Eat Less Spicy, More Sour in Autumn
"Reduce pungent flavors, increase sour flavors" is a principle in Traditional Chinese dietary nutrition for autumn. "Reducing pungent" means limiting intake of pungent-tasting foods because the lung belongs to metal and connects with autumn. Since lung energy peaks in autumn, reducing pungent foods prevents excessive lung energy.
From a TCM perspective, autumn spans three months from Start of Autumn to Start of Winter. Its characteristics include a transition from heat to cold and the gradual rise of yin while yang declines. Therefore, autumn health preservation must follow the principle of "nourishing and collecting." Diet should center on moistening dryness and boosting qi, primarily focusing on strengthening the spleen, nourishing the liver, and clearing the lungs—favoring foods that are mild, moist, sweet, and slightly sour.
The pungent and sour flavors referred to here do not equate exactly to everyday spicy and sour tastes.
Pungent flavor, as part of the Five Flavors balance, includes spicy, numbing-spicy, and sharp-spicy types, commonly found in chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, black pepper, onions, garlic, ginger, and curry.
Sour flavor, traditionally within the Five Flavors balance, also includes astringent qualities, which have consolidating and restraining effects, used in treating conditions like excessive sweating, diarrhea, frequent urination, and seminal emission. Moreover, combining sour and sweet flavors has a nourishing yin and moisturizing effect.
Among fruits, hawthorn contains the highest concentration of acidic substances, followed by grapes. Other sour fruits commonly eaten in autumn include pomelo and pomegranate.