中秋與養生Mid Autumn Festival and Health Care

(The English version is available below)

 

倘若大家是八字學的愛好者，一定知道秋天以申酉戌作代表，申是七月，酉是八月，戌是九月。申酉戌同屬西方，西方又以金為代表。金是鋒利的，所以有時秋天的涼風會讓我們有一點金風刮面的感覺。

 

踏進秋天，炎熱的氣溫並不會立時退去，雖然偶有秋風，但氣溫仍然十分炎熱， 故有爭秋奪暑之稱。大家如果想在嚴冬來臨前先調理身體一下，便要注意以下幾點：

1.     降火去燥：在這個由熱轉涼的交替時期，夏季儲存在體內的熱量不易散發，加上秋天天氣乾爽，人體容易有虛火，產生「秋燥」，而有喉嚨腫痛、臉上長痘等上火症狀。大家應該注意降火去燥，調節作息時間，多吃蔬菜水果。

2.     滋陰潤肺：秋季養生要注意養肺，可吃些滋陰潤肺的食物，如白木耳、甘蔗、燕窩、梨、芝麻、藕、豆漿、核桃、糯米等。少食辛辣、煎炸或燒烤類食物，以免傷害肺氣。

3.     健脾養胃：經過一個夏天，吃多了冰涼的食物，脾胃功能相對較弱；加上「白露」過後天氣轉涼，容易損傷脾胃，因此秋季飲食不能忽略健脾養胃的重要，要多吃補脾入肺經的白色食物，如白木耳、甘蔗、燕窩、梨、芝麻、藕、豆漿、核桃、糯米等。

 

As Bazi fans, we definitely know that autumn is represented by the zodiac of monkey (Shen), Rooster (You) and Dog (Xu). Monkey represents August, Rooster represents September and Dog represents October. These three animals belong to the west and the west represents metal. Metal is sharp, hence sometimes we feel scratching on the face when there is autumn cool breeze.

 

Stepping into autumn, the hot weather of summer will not cool down immediately. Although there are autumn breeze, the weather is still very hot. Thus, we must take note of some factors as shown below in order to take good care of our health before the arrival of winter.

 

1. Reduce the internal body heat: During the interchanging season from hot to cold weather, the heat stored in our body in summer does not emit easily. Moreover, the weather of autumn is dry, causing some fake heat in our body. This is called 'The Autumn Heat' and symptoms such as sore throat and acne prone to happen. Therefore we should clear away this internal body heat by having a healthy lifestyle as well as eating more fruits and vegetables.

 

2. Replenish vital essence to nourish the lung: We need to take extra care of our lungs during autumn, so we should consume food that can replenish vital essence to nourish the lung such as white fungus, sugar cane, bird's nest, pear, sesame, lotus root, soya bean, walnut, glutinous rice etc. We should also avoid spicy, fried and barbecued food that will harm the Qi of lungs.

 

3. Strengthen the spleen and nourish the stomach: The function of spleen and stomach is weakened after taking a lot of cold food during the summer. Furthermore, the weather cools down after the “White Dew” and it may cause harmful to the spleen and stomach. Hence, we should consume more food that are white in colour in order to nourish the spleen and stomach such as white fungus, sugar cane, bird's nest, pear, sesame, lotus root, soya bean, walnut and glutinous rice.