Midlife Seasonal Tonification and Medication Cautions: Summer Heat Nourishment, Autumn and Winter Kidney Tonification, and Contraindications of Ginseng Supplementation

How to maintain health in summer? Traditional Chinese medicine has a saying that "nourishment should be done during the three periods of summer heat". The main principles to follow are: (1) Relieve summer heat and clear away heat: eat more light, cool and sweet foods. (2) Promote body fluid production and quench thirst: hawthorn, lemon, pineapple and other foods can increase the secretion of digestive juices. (3) Nourish qi and yin: American ginseng, codonopsis. Foods such as soy milk and tofu. (4) Strengthen the spleen and remove dampness: Atractylodes macrocephala, Chinese yam, coix seed, papaya, lily, winter melon and other foods. What should be paid attention to in summer to treat deficiency syndrome? For middle-aged men with spleen deficiency, summer health maintenance can adopt the principle of nourishing qi and yin, strengthening the spleen and stomach, and relieving summer heat and removing dampness. You can choose lean pork, duck, rabbit, white-cut chicken, steamed fresh fish and other foods. Although summer tonics are mostly light and cool foods, raw and frozen foods should not be eaten too much. What are some suitable foods for autumn health maintenance? Traditional Chinese medicine believes that in autumn, you should eat more sweet and neutral foods. The following vegetables should be eaten regularly: (1) bean sprouts; (2) spinach; (3) carrots; (4) cauliflower; (5) celery; (6) bok choy; (7) cabbage. Why should we take precautions when supplementing our diet in autumn? (1) Avoid gaining weight in autumn to prevent obesity; (2) Be careful when eating autumn melons to prevent stomach upset; (3) Prevent excessive supplementation when nourishing yin in autumn: avoid using medicine instead of food, food supplementation is worse than medicine supplementation; (4) Follow the principles of supplementing our diet in autumn: it should be nutritious and easy to digest and absorb. What are the dos and don'ts for supplementing the diet in autumn for middle-aged men? Sweet and moist foods can not only nourish lung yin, but also have the effect of moistening the intestines and relieving constipation. Be careful not to eat spicy, barbecued, or heaty foods. Use a small amount of scallions, ginger, and garlic as seasonings, or cook soup with some warm meat and poultry, and add some yin-nourishing and dryness-moistening foods such as white fungus. What are some foods to nourish and tonify the kidneys in winter? Middle-aged men should use symptomatic methods to tonify their kidneys according to the different types of kidney yin and kidney yang deficiency. Those with kidney yin deficiency can choose sea cucumber, wolfberry, and soft-shelled turtle. Those with kidney yang deficiency should choose mutton, deer antler, and alpinia oxyphylla. "Black foods" can nourish the kidneys and strengthen them, such as black rice, black beans, black sesame seeds, black fungus, black-boned chicken, kelp, and seaweed. Winter diet should not be too salty, and cold foods should be avoided. Why should we eat some nuts for nourishment in winter? It is suitable to eat more nuts with nourishing effects in winter. (1) Hazelnuts: Known as the "king of nuts", they help to adjust blood pressure and lower cholesterol. (2) Walnuts: Most suitable for mental workers. (3) Almonds: They can moisten the lungs and relieve dryness, and their selenium content is the highest among all nuts. (4) Cashews: The linoleic acid and linolenic acid in them can help prevent arteriosclerosis. How to nourish the body in winter? Winter nourishment should mainly target deficiency syndromes: (1) Replenishing qi: Suitable for those with qi deficiency. (2) Replenishing blood: Suitable for those with blood deficiency. (3) Replenishing yin: Suitable for those with yin deficiency. (4) Replenishing yang: Suitable for those with yang deficiency. Why shouldn't you take tonics indiscriminately? For all deficiency syndromes, you should choose tonics. For excess syndromes, you should choose tonics. All tonics should be used under the guidance of a doctor. Using too many yang-tonifying drugs can damage yin; using too many yin-nourishing drugs can damage yang. Misusing the body can lead to yin-yang imbalance. Why is it harmful to take sex health products indiscriminately? Middle-aged men who do have sexual dysfunction need to take sex health products, but the medication varies depending on the cause. Trying to increase libido by relying on aphrodisiacs is very harmful to the body. After middle age, sexual activity should be gradually reduced with age, which is a characteristic of the decline of kidney qi and physiological function. Why should you avoid taking ginseng indiscriminately? (1) Ginseng use varies from person to person: middle-aged men with excess heat syndrome should not take it. (2) Do not take large amounts of ginseng for a long time: large doses can easily cause central nervous system excitation, leading to insomnia and high blood pressure. (3) It is advisable to take it in the morning: taking ginseng on an empty stomach can be absorbed without causing stagnation of qi. (4) Ginseng should not be taken with strong tea. What are the contraindications for middle-aged men drinking tonic wine? Tonic wine is warm in nature and is most suitable for people with weak Yang energy and deficiency of both Qi and blood. In spring, when Yang energy rises, it is generally not advisable to consume tonic wine. In addition, people with Yin deficiency and Yang excess who have low-grade fever, as well as patients with hypertension, should not consume it.