🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Folk Remedy for Increasing Strength and Physical Fitness
What should one eat to increase strength? This question concerns not only manual laborers but also intellectual workers.
Increasing strength has broad and narrow meanings. Broadly speaking, it means enhancing adaptability to all environments, including muscle strength, endurance, agility, flexibility, and relaxation. Narrowly, it refers to increasing strength in the limbs. Both are inseparable, as narrow strength is an objective indicator of broad strength.
Traditional Chinese medicine recorded in the "Shennong Bencao Jing" thousands of years ago some foods and herbs capable of "doubling strength" and "boosting vitality." By the Ming and Qing dynasties, the comprehensive herbal text "Bencao Gangmu" had already included various nutritional supplements for enhancing strength.
It is proven that using food herbs can not only treat discomforts caused by over-fatigue but also activate latent human potential, stimulate hormone synthesis and release, regulate the nervous and endocrine systems, enhance cardiovascular, digestive, hematopoietic, and skeletal systems—all without the toxic side effects of stimulants. So, which foods and herbs truly have the effect of increasing strength?
First, foods and herbs that tonify the spleen and boost qi can increase strength.
Since physical strength primarily refers to limb activity, any food that tonifies, strengthens, or nourishes the spleen and stomach can enhance strength. Traditional Chinese medicine teaches that "the spleen governs muscles" and "the spleen governs limbs." All internal organs depend on the spleen and stomach for nourishment. The spleen and stomach are known as the "foundation of postnatal life," serving as the direct source of human physical strength. If the spleen fails to transform food essence and clear yang does not spread, resulting in nutrient deficiency, muscles become weak and limbs feel exhausted and powerless. Commonly used foods and herbs for tonifying and strengthening the spleen include yam, hazelnuts, beef, dog meat, grapes, and jujubes.
Second, foods or herbs that greatly tonify primordial qi can increase strength.
Primordial qi is the fundamental energy of the human body, also called "original yang" or "true yang." Thus, primordial qi is the root of the body's yang energy, providing warmth and transformation for the five zang and six fu organs. Therefore, any food that greatly tonifies primordial qi can enhance strength—such as black sesame seeds, walnuts, mulberries, leopard meat, eel, lotus seeds, etc.
In summary, primordial qi is the fundamental energy of the body, while spleen and stomach qi are the foundation of postnatal life. To increase strength, one must focus on the spleen and primordial qi. Any food with strong effects on tonifying the spleen and primordial qi will have a certain strength-enhancing effect.
Commonly used formulas for health enhancement and strength increase are listed below.
[Formula One]
First, slice 3 grams of raw ginseng thinly, place in a thermos, pour boiling water over it, steep for half an hour, drink warm in the morning on an empty stomach or before bedtime. For the first 2–3 days of consumption, avoid radishes, strong tea, crabs, and mung beans to prevent reducing efficacy.
This formula tonifies qi and strengthens the spleen, suitable for all types of qi deficiency in men and women. It is an excellent tonic for longevity. Normal people drinking it regularly can enhance their strength.
[Formula Two]
50 grams of pine mushroom, 50 grams of spring bamboo shoots, 20 grams of water chestnut, seasonings as needed. Remove roots and stems from pine mushrooms, wash clean, stir-fry briefly in oil over high heat; peel and slice water chestnuts, cut bamboo shoots into slices, add to the pan with pine mushrooms, add a little water, cook briefly, season with salt and monosodium glutamate, thicken with a thin cornstarch slurry, drizzle with oil, and serve.
This formula strengthens the body and increases vitality.
[Formula Three]
Live turtle 750 grams, ham 30 grams, clear soup 1500 grams, lard 15 grams, sesame oil, green onions 20 grams each, ginger 10 grams, monosodium glutamate, cooking wine, white pepper powder as needed. Cut off the turtle’s head, drain blood, open shell, remove gallbladder, wash turtle meat and internal organs, cut into 3 cm long × 1.5 cm wide pieces. Slice ham. Heat lard, sauté green onions and ginger briefly, then add turtle meat and organs. Add cooking wine, white pepper powder, salt, and sesame oil, stir-fry, transfer to a clay pot, add clear soup, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours. Add ham slices, continue simmering until broth thickens and aroma fills the air, then add monosodium glutamate. Consume at dinner.
This formula nourishes kidneys, enriches essence and blood, expels wind-dampness, strengthens tendons and bones. Suitable for chronic illness with essence-blood deficiency, weakness, paralysis, joint pain, and muscle soreness. Regular consumption provides abundant energy and supports healthy aging.
[Formula Four]
30 grams each of Codonopsis pilosula and Astragalus membranaceus, 15 grams of Atractylodes macrocephala, 3 grams of dried ginger, 1 eel. First, decoct the four herbs in water to extract juice, then use the juice to cook the eel. Once cooked, season with salt, eat the eel and drink the soup. This formula tonifies qi and warms yang, suitable for yang deficiency, cold aversion, fatigue, limb weakness, and loose stools.
[Formula Five]
Wild pork, tofu, vermicelli, seasonings in appropriate amounts. Wash wild pork, slice it, boil with tofu until half-cooked, then add vermicelli and cook until pork is fully cooked. Season with salt, green onion, ginger, and monosodium glutamate, serve warm. This formula tonifies qi and blood, increases strength, suitable for symptoms caused by qi and blood deficiency such as shortness of breath, lethargy, fatigue, and mental exhaustion.
[Formula Six]
20 grams of Lycium barbarum seeds, 100 grams of rice, 50 grams of rock sugar. Wash Lycium barbarum seeds, wrap in gauze, rinse rice. Place rice and herb bag in a clay pot, add 1000 ml water, cook until rice is soft and broth thick, with a film of oil on the surface. Add rock sugar and cook for another 5 minutes.
This formula nourishes liver and kidneys, tonifies the spleen and stomach. Suitable for kidney deficiency with sore lower back and knees, spleen deficiency with poor appetite; consuming it helps build muscle and achieve a fuller, healthier physique.
[Formula Seven]
100 grams of fresh milk, tea leaves and salt in appropriate amounts. First, brew tea into a concentrated liquid, strain out residue, then boil milk, pour into a bowl, mix in tea liquid, add salt to taste, stir well. Consume 1 dose daily, on an empty stomach, sip slowly and warm.
This formula promotes physical beauty, increases strength, and keeps skin moist. It is an excellent tonic.
[Formula Eight]
120 grams of Chinese yam, 1 old hen, ginger, green onion, yellow wine, salt, water as needed. Remove feathers and internal organs from the hen, wash clean, place in a steamer pot. Add seasonings, no additional water. Use the distilled water generated by the steamer to produce "chicken dew," approximately 1000 ml. Chicken dew is sweet and mild, with functions of tonifying qi, increasing strength, nourishing blood, and generating body fluids. Regular consumption with meals enhances nutrition. Suitable for weak individuals, postpartum women, convalescents, and the elderly.
This formula originates from "Bencao Gangmu Shiyi," originally used for "tonifying deficiency," commonly selected by those with qi deficiency. Chicken is an excellent food for tonifying qi and enriching essence, suitable for all ages.<<Health-Promoting>>