🌿 Folk Prescriptions

It is commonly said, "Supplement during the coldest period, remain healthy throughout the year," making proper nourishment essential in cold winters. Besides dietary supplementation, fruit intake also contributes to nourishment. Adjust your physiological functions optimally during winter, enjoying both health and beauty.
Winter is cold and dry, causing nasal and throat dryness, dry skin, and easy internal heat. Eating fruits daily not only nourishes yin, moistens lungs, soothes the throat, removes dryness, but also provides ample nutrients, instantly refreshing and relieving discomfort.
Pear
Pears are the top choice among winter fruits. They contain malic acid, citric acid, glucose, fructose, calcium, phosphorus, iron, and various vitamins. Pears moisten the throat, stimulate saliva production, nourish the lungs, relieve cough, and nourish the intestines. Most suitable for those suffering from fever in winter-spring seasons or internal heat. Particularly effective for relieving lung heat cough, pediatric wind-heat, sore throat, and constipation. Additionally, pears help lower blood pressure and calm the mind. Hypertensive patients with dizziness, tinnitus, palpitations, often benefit from regular pear consumption, reducing symptoms. Rich in sugars and vitamins, pears support liver function and aid digestion. However, due to their cold nature, those with weak spleen-stomach, indigestion, or postpartum blood deficiency should avoid excessive intake.
- Recommended quantity: One pear per day is optimal for nutrient absorption.
- Best time: 2–3 hours after meals.
- Consumption methods: Eat raw after washing; boil with rock sugar to make rock sugar pear soup for moistening lungs and quenching thirst; or juice and drink.
Kiwi
Kiwis are extremely nutritious, hailed as the "King of Fruits." They contain more than ten amino acids such as leucine, phenylalanine, isoleucine, tyrosine, and alanine, along with rich minerals including calcium, phosphorus, iron, beta-carotene, and multiple vitamins. Kiwis play crucial roles in maintaining health and preventing diseases. Regular kiwi consumption helps prevent osteoporosis in the elderly, inhibits cholesterol deposition, thus preventing atherosclerosis, improves heart muscle function, and aids in treating heart disease. It also offers some anticancer benefits. Consuming kiwis regularly reduces excessive peroxides in the body, prevents age spots, and delays aging. Eating kiwis in winter helps regulate bodily functions, boost immunity, and replenish necessary nutrients.
- Recommended quantity: 1–2 kiwis are ideal for full absorption.
- Best time: Avoid empty stomach. Can be eaten 1–3 hours before or after meals.
- Consumption methods: Peel and eat directly; or boil kiwi juice with water, sugar, banana chunks, apple chunks, thicken with starch slurry, and serve.
Sugarcane
Sugarcane has very high water content—84% of its composition. In dry winters, replenishing fluids is essential. Moreover, sugarcane ranks among the highest in iron content among fruits. It possesses nourishing and cooling properties, serving as a refreshing tonic. It effectively treats hypoglycemia, constipation, urinary difficulties, irritability, thirst, nausea, vomiting, and coughing or shortness of breath caused by lung dryness. However, due to its cold nature, those with weak spleen-stomach or stomach pain should avoid it.
- Recommended quantity: Portion control is crucial.
- Best time: Avoid consuming high-sugar fruits before bedtime.
- Consumption methods: Peel and eat directly; or cut into 20–30 cm segments, boil for about 10 minutes, remove while hot, peel, and eat—tasting sweeter.
柚子 (Pomelo)
Pomelos mature in autumn and, due to their thick rind and long shelf life, are ideal for consumption in cold winter. Known as the "natural canned fruit," pomelos are rich in protein, organic acids, vitamins, and essential elements like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and sodium—unmatched by other fruits. High in nutritional value, they also offer benefits such as aiding digestion, regulating qi, resolving phlegm, moistening lungs, clearing intestines, enriching blood, and strengthening spleen. They promote appetite, treat indigestion, regulate qi, and help wounds heal. Beneficial for conditions like sepsis. Pomelos help reduce internal heat and inhibit oral ulcers in winter.
- Recommended quantity: 100–200 grams per person per day is easily absorbed.
- Best time: Slightly sour, so avoid eating on an empty stomach. Consume 1 hour before meals to stimulate appetite.
- Consumption methods: Keep peel, remove core, combine with 50 grams each of northern apricot, fritillary bulb, and unbleached silver ear fungus, add several bottles of honey, stew and consume.
Health Quiz
★ Eating fruits instead of meals is beneficial to health ×
The human body requires nearly 50 different nutrients to survive, especially over 65 grams of protein and more than 20 grams of fat daily for tissue and organ renewal and repair. Fruits contain over 85% water, less than 1% protein, and almost no essential fatty acids—far from meeting human nutritional needs.
★ Eating more fruits can still lead to weight gain √
Fruit sugar content often exceeds 8%, mostly simple and disaccharide sugars easily digested. Although fruits have lower calories per weight compared to rice, they are easy to overconsume, making weight loss difficult.
★ More fruit is always better ×
Excessive fructose intake causes copper deficiency, raises blood cholesterol, and may trigger coronary heart disease. High-sugar fruits include apples, pears, oranges, persimmons, watermelons, peaches, etc.
★ Eating fruit immediately before or after meals √
Many believe eating fruit right before or after meals reduces main meal intake, aiding weight loss—but this is incorrect. Immediate fruit consumption mixes with recent meals, hindering digestion and absorption.