we introduce this hawthorn pork jerky, which nourishes yin, moistens dryness, aids digestion, and eliminates food stagnation. It's sure to become your go-to tasty treat for post-holiday digestive recovery. Ingredients: Hawthorn berries, lean pork, ginger, scallions, Sichuan peppercorns, cooking wine, sugar, MSG, sesame oil.Method:
1. Place half the hawthorn berries in a pot with water (slightly more than needed). Bring to a boil over high heat, then add pork. Simmer until 60% cooked, then remove.
3. Heat oil in a wok until 70% hot. Add pork strips and fry until lightly golden. Remove with a strainer.
4. Drain oil. Add remaining hawthorn berries and briefly fry. Return pork to wok. Stir-fry repeatedly until cooked through. Plate, drizzle with sesame oil, sprinkle with MSG and sugar. Toss to combine.
5. Red and White Radish Soup
Ingredients: Dried tangerine peel (2-4 pieces), red radish (200g), white radish (500g); Preparation: Cut red and white radishes into chunks. Simmer with dried tangerine peel for about 1 hour. Yields 3–4 bowls.
6. Green Papaya and Pork Rib Soup
Ingredients: Green papaya (1), pork ribs (as needed); Preparation: Peel and seed the green papaya, cut into chunks, and simmer with pork ribs to make soup.Green papaya is rich in vitamin C, carotene, minerals, carbohydrates, and contains minimal acidity. It also contains a type of fibrous protein rarely found in the human body, which is easily digested by gastric and pancreatic juices. This protein is highly valuable for promoting blood coagulation both internally and externally. The enzymes in papaya greatly aid human digestive function.
7. Polygonum Multiflorum Tea
Ingredients: Polygonum multiflorum, black plum, red dates, dried tangerine peel
Preparation: Combine Polygonum multiflorum with 1 black plum, 3 red dates, and 6g dried tangerine peel in a cup. Pour boiling water over the mixture, cover, and steep for 10 minutes. Drink twice daily, 30 minutes before meals.
Benefits: He Shou Wu enters the Liver and Kidney meridians. It nourishes the Liver and Kidneys, enriches essence and blood, moistens the intestines to relieve constipation, detoxifies, and suppresses malaria. Clinically used for dizziness, insomnia, premature graying, weak knees and lower back, poor bone health, poor digestion, constipation, and weak gastrointestinal function.When combined with black plum, red dates, and dried tangerine peel, He Shou Wu tea clears the mind, nourishes the spirit, strengthens the spleen, and stimulates appetite.
While feasting is inevitable during the Spring Festival, don't forget to prioritize your health!