Autumn TCM Therapeutic Diet

 


Autumn TCM Therapeutic Diet

 Authors: Shang-May Chen, M.S., L.Ac.


The weather turns from hot to cool, and waning of Yang Qi, Yin Qi is waxing in autumn. It's the harvesting time of the year. “Autumn usually affects our lungs and large intestine in TCM”. During this transition, weather quickly turns dry at the end of summer and early autumn. It is usually extremely hot at noon then cools down quickly at night, which reduce moisture in the air quickly. Dryness of autumn can damage to the lungs and digestion.

People experience dry mouth, chapped lips, dry throat, thirst, dry cough, cough with phlegm, dry stools, dry skin. In Ben Cao Gang Mu (Grand Materia Medica), Master Shi-Zhen Lee said, "In autumn, one should eat more sour and warm foods to stay in harmony with the downward Yang Qi movement of the season." Sour foods in TCM generate more body fluids and prevent dehydration. For the foods that can nourish Lung dryness and moistening are: apples, apricots, Asian pears, plums, lily bulbs, gingko seeds (Bai Gou), loquats, mandarin oranges, radishes, egg white, American ginseng, white fungus. People have to protect upper respiratory and prevent flu or allergy so that we can be ready for wintertime. Formula Qing Zao Jiu Fei Tang (Eriobotrya & Ophiopogon Combination) is a good choice for moistening autumn Lung dryness and upper respiratory protection.

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* Articles Originally Published in SUN TEN Quarterly Newsletter Spring 2006

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