More and more people are waking up in the morning feeling unrefreshed, despite getting enough sleep. They wake up feeling tired and weak, with dry and bitter mouth, feeling nauseous while brushing teeth, noticing serrated edges on the tongue, and a white coating covering the entire tongue…
Once any of these symptoms appear, you should be alert, as it indicates excessive dampness in your body! Dampness can seriously damage your health, making your appearance less attractive, causing oily hair, increased eye discharge, yellowed teeth, obesity, constipation, arthritis, eczema, gynecological inflammations…
So, why is there excessive dampness in the body? It is closely related to our current diet, especially in the summer when many people pay little attention to their diet, leading to even heavier dampness!
Traditional Chinese medicine reminds us: in summer, the “dampness king” of the food world, the more you eat, the heavier the dampness becomes, so it is best to avoid them.
1. Ice cold foods like ice beer
Cold foods like cold dishes, ice beer, ice cream, or any frozen foods can easily damage the body’s yang energy, leading to spleen and stomach weakness. Especially drinking ice beer, one should be cautious. Excessive consumption can harm the spleen and stomach yang energy, promoting dampness.
2. Mangoes
On one hand, in Chinese medicine, sweet foods exacerbate dampness, and mangoes, being high in sugar, can increase internal dampness. On the other hand, mangoes are inherently cold and damp fruits; consuming them can exacerbate discomfort in those already experiencing heavy dampness.
3. Fatty meats
Fatty meats and other greasy foods can burden the spleen and stomach, promote dampness generation, and hinder detoxification. Hence, those with dampness are advised to limit the intake of fatty meats and greasy foods.
4. Watermelon
Watermelon is a staple in summer, but do you know? Watermelon is a cold food that can retain body moisture, leading to symptoms like edema, fatigue, and loose stools in those with heavy dampness. So, consumption of watermelon in summer should be moderate, as excessive consumption may worsen dampness.
5. Persimmons
Chinese medicine considers persimmons to be sweet, cold, slightly astringent, and high in sugar, all of which can worsen dampness. Therefore, those with excessive internal dampness are advised to consume persimmons sparingly.
Now that you know which foods worsen dampness, let’s see which foods help eliminate dampness!
1. Winter melon
Winter melon is inexpensive, especially abundant in summer. Those with heavy dampness should consume more winter melon because it has diuretic and dampness-reducing effects. The amino acids in winter melon can help alleviate the body’s toxic load and act as a diuretic, reducing swelling and dampness.
2. Lotus leaves
Lotus leaves have the aromatic ability to dispel dampness and promote fluid penetration. The fragrance helps in food transformation, assisting the body in eliminating excess dampness.
Many obese people nowadays drink lotus leaf tea for weight loss, as it helps eliminate dampness through the body’s circulation system, excreting excess dampness through urine or feces.
3. Lotus seeds
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that lotus seeds benefit the heart, spleen, and kidneys, and have astringent effects. They are beneficial for the spleen and stomach, promoting digestion and reducing dampness. Additionally, lotus seeds contain vitamins, amino acids, proteins, and other nutrients that nourish the kidneys and have a diuretic effect, making them suitable for those with dampness.
Boiling lotus seeds and Chinese yam into porridge together enhances their spleen-strengthening and dampness-relieving effects.
That’s all I have to share today with you. I hope today’s content is helpful, and I welcome you to share more knowledge about dampness and health in the comments section, so more friends can benefit. Sharing knowledge is spreading love; thank you~ If you found this article beneficial, don’t forget to like and share, spreading love is important, love you all~
References
Lin Zihan. What foods should not be eaten by those with excessive dampness[J]. Chinese Health Care
Hua Jian. Which foods can dispel dampness[J]. Medical and Food Reference
Huang Yuanjin. Ancient and modern remedies for summer dampness and heat[J]. Healthy Living
Su Xiaoyin. Eating these foods regularly to get rid of dampness[J]. Nutrition and Food Hygiene
Images sourced from the internet
