Autumn is a season when the weather is cool and the incidence of colds is high. In addition to taking medication, you can also use diet therapy to help speed up recovery from a cold.
1. Green Bean and Bamboo Leaf Porridge
Ingredients: 15-30g mung beans, 50-100g glutinous rice, 10g honeysuckle extract, 10g fresh lotus leaf, 10g fresh bamboo leaf, sugar to taste.
Instructions: Wash the fresh lotus leaf and fresh bamboo leaf with water, then boil and strain the juice. Cook the mung beans and glutinous rice together to make a thin porridge. Once it boils, add the honeysuckle extract and the juice from the lotus leaf and bamboo leaf. Simmer over low heat until the porridge is cooked. Finally, add sugar to taste. Serve warm and consume twice a day.
Effect: Clears heat and dampness, and releases the exterior. Suitable for late summer symptoms such as headache, body aches, lack of sweating, chills and fever, restlessness, thirst, yellow urine, and greasy tongue coating.
2. Dandelion Salad
Ingredients: 150g dandelion, 3 slices of ginger, 3 cloves of garlic, 3 stalks of scallion, seasoning to taste.
Instructions: Wash and cut the dandelion into segments. Wash the ginger, garlic, and scallion, and cut them into small pieces. Mix the dandelion with the ginger, garlic, sesame oil, vinegar, and soy sauce in a plate.
Serve once daily.
Effect: Clears heat, detoxifies, and relieves sore throat swelling. Dandelion is known as a "natural antibiotic" in Chinese medicine. It grows in the countryside and has practical significance in rural areas. According to "The Compendium of Materia Medica Supplement," dandelion can "resolve food toxins and stagnant food, transform heat toxins, and eliminate heat-induced nodules and abscesses." Pharmacological studies have shown that dandelion has good anti-inflammatory and antiviral effects, and can be used for various infectious diseases in clinical practice. It also has preventive and therapeutic effects on "influenza."
3. Honey Jujube with Five-Flavor Fruit
Ingredients: 1000g honey, 250g five-flavor fruit, 500g tiger cane.
Instructions: Wash the five-flavor fruit and tiger cane, soak them in water for 30 minutes, then boil them over medium heat for 30 minutes. Filter out the liquid, then boil it again with water and filter out the liquid. Finally, mix the liquid with honey in a pot and simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.
Consume three times a day, one spoonful each time, by diluting with hot water. Can be consumed for 30-60 days.
Effect: Soothes the liver, detoxifies, and supports qi while dispelling evil.
4. Plantain and Yam Stewed Pork Stomach
Ingredients: 60g fresh plantain (or 20g dried plantain), 60g yam, 500g pork stomach, 3 slices of ginger.
Instructions: Wash all the ingredients separately. Soak the plantain and yam briefly. Turn the pork stomach inside out, rinse it, and rub it with raw starch to clean it. Put all the ingredients and the ginger into a clay pot, add 2500 ml of water, bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat for about 2 hours. Add salt before serving. This recipe serves 3-4 people.
Effect: Plantain is a well-known herb in Guangdong province, known as "tian guan cao" in Cantonese. It is often harvested in summer and has the effects of reducing phlegm, clearing heat, detoxifying, and antibacterial. It is commonly used in folk medicine for symptoms such as edema, reduced urine output, hot and painful urination, summer damp diarrhea, abscesses, and sores. Because of its sweet taste and cold nature, it is paired with yam, which has a mild and nourishing effect on the spleen and kidneys, and pork stomach, which nourishes deficiencies and invigorates the spleen and stomach. The resulting soup is delicious and suitable for drinking in the summer to clear heat, detoxify, nourish the spleen, and promote diuresis. It can also be used as an adjuvant treatment for cystitis, urethritis, conjunctivitis, and excessive vaginal discharge caused by damp-heat in women.
