According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), you should nourish your yang nature in spring and summer and nourish your yin nature in autumn and winter. To stay healthy in autumn means you will have fewer health concerns in winter. How do you stay healthy in autumn? Follow these simple steps!
Three things to do in the morning
1. Get out of bed slowly
You should not spring out of bed immediately after waking up in the morning. After a night of lowered operation, your brain and heart can’t quickly adapt to strenuous activities. Moving suddenly in the morning may cause an insufficient blood supply to the brain, leading to hypoxia and dizziness.
2. Go to the bathroom
Drinking a cup of warm water in the morning assists gastrointestinal function. Regardless of whether you feel the need to go to the bathroom or not, you should use the bathroom right after getting up to discharge the night’s urine.
3. Eat breakfast
Skipping breakfast causes severe stomach damage and impacts one’s ability to work well during the day. Waiting to eat until lunchtime can easily cause gastritis and gastric ulcers because the stomach has been left empty for too long.
Three things to do in the afternoon
1. Stay awake after lunch
Taking a nap immediately after eating creates pressure on the gastrointestinal system, which is not conducive to food digestion and nutrient absorption.
2. Limit liquid intake after a meal
Drinking a lot of water or tea after a meal will dilute the stomach acid and cause indigestion and possibly bloating. Drink a proper amount of water during the meal, or if you drink after a meal, do not drink too much.
3. Take a break after lunch
Taking a 20-minute break from strenuous work after lunch can replenish the body’s energy after the hard work that has been done in the morning.
Three things to do in the evening
1. Eat supper at the appropriate time
A late supper can cause obesity and food accumulation, which can then cause a series of stomach problems. As a general rule, it is better to eat dinner no less than three hours before going to bed.
2. Some moderate exercise
For good health, it is best to do moderate exercise around 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
3. Stay away from excessive excitement and exhaustion
Do not exercise vigorously one hour before going to bed and avoid excessive excitement as this will affect your ability to get a good night’s sleep. A calm evening will lead to better sleep.
More tips to stay healthy in autumn
During the summer, people love to eat cold food, the function of the spleen and stomach is relatively weak. As the weather turns cold, it is easy to damage the spleen and stomach, so the autumn diet should not ignore the importance of strengthening the spleen and stomach. At this time, foods such as yams, white fungus, and lotus seeds, in addition to whole grains, are beneficial.
Don’t eat ginger in the autumn
According to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, there is this law of nature: be born in spring, grow in summer, harvest in autumn, store in winter. People need to adapt to and be consistent with nature.
In autumn, the body’s qi energy begins to converge. Ginger has a warm and dispersive nature, which is the opposite of qi. So there is a saying that it is not wise to eat ginger in autumn. However, adding a little ginger during cooking is not harmful — just don’t eat too much of it.
Some people have a relatively weak body constitution and are particularly prone to sweating. Such people sweat when they do regular activities. These people should limit their intake of ginger.
Then there are those who have a cold body and sweat less, so they can eat ginger in the autumn without being overly cautious. Following the law of nature is very important. Too much of a good thing is good for nothing.
The writer of this story is not a medical professional, and the information that is 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
