Spring Health Preservation with Medicinal Porridge
Spring Health Preservation with Medicinal Porridge
Today is Lichun (Start of Spring), marking the arrival of another spring season full of blossoms. Spring is a time when many diseases are prevalent—epidemics spread widely, and chronic conditions often flare up or worsen. Drinking medicinal porridge is a simple yet practical method for disease prevention. Below are several recipes and their preventive benefits.
Shepherd’s Purse Porridge
First, place 100 grams of glutinous rice in a pot, add water, bring to a boil, then add 100 grams of fresh shepherd’s purse, and cook into porridge. Consume as needed in the morning and evening. Shepherd’s purse is rich in protein and over ten amino acids, as well as glucose, sucrose, lactose, offering abundant nutrition and a sweet, delicious taste.
Leek Porridge
First, wash 100 grams of glutinous rice and place in a pot, add water, bring to a boil, then add 550 grams of washed and chopped leeks, and cook into porridge. Consume as needed in the morning and evening. Eating leeks in spring has a pungent, yang-enhancing effect. Leeks are rich in vitamins A, B, C, sugars, and proteins, and possess flavor-enhancing and antibacterial properties. Due to their warm, yang-promoting nature, they are unsuitable for those with yin deficiency or skin ulcers.
Celery Porridge
Wash celery including roots, use 150 grams per serving, boil to extract juice, then mix with 100 grams of glutinous rice and cook into porridge. Consume as needed in the morning and evening. In spring, liver yang tends to rise, easily causing headaches, dizziness, and red eyes. Patients or elderly people who regularly eat celery porridge can help lower blood pressure and reduce irritability. Spring is also a peak season for childhood measles. Early detection allows giving celery porridge to children to promote eruption and release of exterior pathogens. Additionally, celery porridge is suitable for children in rapid growth phases.
Pork Liver Porridge
Take 50 grams of pork liver and 250 grams of glutinous rice, wash both, and cook into porridge. Consume as needed. According to WHO expert group findings on children’s growth rates worldwide, spring—especially May—is the fastest-growing period for children. Rapid growth requires increased nutrition in the diet. Pork liver contains abundant protein, lecithin, and trace elements, beneficial for children’s intellectual and physical development.
Red Date Porridge
Take 50 grams of red dates and 100 grams of glutinous rice, cook into porridge, and consume warm in the morning and evening. Red dates have excellent tonifying effects, greatly benefiting children’s growth and development. Particularly, their neutral nature nourishes blood and calms the spirit, suitable for those with chronic illness or weak spleen-stomach function.
Balm Mint Porridge
Take 15 grams of balm mint, decoct into tea and cool. Cook 50 grams of glutinous rice into porridge, add an appropriate amount of rock sugar just before finishing, then boil for one or two more boils. Consume warm in the morning and evening. In traditional Chinese medicine, mint is used as a diaphoretic and fever-reducing agent. Middle-aged people eating mint porridge in spring can clear the heart, soothe the spirit, disperse wind-heat, improve appetite, and aid digestion.
Ginseng Porridge
Take 50 grams of goji berries and 100 grams of glutinous rice, cook into porridge, and consume as needed in the morning and evening. Goji berries are sweet and neutral in nature, entering the liver and kidney meridians, a dual-purpose food and medicine. Consuming goji porridge in spring helps nourish liver and kidney deficiency, treats fatigue, impotence, and chronic cough (without external pathogen). Additionally, goji porridge helps lower blood sugar and cholesterol, protects the liver, and promotes regeneration of liver cells.
Carrot Porridge
Use 350 grams of carrots, wash and chop finely, mix with 100 grams of glutinous rice and water, and cook into porridge. Consume in the morning and evening or as an afternoon snack. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, which converts to vitamin A in the body, protecting eyes and skin. Those with rough skin, night blindness, dry eyes, or childhood rickets benefit greatly. People with spleen deficiency and diarrhea should use cautiously.
Chrysanthemum Porridge
Use 50 grams of chrysanthemum and 100 grams of glutinous rice. First, decoct chrysanthemum into tea, then use the tea to cook into porridge. Consume as needed in the morning and evening. Modern pharmacological studies show chrysanthemum contains volatile essential oils, giving it a fragrant aroma, and also contains betaine, vitamins A and B, amino acids. It strengthens capillary resistance and lowers blood pressure. Elderly people consuming chrysanthemum porridge in spring can prevent wind-heat headache, liver-fire red eyes, dizziness, tinnitus, and long-term use can make the body feel lighter, hearing sharper, eyes clearer, and mind more alert.
Yam Porridge
Use 45–80 grams of dried yam slices or 100–200 grams of fresh yam, wash, slice, and cook with 100 grams of glutinous rice into porridge. Consume for breakfast and dinner. Yam is sweet and neutral in nature, a gentle tonic for the spleen, lungs, and kidneys. Modern pharmacological research reveals yam contains amylase, betaine, mucilage, glycoproteins, free amino acids, fats, carbohydrates, vitamin C, iodine, calcium, and phosphorus. The amylase in yam, sometimes called "digestive enzyme," breaks down proteins and carbohydrates, providing nourishment. Elderly people consuming yam porridge regularly in spring gain significant health benefits.