The 24 solar terms span all four seasons. Due to varying climates, natural wellness practices differ accordingly. Seasonal diets should incorporate distinct foods. As White Dew marks autumn's arrival, adhering to the "nourish yin in autumn and winter" principle is essential. So what should one eat during White Dew for wellness? Let's explore.
Best Foods for White-Collar Wellness
1. Silver Ear Mushroom
Benefits: Boosts qi, harmonizes blood, nourishes yin, and moistens dryness.
Applications: Suitable for lung dryness cough, gastrointestinal heat, yin deficiency with fluid depletion.
Preparation: Wash, soak until plump, then stew in water until tender.
Consumption: Serve as a side dish or eat alone.
Explanation: Also known as white fungus, silver ear mushroom has a sweet taste and neutral nature, entering the lung and stomach meridians. Compared to black fungus, it has a slightly cooling nature and stronger yin-nourishing and fluid-generating effects. The Compendium of Materia Medica records: "Fungus benefits qi, alleviates hunger, lightens the body, and strengthens the will."The Daily Use also mentions: "It treats intestinal disorders with bloody stools and cools the blood." Silver ear fungus is a precious tonic with restorative properties. It effectively addresses symptoms such as dry mouth, thirst, constipation, dry throat, dry cough, hemoptysis, and irregular menstruation caused by lung and stomach yin deficiency.
Applications: Suitable for treating dizziness due to physical weakness, tinnitus or deafness, and intestinal dryness with constipation.
Preparation: Consume raw or stir-fry until cooked, then grind finely into sesame paste.
Usage: Serve as a side dish with meals.
Explanation: Sesame, also known as Chinese sesame, has a sweet taste and neutral nature, entering the Liver and Kidney meridians. The Compendium of Materia Medica records: Sesame benefits those with internal injuries and debility, nourishes the five viscera, enhances vitality, builds muscle, replenishes marrow and brain essence. Long-term use lightens the body and delays aging.The Supplement to the Materia Medica also states: "It strengthens tendons and bones, sharpens hearing and vision, endures hunger and thirst, and prolongs life. It treats wounds and alleviates pain, as well as addresses weakness and exhaustion from feverish conditions like cold damage, malaria, or severe vomiting." Sesame has long been regarded as a longevity food, rich in protein, fats, calcium, phosphorus, and other trace elements, with iron being its most abundant component.
3. Soybeans
Effects: Strengthens the spleen, soothes the stomach, moistens dryness, and eliminates water retention.
Applications: Suitable for malnutrition-related diarrhea, pregnancy-induced toxemia, and abscesses or swellings.
Preparation: Consume as cooked food or soy milk, or grind into powder for external application.
Usage: Eat as a side dish.
Explanation: Soybeans are sweet in taste and neutral in nature, entering the spleen and large intestine meridians. Rich in protein and other nutrients, they are hailed as the "king of beans." Their quality rivals animal protein and they are highly beneficial for preventing rickets in children and osteoporosis in the elderly. The iron in soybeans is abundant and easily absorbed. Regular consumption can lower cholesterol levels.
4. Lotus Root
Benefits: Relieves irritability, stimulates appetite, nourishes the spleen, and strengthens the heart.
Applications: Suitable for lung-heat cough, restlessness with thirst, and poor appetite.
Preparation: Wash thoroughly, then mash into juice or steam for consumption.
Usage: Drink as juice or consume with meals.
Explanation: Lotus root is sweet in taste, neutral in nature, non-toxic, and enters the Heart, Spleen, and Stomach meridians. The Compendium of Materia Medica states: Lotus root treats thirst from heat, disperses retained blood, and promotes tissue regeneration. Long-term use brings joy to the heart. The Great Ming also notes: Juice taken orally relieves oppression, calms restlessness, stimulates appetite, treats cholera, and alleviates postpartum blood stasis.Meng Shen stated: "Postpartum women should avoid raw and cold foods, but lotus root is exempt, as it disperses blood stasis." This means lotus root enters the Heart and Spleen meridians, clears heat, dissipates stasis, and promotes the smooth flow of blood and qi.
White Dew Seasonal Tonics Recipe Recommendations
1. Glutinous Rice and Donkey-Hide Gelatin Porridge
Ingredients: 30g donkey-hide gelatin, 50-60g glutinous rice, brown sugar to taste.
Preparation: Cook glutinous rice into porridge. When nearly done, add crushed donkey-hide gelatin while stirring continuously. Add brown sugar and simmer for two to three boils.
Usage: Consume warm in the morning and evening daily. One course of treatment lasts three days. Take intermittently; continuous consumption may cause chest tightness and bloating discomfort.
Benefits: Nourishes blood, stops bleeding, moistens yin, and calms the mind.
Indications: Dizziness, blurred vision, dull complexion, palpitations, insomnia, forgetfulness, delayed menstruation, scanty pale menstrual flow, amenorrhea, persistent vaginal bleeding, fetal restlessness, threatened abortion with bleeding, chronic cough with hemoptysis, hematemesis, epistaxis, bloody stools, pulmonary tuberculosis with hemoptysis, bronchiectasis hemorrhage, etc., caused by deficiency of yin and blood.
Caution: Avoid during colds or when experiencing chest tightness, abdominal distension, poor appetite, and thick greasy tongue coating.
2. Glehnia and Goji Berry Porridge
Ingredients: 15–20g Glehnia root, 15–20g Goji berries, 3–5g rose petals, 100g japonica rice, rock sugar to taste.
Preparation: First decoct the sand ginseng to extract its juice, then strain out the residue. Place the decoction, goji berries, and japonica rice into an earthenware pot. Add an appropriate amount of water and simmer over low heat until porridge forms. When nearly done, add rose petals and rock sugar, stir well, and simmer briefly.
Usage: Consume warm, morning and evening.
Effects: Nourishes yin, moistens dryness, enriches blood, and improves vision.
Indications: Dry cough with scant phlegm, blood-streaked sputum, dry throat, hoarseness, epigastric burning pain, hunger without appetite, dry heaving, dizziness, blurred vision, dry eyes, and low-grade fever in palms and soles caused by yin and blood deficiency.
Caution: Avoid if cough is caused by external wind-cold invasion.
3. Ginseng and Lily Rice Porridge
Ingredients: 3g ginseng, 15-25g lily bulbs, 50g japonica rice, rock sugar to taste.
Preparation: Grind ginseng into powder; peel and remove filaments from lily bulbs, wash and chop finely. Combine all ingredients with japonica rice in an earthenware pot. Add sufficient water and simmer over low heat until porridge forms. When nearly done, stir in rock sugar and cook briefly.
Usage: Consume warm morning and evening.
Efficacy: Tonifies qi and nourishes yin; moistens lungs and calms spirit.
Indications: For palpitations, shortness of breath, thirst, fatigue, chronic wasting, insomnia, forgetfulness, restlessness, poor appetite, chronic hoarse cough, dry cough with scant phlegm, as well as neurasthenia, hysteria, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, tuberculosis, bronchiectasis, whooping cough, and other conditions involving qi and yin deficiency.
Caution: Avoid use for coughs caused by external wind-cold invasion, fever with cold beverage consumption, or signs of excess heat such as red tongue with yellow coating, constipation, and dark urine.
4. Jujube and Black Plum Decoction
Ingredients: 20g jujubes, 20g black plums, rock sugar to taste.
Preparation: Wash jujubes and black plums. Place in an earthenware pot with sufficient water. Simmer over low heat to extract concentrated juice. Add rock sugar and dissolve. Ready to serve.
Effects: Nourishes yin, boosts qi, and reduces sweating.
Indications: For restlessness, thirst, shortness of breath, fatigue, and night sweats caused by yin fluid deficiency.
5. Pork Lung and Cordyceps Soup
Ingredients: 250g pork lung, 15g Cordyceps sinensis, salt and MSG to taste.
Preparation: Remove blood and impurities from pork lung, rinse thoroughly, and cut into small pieces. Place pork lung and Cordyceps sinensis in an earthenware pot,
add sufficient water, and simmer into soup. Once pork lung is tender, season with a small amount of salt and MSG. Consume the soup and eat the lung.
Usage: Serve with meals in appropriate portions.
Efficacy: Tonifies lung and kidney qi, stops coughing and wheezing.
Indications: Chronic dry cough, chest pain with hemoptysis, shortness of breath, intermittent wheezing worsened by exertion, weak voice, soreness in the lower back and knees, urine expelled with coughing, as well as chronic bronchitis, bronchial asthma, and lung cancer-related coughing, wheezing, and hemoptysis due to lung and kidney deficiency.