Medicinal Food Therapy to “Eat Away” Dryness
Autumn and winter are the driest seasons of the year. Dryness can lead to nasal dryness, throat dryness, cracked skin, and increased wrinkles. Traditional Chinese medicine classifies dryness into different syndromes and prescribes specific dietary strategies to “eat away” dryness based on these patterns.
Dryness in Lung and Wei (Defensive Qi)
Main symptoms include fever, headache, slight aversion to wind and cold, dry nose and mouth, dry cough without phlegm, and sore throat.
In this case, focus on pungent, dispersing, and moistening dietary therapy. For example, use Sang Xing Yin: boil 10g mulberry leaf, 5g apricot kernel, 5g adenosma root, 15g pear peel, and 3g rock sugar, then drink as tea.
Dryness Damaging Stomach Fluids
Main symptoms include dry mouth and thirst, reduced urine output, constipation, dry heaves, pale red tongue without coating or with cracks, and fine pulse.
Here, nourish the stomach and moisturize dryness with dietary therapy. For example, Snow Pear Juice: take a large sweet water pear, slice thinly, soak in cool boiled water for half a day, and sip frequently. Five Juices Decoction: mix fresh pear juice, lotus root juice, fresh reed juice, ophiopogon juice, and lotus root juice in appropriate proportions, blend well, and drink cool. Sesame Porridge: use 6g sesame seeds, 30g white rice, and optional sugar or honey. First roast sesame seeds until fragrant, then cook rice into porridge. Add sesame and sweetener just before serving.
Dryness Damaging Liver and Kidneys
Main symptoms include dry, lusterless skin, night sweats, five-palm heat, low-grade fever, dry cough, blood in sputum, smooth tongue without coating, pale color, and weak pulse.
Use nourishing yin and blood-regulating dietary therapy. For example, Ma Ren Porridge: boil 20g hemp seed and 80g white rice into porridge. Tian Men Dong Porridge: boil 30g asparagus tuber and 50g white rice into porridge. Ejiao Porridge: crush 30g ejiao, stir-fry, grind into powder, then mix with cooked glutinous rice porridge and stir well before eating.
It is important to note that these dietary therapies should be tailored to individual conditions and ideally consumed under the guidance of a licensed TCM practitioner.