Qingming is the fifth solar term in the twenty-four solar terms, which means the sky is clear and the earth is bright. As soon as the Qingming Festival arrives, the temperature rises and the rainfall increases. Although it meets the needs of the growth of all things, it also brings the invasion of wind and dampness to people. So how to properly maintain health during the Qingming season? Wang Gao’an, director of the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical College, suggested that citizens should pay attention to the following five aspects in their daily life:
1. To nourish the liver in spring, eat more fresh foods that nourish the liver, such as shepherd’s purse, yam, tremella, jujube, etc. On the Qingming Festival, there is a lot of rain and humidity, so you should choose some foods that warm your stomach and remove dampness, such as radishes and taro. Special attention is to be careful to eat “hair growth” food. Chinese medicine believes that Qingming is the season when liver yang is rising, so it is not advisable to eat too much “hair” such as bamboo shoots and seafood, especially for the elderly and the infirm with chronic diseases. People with a cold stomach are not suitable for eating raw and cold food.
2. Lying at night and getting up early is conducive to the growth of yang qi.
“Spring focuses on hair growth”. It is not possible to sleep all the time to hinder the growth of body qi. It should start from the time of getting up and sleeping. Try to sleep at night and get up early. From 7:00 to 9:00 in the morning, when the stomach meridian is the most prosperous, you can get up and eat at this time. Sleep time should not be too long, generally 8 hours a day for adults and 9 to 10 hours for primary and secondary school students.
Wang Gaoan believes that in addition to going to bed early and getting up early, citizens can often massage their temples, get up and exercise, improve the metabolic process of the human body, and enhance blood circulation and respiratory function. , has a certain stimulating effect on the central nervous system and other systems, so that you can get out of sleepiness.
3. Pay attention to keep warm to prevent “spring disease”
The Qingming season turns warm and cold, and bacteria and viruses are easy to breed. If you do not pay attention to keeping warm at this time, it is easy to cause a cold. In particular, the elderly and infirm should increase or decrease their clothing according to the temperature. Elderly people with underlying diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes should pay special attention.
It is also necessary to avoid allergies during the Qingming Festival. In order to prevent the occurrence of allergies, citizens with allergies should avoid contact with allergic environments, wear masks when going out, and pay attention to their diets. Do not eat foods that are prone to allergies such as shrimp, crab, and milk.
4. Proper exercise should not be too violent and sweating
In spring, people can go out in sunny weather, go to some open places with few people, jog, punch, Do exercises and so on. Try to do as many activities as possible, so that the spring qi rises in an orderly manner, and the yang qi grows in a way, so as to achieve the purpose of nourishing the sun in spring and summer. But spring sports should be moderate, especially for some frail people, it should not be too violent to sweat profusely. Excessive sweating will lead to a large loss of body fluids and damage the body’s righteousness.
5. Regulate emotions to prevent excess liver qi in the body
In spring, the body’s liver qi will be more abundant, and it will reach its peak at the time of Qingming. If you don’t pay attention to emotional conditioning at this time, it will affect the liver’s dredging function, hinder the growth of yang qi, and eventually lead to the disorder of zang-fu organs. Therefore, during the Qingming Festival, people should pay attention to adjusting their mentality, so that they can feel comfortable and relaxed, and maintain an optimistic and open-minded attitude towards life, so as to better meet the future work and life. It is recommended to drink some chrysanthemum tea during this time. Chinese medicine believes that chrysanthemum can dispel wind and clear heat, calm the liver, prevent colds, and lower blood pressure. Modern pharmacological studies believe that chrysanthemum has the functions of expanding coronary arteries, enhancing myocardial contractility and changing myocardial ischemia. (The Second Affiliated Hospital of Maritime Medicine)