Modern people generally have poor digestion, and the damp and hot weather makes people crave coolness, love to eat ice cream, and drink cold beverages, which stimulate the digestion. Eating habits are often irregular, with frequent consumption of fast food or heavy meals, burdening the digestion with various greasy foods.
When the digestion is weak, the body lacks energy, leading to loss of appetite, diarrhea, constipation, and various minor ailments.
So, how to nurture the digestion in hot weather?
In summer, the best way to nurture the digestion is to eat yellow foods!
According to traditional Chinese medicine, “the spleen and stomach are the foundation of acquired constitution and the source of qi, blood, transformation, and essence.” The spleen is responsible for transporting and absorbing the nutrients needed by the body and distributing them throughout the body. In the five elements theory, the spleen belongs to the earth element, preferring dryness and disliking dampness, and the dampness of the long summer season is most likely to cause spleen weakness and dampness retention.
Yellow color belongs to the earth element in the five elements theory, corresponding to the spleen and stomach in the human body, which can protect the health of the spleen and stomach and has good therapeutic effects.
Therefore, to nurture the digestion in the hot summer, it is advisable to eat some yellow foods.
Without further ado, the editor immediately recommends three yellow foods that are good for nurturing the spleen and stomach:
1. Pumpkin
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that pumpkin has a warm nature and sweet taste, enters the spleen and stomach meridians, and has the effects of tonifying the spleen and stomach, nourishing liver qi, and is beneficial for chronic deficiency of qi, weakness of the spleen and stomach, and reduced appetite and abdominal distention.
Pumpkin not only has the characteristics of yellow foods, but its pectin content can also protect the gastric mucosa from the irritation of rough foods, promoting ulcer healing.
Moreover, pumpkin contains components that can promote bile secretion, enhance gastrointestinal motility, and help in the digestion and absorption of food.
2. Millet
Millet is the top of the five grains, with a sweet and slightly salty taste, slightly cooling in nature. It has the effects of tonifying the spleen and stomach, nourishing the kidneys and warming the body, supplementing deficiency, aiding in sleep, nourishing kidney essence, prolonging life, and so on.
For children with poor gastrointestinal function, poor digestion, and prone to diarrhea, and those with weak spleen and stomach, millet porridge is suitable, as it can tonify qi, strengthen the spleen, assist in digestion, and alleviate stomach discomfort.
It is worth mentioning that millet is rich in tryptophan, so eating some millet appropriately can increase the content of tryptophan entering the brain, synthesizing serotonin, helping to fall asleep quickly, and playing a role in soothing and aiding sleep.
3. Potato
Potato, also known as a potato, grows in the soil and absorbs the essence of the earth. In addition, yellow potatoes enter the spleen, stomach, and large intestine meridians, making them effective in strengthening the earth of the spleen.
Therefore, people with weak digestion should eat potatoes, sweet potatoes, taro, and other “earth” foods regularly to gradually strengthen the spleen and stomach, improve appetite, enhance digestion, and help alleviate digestive disorders and loss of appetite caused by weak digestion.
Potatoes are indispensable for the elderly.
As people age, their digestion becomes weaker, their appetite diminishes, and potatoes are gentle in nature, easy to digest and absorb.
Many elderly people also experience problems such as constipation and difficulty with bowel movements due to declining gastrointestinal function.
Rich in dietary fiber, potatoes can stimulate gastrointestinal motility, enhance its vitality, help the elderly to have smooth bowel movements, and overcome the problem of constipation.
The above images are sourced from YITUOLUO.
