🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Eating seems simple—everyone knows how—but as we age, we increasingly ignore basic rules. The good habit of "three meals a day, on time and in moderation" from childhood has been replaced by chaotic eating patterns. Look at the following N kinds of "tortures" for your stomach—are they familiar?
Case 1: Xiao You, 23, News Reporter
Xiao You works as a journalist at a newspaper. Her job schedule is "reversed"—often staying up late to finish articles, then sleeping until noon. As a result, breakfast is naturally missed during sleep, while lunch becomes unusually large. Xiao You is proud of this, believing skipping breakfast aids weight loss. Thus, she continues eating only two meals a day.
Expert Advice:
Breakfast is the primary energy source for brain activity. Without breakfast, insufficient glucose supply leads to poor concentration, sluggish response, and fatigue throughout the day. Moreover, prolonged fasting causes excessive gastric acid secretion, leading to gastritis or peptic ulcers. Skipping breakfast also increases constipation risk—some people try various methods to treat constipation, ignoring the importance of diet.
If thinking skipping breakfast aids weight loss is a serious misconception. According to nutritionists, breakfast is the meal least likely to turn into fat.
Case 2: Mr. Li, 30, Public Relations Manager
Over six years in PR, Mr. Li attends client dinners at least three times a week, sometimes even multiple times a day—dining feels like rushing from one event to another. Unlike casual gatherings with friends, dinner timing is dictated by clients—sometimes too early with no appetite, or too late after being hungry for hours. Furthermore, flavors must accommodate clients—sweet, sour, salty, spicy—all must be present. Eventually, the mouth feels like a mix of all five tastes.
Expert Advice:
Many business dinners are unavoidable for PR professionals. Meals often include chicken, duck, fish, meat, and exotic seafood. While occasional indulgence is fine, long-term overconsumption of animal protein can lead to hyperlipidemia, hypertension—commonly known as "rich man’s diseases." Excessive intake of acidic substances like chicken and duck can also cause fatigue and weakness.
Case 3: Xiao Wang, 27, Foreign Enterprise Employee
Working in a foreign company means overtime is routine. Three or four evenings a week, Xiao Wang eats dinner at the office. The easiest solution? Call for delivery, wolf down the food quickly, then return to work.
Expert Advice:
Similarly, single white-collar workers who don’t cook often rely on nearby fast-food shops. But fast food may be quick, but quality is questionable. Long-term consumption easily leads to nutrient deficiencies, causing ulcers, constipation, etc. And if, like Xiao Wang, one immediately resumes intense work after rapid eating, the harm is even greater.
Winter Stomach Care Declaration
Seasonal transitions often bring outbreaks of various illnesses. Recently, visits to gastroenterology departments have increased, especially cases of gastritis and peptic ulcers. Cold exposure and improper eating habits are major triggers. Thus, stomach care should be a priority in autumn and winter.
Bad eating habits are a modern epidemic—irregular meals, overeating at night, excessive socializing—these "crimes" could easily fill a list. No wonder so many young people suffer from stomach problems. Even the best stomach can’t withstand repeated abuse.
So, from today onward, abandon all stomach-damaging eating habits!
Start tomorrow by ensuring three regular meals daily, roughly dividing intake as 3:4:3 for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Keep vegetable-to-meat ratio between 3:1 and 4:1. Slow down eating speed, chew thoroughly. Reduce fast food intake and decline unnecessary social dinners.
Beyond establishing regular eating habits, avoid foods harmful to the stomach or improper eating methods and timing.
First, avoid cold foods for breakfast. Fresh vegetable juices are widely praised as healthy drinks, but drinking a large cold glass in the morning may backfire. The body prefers warmth, especially in the morning when residual night chill hasn’t dissipated and ground temperature hasn’t risen. Muscles, nerves, and blood vessels remain contracted. Consuming cold food at this time causes systemic contraction and poor circulation. This negative effect might not be noticeable initially, but with aging, you’ll notice worsening skin, persistent phlegm, frequent colds, and minor ailments—exactly what TCM calls "damaged stomach qi." So, on chilly autumn mornings, enjoy a warm bowl of congee or a cup of oatmeal to warm your stomach!
Second, avoid excessive spicy and raw foods. As temperatures drop, hotpot restaurants thrive. People often eat spicy hotpot while drinking icy beverages to cool down and relieve spiciness—this easily triggers acute or chronic gastritis. Hotpot bases are usually pungent and dry, prone to generating heat and damaging yin. Hotpot ingredients soaked in alkaline solutions strongly irritate the gastrointestinal tract. Combined with cold drinks and cold food, "hotpot syndrome" erupts instantly—abdominal pain, diarrhea, mouth ulcers, sore throat, etc., follow one after another.