Everyone's constitution is different, so there is no one-size-fits-all approach to health. Each person should choose a suitable health method based on their own constitution. To know how to take care of your health, you should first understand what kind of constitution you have. Below, we will introduce the health methods for different constitutions one by one.
1. Deficiency of Blood Constitution
People with deficiency of blood constitution often have pale or yellowish complexion, dry skin, pale lips and nails, dizziness, insomnia and vivid dreams. People with this constitution should be cautious of "overstraining the eyes" and avoid excessive mental exertion.
Dietary adjustments: You can often eat foods that nourish and replenish blood, such as mulberries, longan, fleeceflower root, cooked rehmannia, black fungus, spinach, carrots, etc. Commonly used blood-tonifying Chinese herbs include angelica, cooked rehmannia, red peony, white peony, and donkey-hide gelatin. These herbs and blood-tonifying foods can be made into delicious medicinal diets, which have a good blood-tonifying effect.
2. Deficiency of Qi Constitution
People with deficiency of qi constitution often feel tired, have weak voice, low speech, pale complexion, spontaneous sweating, palpitations, poor appetite, and a pale tongue with white coating. Qi deficiency often occurs together with blood deficiency, so when focusing on blood tonification, one should also pay attention to whether they belong to the qi deficiency constitution. Qi and blood should be tonified simultaneously.
Dietary adjustments: People with deficiency of qi constitution should eat more grains such as glutinous rice, sticky rice, and millet, as these foods have the effect of nourishing stomach qi. Foods such as Chinese yam, lotus seeds, jujube, soybeans, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, etc. also have the effect of replenishing qi and invigorating the spleen. Chinese herbs with qi-tonifying effects include ginseng, codonopsis, and astragalus.
3. Deficiency of Yin Constitution
Deficiency of yin constitution is due to inadequate congenital endowment, improper postnatal care, and long-term illness. It is more common in people with a thin and weak body type. The symptoms include thin body, dull or flush complexion, occasional hot flashes, dry mouth and tongue, preference for cold drinks when thirsty, heat intolerance in limbs, irritability, and easy insomnia. People with this constitution have a hard time getting through the cold winter and endure the hot summer, so they should pay attention to avoiding heat in the hot summer.
Dietary adjustments: It is advisable to eat light and avoid greasy and drying foods. You can eat some cool and cold foods, such as wheat sprouts, vinegar, green beans, peas, spinach, bamboo shoots, hollow heart vegetables, winter melon, white radish, soybeans, garlic, and ginger.
4. Deficiency of Yang Constitution
Deficiency of yang constitution refers to a constitution with weakened yang qi, reduced organ function, insufficient heat production, and low resistance to cold. People with this constitution have a pale complexion, cold body and preference for warmth, cold limbs, intolerance to cold, lack of energy, weak voice, loose stools, and frequent urination with clear or small volume.
Dietary adjustments: You should eat more foods that nourish yang, such as mutton, dog meat, and deer meat. People with yang deficiency should also eat more spicy and warm foods, such as garlic, onions, lotus root, sweet potatoes, red beans, peas, black beans, Chinese yam, pumpkin, and chives. Avoid eating cooling foods such as hollow heart vegetables, cabbage, spinach, tube bamboo shoots, white radish, winter melon, mung beans, and bitter gourd.
5. Phlegm-Dampness Constitution
Phlegm-dampness constitution refers to a constitution characterized by impaired water metabolism and a series of physiological features caused by stagnant phlegm. Excessive phlegm is usually caused by organ dysfunction and is most commonly seen in people with a obese body type. The symptoms include a preference for sweet foods, mental fatigue, drowsiness, dizziness, and poor metabolic function. People with phlegm-dampness constitution should pay attention to environmental adjustment and should not live in a damp environment. They should also avoid drinking alcohol and overeating.
Dietary adjustments: Eat more vegetables and fruits, especially foods that invigorate the spleen, eliminate dampness, and dissolve phlegm, such as seaweed, jellyfish, loquat, ginkgo, jujube, lentils, red adzuki beans, and broad beans.
6. Blood Stasis Constitution
The main symptoms of blood stasis constitution are slow blood circulation and stagnation, usually caused by long-term emotional depression, resulting in organ dysfunction. This constitution is more common in people with a thinner body, and the symptoms include hair loss, dull complexion, dark lips, and dark circles under the eyes. Some people may develop age spots at a young age. People with blood stasis constitution should cultivate optimism and cheerfulness in mental adjustment, as depression will only worsen the tendency of blood stasis.
Dietary adjustments: You can often eat foods that promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, such as peach kernels, rape, and black soybeans. Drink a small amount of alcohol frequently and eat more vinegar. People with this constitution should eat more foods that have a warm and moderate nature, such as black beans, rape, lotus roots, etc. Avoid eating excessively cold foods such as ice products, watermelon, cabbage, tube bamboo shoots, white radish, winter melon, and bitter gourd.
