In cold seasons, you need four things to warm you up and one thing to nourish you

The Lesser Cold solar term has passed and the Greater Cold is approaching. It is the coldest time of the year. Experts remind that keeping warm is the most important thing to maintain health in cold seasons. Keeping warm is not as simple as wearing more clothes. You need to learn the "four warming and one supplementing"

1. Keep your head and neck warm:

Hats and scarves are essential

"The head is the meeting point of all yang." On the one hand, the head is the location of the brain's nerve center, which consumes a lot of energy every day; on the other hand, the head and neck are close to the heart, have thin skin, thick blood vessels, and much hair, and dissipate more heat energy. When the head is attacked by wind and cold, it is easy to induce colds, headaches, facial paralysis, and even cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. When the neck and shoulders are exposed to cold, the muscles are prone to spasm and pain, and may even affect the back.

Therefore, Lin Yanzhao said that after the winter solstice, people should pay attention to keeping their head and neck warm. When the weather is extremely cold, it is usually accompanied by cold winds. It is recommended to wear a hat or scarf when going out to prevent the head and neck from getting cold.

2. Keep your back warm:

The best thing is to bask in the sun

The back is where the human body's Du meridian runs. The Du meridian is known as the "sea of ​​yang meridians" and it governs all the yang meridians in the body and has the function of regulating Qi and blood in the yang meridians. The back is also the main part of the Foot-Taiyang Bladder Meridian's course. The Foot-Taiyang Bladder Meridian governs the body's surface and serves as a barrier to defend against the invasion of external evil. The waist is the home of the kidneys. The kidneys are the innate foundation of the human body and dominate human growth, development, and reproduction. The lower back and back are easily stimulated by the cold, which makes them more likely to catch a cold. It can also cause local blood vessels to constrict, slow blood flow, and cause lower back pain.

Lin Yanzhao specially reminded that cold waist in women is directly related to the reproductive system.

How to keep the waist and back warm? "The best measure is to get plenty of sun," said Lin Yanzhao. "Lao Lao Heng Yan" said: "Sitting with your back to the sun is what Lie Zi called 'facing the warmth of the sun'. The spine will feel slightly warm, which can make the whole body feel comfortable. The sun is the essence of the sun, and its light strengthens people's yang energy." This means that often basking in the sun, especially with your back to the sun, can nourish the body's yang energy and make the body's qi flow smoothly and harmoniously. Traditional Chinese medicine also attaches great importance to the role of sunlight in human health and believes that regular exposure to sunlight can help stimulate the body's yang energy.

Modern research believes that sun exposure can stimulate the body's hematopoietic function, enhance immunity, improve sugar metabolism, promote calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D metabolism to prevent osteoporosis, promote blood circulation, increase appetite, and have anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects.

3. Keep your abdomen warm:

Massage or hot compress

The abdomen is the hub connecting the upper and lower parts of the body. Many important acupoints on the human body are located here, such as Shenque, Qihai, Guanyuan, etc. Lin Yanzhao introduced that in traditional Chinese medicine, the back is yang and the abdomen is yin. Since the abdomen is yin, there is less yang energy and it is more susceptible to invasion by cold evil, so the most feared thing is catching cold.

In addition to digestive system symptoms such as epigastric discomfort, abdominal pain and diarrhea, "just like cold waist, cold abdomen in women can also affect the reproductive system." Lin Yanzhao said that at this time women are prone to cold hands and feet, dysmenorrhea, irregular menstruation and other uterine cold symptoms, while men may also experience prostate symptoms or sexual dysfunction.

Keep your abdomen warm and improve your ability to ward off cold by massaging your abdomen. If necessary, you can use a hot water bottle or a Chinese medicine hot compress pack to apply to the abdomen to consolidate qi, promote yang, and ward off cold.

4. Keep your limbs warm:

You can walk when you are active, or soak your feet when you are quiet

“Don’t go out during the coldest days of the year” means you should keep your hands warm during the coldest season. There are many important acupoints on human hands. Rubbing your hands frequently can fully stimulate the acupoints by rubbing your palms and pressing your fingers, which can achieve the effect of dredging meridians and preventing colds.

As the saying goes, "Cold starts from the feet." The feet are closely related to human health. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, the foot Shaoyin Kidney Meridian runs through the soles of the feet. The feet are also where the body's meridians converge and are distributed with many important acupoints. From a modern anatomical perspective, the feet are farthest from the heart, have a slow and less blood supply, have thinner subcutaneous fat, and have a poorer ability to resist the cold. Therefore, once the feet are exposed to cold, their disease resistance will decrease, which can easily cause colds, abdominal pain, back and leg pain, dysmenorrhea in women and other symptoms.

Lin Yanzhao specifically pointed out that the colder the weather, the more gastrointestinal discomfort symptoms tend to occur, "many of which are caused by cold feet."

To keep your feet warm, in addition to wearing warm shoes and socks, you should also move more appropriately. Although strenuous exercise is not recommended in winter, walking is the best way to keep your feet warm. Wear knee pads to protect your knee joints when necessary. It is recommended to do outdoor exercise after the sun comes out to avoid being hurt by the low temperature in the early morning. Before going to bed at night, soaking your feet in hot water or using Chinese herbal foot bath recipes can not only keep out the cold, but also guide the yang energy downward, which is a good way to keep your feet warm.

Food supplements to prevent cold

Mutton soup

The key to diet in cold winter is to combine food and medicine to increase calories, thereby nourishing the kidneys and preventing cold.

For medicinal supplements, you can choose ginseng, astragalus, cordyceps, donkey-hide gelatin, angelica, Polygonum multiflorum, wolfberry and other products that nourish yin and suppress yang, replenish qi and blood; for dietary supplements, you can selectively eat beef, mutton, chicken, duck, dog meat, turtle, eel and other foods according to the body's yin and yang, qi and blood balance, and the nature and taste of the food.

"Mutton is the first choice food for warming and nourishing in cold seasons. Eating mutton regularly can not only increase the body's heat and resist the cold, but also has a therapeutic and tonic effect on general cold diseases." Lin Yanzhao most recommends "Angelica Ginger Mutton Soup", which is also a classic warming and nourishing medicinal food recorded in "Golden Chamber Synopsis".

Angelica and Ginger Lamb Soup

Efficacy: dispel cold, invigorate the spleen, nourish qi and blood.

Ingredients: 300 grams of mutton, 30 grams of angelica, 50 grams of ginger, and appropriate amounts of rice wine, onion, and salt.

Preparation method: Wash the angelica and ginger with clean water and cut them into large pieces. Remove the bones and fascia of the mutton, blanch it to remove the blood, let it cool, and cut it into strips for later use. Add the mutton first, then the angelica and ginger. Bring to a boil over high heat, skim off the foam, then simmer over low heat for 1.5 hours until the mutton is cooked through. Add appropriate amounts of rice wine, green onion and salt.