During the dog days, it is recommended for girls to “eat 3 treasures and avoid 2 flavors” to invigorate yang and dispel cold, ensuring health for the whole year!
The old saying goes “nourish yang in spring and summer, nourish yin in autumn and winter,” the humid and hot dog days are the ideal time to nourish yang in summer. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that during the dog days, due to the consumption of cold drinks and chilled foods, coupled with staying in air-conditioned rooms, the body accumulates a lot of dampness and heat. In order to combat the internal dampness and heat, it is necessary to nourish sufficient yang to counter these pathogenic factors. It is commonly said that “dampness is the mother of all diseases”, therefore, during the dog days, appropriate exercise, sweating, and consumption of foods that nourish yang, dispel dampness, and ward off cold are recommended.
In particular, women inherently have less yang energy than men, and female yang energy is easily depleted during the dog days. Therefore, when the dog days arrive, women should prioritize nourishing yang and preventing cold. It is best for their diet to be warm, as overheating can damage qi, while excessive cold can harm the spleen and stomach and deplete yang. The advice for women is to “eat 3 treasures and avoid 2 flavors”, to invigorate yang, dispel cold, and ensure health for the whole year! Let’s find out what are the 3 treasures that women should eat more of and the 2 flavors they should avoid.
The first treasure: Eat more ginger.
There is a folk saying, “Eat radish in winter and ginger in summer, no need for doctor’s prescriptions,” as ginger is a warm food with a pungent taste. Although it may seem incompatible with the hot summer, ginger is actually a treasure during the dog days. Consuming ginger during the dog days can help expel the cold and dampness from the body, thus protecting the body’s yang energy. With regular consumption, one might not experience cold hands and feet as much during autumn and winter. This aligns with the saying that prevention is better than cure.
Recommended dish: Vinegar-Soaked Ginger
Main ingredients: Ginger. If too spicy, young ginger can be used.
Seasonings: Salt, vinegar, white sugar.
Method: 1. Wash and dry the ginger, cut into thin slices, sprinkle with a little salt, and marinate for a while.
2. In a pot, heat the vinegar, add white sugar, let it melt, then cool. Sterilize the container to be used.
3. Squeeze the marinated ginger, place it in the sterilized container, fill 70% with the cooled sugar vinegar, cover, refrigerate, and it’s ready to eat after a week.
The second treasure: Eat more pumpkin.
During the dog days, early-maturing pumpkins are available. Pumpkin is warm, sweet, and rich in vitamins and pectin, which has excellent absorptive properties, eliminating bacteria and toxins in the body, detoxifying, aiding digestion, reducing blood sugar. Pumpkins are also rich in zinc, have anti-cancer effects, help restore liver and kidney function, essential for human growth and development, and can warm the body, making it suitable to consume during this time.
Recommended dish: Steamed Pumpkin with Lily Bulbs
Main ingredients: Fresh lily bulbs, old pumpkin, goji berries.
Seasonings: Honey.
Method: 1. Peel and deseed the pumpkin, cut into thick slices and place them on a plate; split the lily bulbs and blanch them in boiling water briefly.
2. Remove and rinse the lily bulbs under cold water, drain, place them on top of the pumpkin, add goji berries, then steam in a steamer over high heat for about 12 minutes until cooked.
3. Carefully pour out excess water from the plate, drizzle with honey on top of the pumpkin, and it’s ready to eat.
The third treasure: Eat more fennel.
Generally, leafy green vegetables tend to be cooling, but fennel is warm in nature and acts to tonify the kidneys and promote yang. Among green leafy vegetables, fennel ranks first in terms of its warming properties. Fennel is beneficial for various cold conditions, regulating health, not only for those with cold symptoms, but also for those experiencing cold manifestations like cold hands and feet, aiding in invigorating the body.
Recommended dish: Fennel and Egg Stir-Fry
Main ingredients: Fennel, eggs.
Seasonings: Salt, cooking oil, cooking wine.
Method: 1. Wash the fennel, chop finely on a cutting board, place in a bowl, crack 2 eggs, add salt, a little cooking wine to remove fishy smell, mix well and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan, pour in the egg mixture, quickly stir-fry until set, then serve.
After discussing the three treasures that should be eaten, let’s talk about the two flavors that women should avoid during the dog days.
The first flavor: Consume less cold drinks.
As the saying goes, “Cold in the Three Nines, heat in the dog days”, the dog days are the hottest period of the year, when many people prefer to stay in air-conditioned rooms and consume cold drinks and ice cream to cool off. However, this is not beneficial for women, especially during those special days. Consuming cold drinks during this time will deplete the body’s yang energy, leaving it vulnerable to diseases and potentially leading to obesity.
The second flavor: Eat less oily and spicy foods.
During the dog days, the diet should be light and nutritious. Avoid fried foods and extremely spicy dishes to prevent symptoms of heat accumulation. It’s advisable to choose fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables, have more clearing dampness soups, whole grain porridge, which not only replenishes moisture but also eliminates dampness, killing two birds with one stone. Furthermore, maintaining a cheerful mood, avoiding conflicts, and reducing stress can also ensure good health and a pleasant summer.
This is the end of the dietary taboos for women during the dog days. Friends, are there any other aspects of diet during the dog days that need attention? Feel free to share in the comments section, join the discussion with love and wisdom, and share cooking tips.
Thank you for reading, culinary inspiration is updated daily. If you found this information useful, give it a thumbs up, feel free to share it with more people, and don’t forget to follow us for more content tomorrow.
This original article is created by Love Xi Life. Stay tuned for more knowledge-sharing!
