6 Anti-Fatigue Foods

Breakfast table set with a bowl of rolled oats, bananas, mango and milk in the bottle on pale purple and light blue linen placemats.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, different foods are nourishing for different parts of the body and help them recover from fatigue, such as bananas for leg fatigue. (Image: Sabina Pensek via Dreamstime)

Human organs work 24 hours a day non-stop, which is very hard. After working for a long time, fatigue will set in. How to relieve this? It is necessary to consume anti-fatigue foods for different types of organ fatigue.

6 anti-fatigue foods to relieve organ fatigue

1. Brain fatigue: Eat walnuts

If the brain is loaded with too many thoughts, it will not function properly.  The brain will be tired and unable to work well, and memory will also decline. At around 10 a.m. or 3 p.m., you may wish to eat a handful of walnuts, which are rich in lecithin, vitamins, and trace elements to help restore brainpower.

It’s best to get up and walk around every hour during work to relax your cranial nerves.

2. Eye fatigue: Eat Goji berries (wolfberry)

Office workers stare at the computer all day to manipulate various documents and forms. After using them too much their eyes will often feel unbearably sore. The Compendium of Materia Medica records that Goji is good for “tonifying the kidney and promoting essence, nourishing the liver, and improving eyesight.” Goji berries can help reduce the stimulation of ultraviolet rays and protect the optic nerve from damage. To get the eye-protecting effect of Goji berries, the best way is to chew them up and eat them. It is appropriate for healthy adults to eat about 20 grams of Goji berries a day. Eating too much may be over-nourishing.

Goji berries are an anti-fatigue food for eye fatigue.
Goji berries contain high levels of antioxidants including zeaxanthin which can stop the damage from UV light. (Image: via Pixabay)

3. Heart fatigue: Eat red beans

In daily life, some people have symptoms such as palpitations, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. They also love to sigh and sometimes have heart palpitations, but exam results don’t show any abnormalities. In fact, sometimes this is not really heart disease, but a fluctuating high and low blood pressure caused by heart fatigue and autonomic dysfunction.

The theory of health preservation in traditional Chinese medicine believes that “five colors enter the five internal organs.” Red food enters the heart, and red beans can drive the blood circulation of the human body. People with high blood pressure may wish to eat more to protect the cardiovascular system.

Soak or steam red beans before eating. Let them soften before making porridge or steam the beans together with rice. Red beans are rich in potassium and dietary fiber, which can strengthen the heart, replenish the blood, and reduce swelling and water retention. Whether steamed, boiled, or stewed, they can play a very good role.

4. Kidney fatigue: Eat chestnuts

Traditional Chinese Medicine believes that chestnuts can promote blood circulation, stop bleeding, invigorate the kidneys, reinforce tendons, and nourish the spleen and stomach. Chestnuts are known as the “fruit of the kidney.” The Compendium of Materia Medica says that chestnuts “cure kidney deficiency and waist and feet weakness.“ Hang raw chestnuts in a bag to dry. You can eat around 10 a day, or eat pig kidney porridge. Your kidneys will become strong for a long time. Eating cooked chestnuts can harmonize the stomach, invigorate the spleen, and relieve spleen deficiency.

A pile of roasted chestnuts.
Traditional Chinese medicine teaches that chestnuts can invigorate the kidneys. (Image: via Needpix)

However, chestnuts are not easy to digest, so it is not recommended to eat them raw. Boiled chestnuts are better than sugar-fried chestnuts, and they contain more water and are easier to digest. You can just put the chestnuts in a pot and cook for 10 minutes.

They can also be paired with other ingredients for dishes such as yam and chestnut porridge. This porridge can invigorate the spleen and kidneys, strengthen muscles, and nourish the blood. It is also suitable for symptoms such as kidney deficiency, backache, lower limb weakness, spleen deficiency, and diarrhea.

5. Stomach fatigue: Eat millet

Many modern people often eat and drink without limits. Their three meals are irregular, and this will inevitably affect the stomach. Traditional Chinese Medicine believes that millet is a good product for warming the stomach. Millet is sweet and salty. It can clear away heat and quench thirst, relax, calm, and invigorate the stomach.

After eating millet, some people with a poor appetite can eat well. Millet helps to invigorate the stomach for food digestion and prevent nausea and vomiting. You can make porridge with millet alone or add raw oats, which can nourish the spleen and stomach and reduce fat.

6. Leg fatigue: Eat bananas

Bananas are the number one food to make legs beautiful. You can eat a banana when your legs feel sore and tired after a day’s journey. Bananas are rich in potassium and magnesium. Potassium can help stretch your leg muscles. Magnesium has the effect of eliminating fatigue and preventing leg cramps.

Store bananas in a well-ventilated place. The best time to eat them is when the skin has dark spots but the texture of the fruit inside has not changed.

People need a reasonable mix of foods that are rich and varied. In addition to the frequent selection of the above foods, it is also necessary to diversify the diet, and pay attention to the regularity of work, rest, and proper exercise.

The writer of this story is not a medical professional, and the information in this story has been collected from reliable sources — every precaution has been taken to ensure its accuracy. The information provided is for general information purposes only, and should not be substituted for professional health care.

Translated by Patty Zhang

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