Traditional Chinese medicine believes that facial complexion is related to the spleen. For example, acne and pimples are caused by excessive dampness and heat in the spleen, butterfly rash is caused by liver depression and spleen deficiency, and dull and yellowish complexion is a manifestation of spleen deficiency and inability to transport qi and blood. In spring, everything in nature is blooming, and the function of the spleen in the human body is also strengthened. Therefore, the best way to nourish the skin in spring is through diet therapy that promotes spleen health and improves blood circulation or liver-spleen health.
Here are several recipes for skin nourishment:
1. Bird's Nest Rock Sugar Porridge: Bird's nest has the function of moisturizing the skin, nourishing blood, and enhancing beauty. Take 3 grams of bird's nest and an appropriate amount of rock sugar, cook until it becomes a porridge, and then consume it. If you add 5 grams of sweet almonds to cook together, the beauty effect will be even better.
2. Longan Lotus Egg Soup: 15 grams of longan flesh, 50 grams of lotus seeds, 2 eggs, 2 slices of ginger, 4 jujubes, a pinch of salt. Steam the eggs over water until they are cooked, remove the shells, and rinse them with clean water. Rinse the longan flesh, lotus seeds, ginger, and jujubes separately with clean water. Remove the core of the lotus seeds and keep the reddish-brown skin. Peel the ginger and cut two slices. Put an appropriate amount of water into a clay pot, bring it to a boil over high heat, then add the above ingredients and simmer over medium heat for about two hours. Add a pinch of salt and it is ready to be consumed. This soup can calm the mind, nourish the blood, and moisturize the skin.
3. Lily Red Date Ginkgo Soup: 50 grams of lily, 10 red dates, 50 grams of ginkgo, 300 grams of beef, 2 slices of ginger, a pinch of salt. After washing the fresh beef with boiling water, slice it thinly. Remove the shells of the ginkgo nuts, soak them in water to remove the outer thin film, and then rinse with clean water. Rinse the lily, red dates, and ginger separately with clean water. Remove the pits from the red dates and peel the ginger, cut two slices. Put an appropriate amount of water into a clay pot, bring it to a boil over high heat, add lily, red dates, ginkgo, and ginger slices, then simmer over medium heat until the lily is cooked. Add the beef and continue to simmer until the beef is cooked. Add a pinch of salt and serve. This soup has the effects of nourishing the blood and Yin, moisturizing the skin, moistening the lungs and replenishing qi, stopping coughing, and tonifying the essence.
4. Astragalus Red Sugar Porridge: 30 grams of astragalus, 100 grams of japonica rice, 30 grams of red sugar, 6 grams of dried tangerine peel. Wash and slice the astragalus, put it in a pot, add an appropriate amount of water, boil and cook to remove the residue and extract the juice. Wash the japonica rice and soak it in water. Put the dried tangerine peel, red sugar, and japonica rice into the pot, then pour in the astragalus juice and add an appropriate amount of water. Cook until the rice is cooked. Red sugar is sweet and warm in nature, it can moisturize the heart and lungs, aid digestion, soothe the liver, tonify the blood, and promote blood circulation. Astragalus is sweet and warm in nature, it can stabilize the exterior, stop sweating, and promote the healing of sores. Dried tangerine peel is pungent and bitter in taste, warm in nature, it can regulate qi, invigorate the stomach, dry dampness, and resolve phlegm. This porridge has the effect of nourishing qi and promoting beauty, suitable for those with pale and dull complexion due to qi and blood deficiency.
5. Jujube Porridge: Take 60 grams of japonica rice and 10 jujubes, add the jujubes to the rice, and cook until the porridge is soft and the jujubes are cooked. Jujubes are rich in vitamin E. Eating jujube porridge regularly can make the complexion rosy and radiant.
6. Beauty Porridge: 100 grams of white rice, 1200 milliliters of chicken broth, 3 grams of ligusticum chuanxiong, 10 grams of angelica sinensis, 5 grams of astragalus, 2 grams of safflower. Wash the rice and soak it in clean water. Cut the angelica sinensis, ligusticum chuanxiong, and astragalus into thin slices and put them together with safflower in a small cloth bag. Put the rice and the bag of herbs into a pot to cook porridge, add chicken broth and an appropriate amount of water, bring to a boil over high heat, and simmer until thick. Remove the bag of herbs and it is ready to be served. This porridge contains Chinese herbs based on the ancient formula Si Wu Tang, which nourishes qi and blood, promotes blood circulation, and has benefits for improving body functions, increasing facial skin moisture, tenderness, as well as preventing and treating diseases that affect facial beauty. Take 1-2 times a day while warm for best results.
