Spring Health Care with Medicinal Porridge
Spring Health Care with Medicinal Porridge
Today is Lichun (Start of Spring), marking the arrival of another springtime full of blooming flowers. Spring is a season when many diseases are prevalent—not only do infectious diseases spread rapidly, but chronic conditions often flare up or worsen. Drinking medicinal porridge is a simple yet practical method for disease prevention. Below are recipes and preventive benefits of several medicinal porridges.
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 in appropriate amounts for breakfast and dinner. Shepherd’s purse is rich in protein and over ten amino acids, as well as glucose, sucrose, lactose, offering abundant nutrition and a 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 in appropriate amounts for breakfast and dinner. Eating leeks in spring has the effect of stimulating yang energy. Leeks are rich in vitamins A, B, C, sugars, and proteins, and possess flavor-enhancing and antibacterial properties. Due to their warm, yang-boosting 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 to cook into porridge. Consume in appropriate amounts for breakfast and dinner. In spring, liver yang tends to rise easily, causing headaches, dizziness, and red eyes. Patients or elderly people who frequently consume celery porridge may benefit from lowered blood pressure and reduced irritability. Spring is also a peak season for childhood measles. Early detection allows giving celery porridge to children to help release the rash outward. Additionally, celery porridge is suitable for growing children.
Pork Liver Porridge
Take 50 grams of pork liver and 250 grams of glutinous rice, wash thoroughly, and cook into porridge. Consume in appropriate amounts. According to WHO expert group findings on children’s growth rates across countries, 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 for breakfast and dinner. 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 convalescing from illness or with weak spleen-stomach function.
Peppermint Porridge
Take 15 grams of peppermint, decoct into a tea, cool. Cook 50 grams of glutinous rice into porridge, just before finishing, add appropriate rock sugar, cook for one or two boils, then serve warm for breakfast and dinner. In traditional Chinese medicine, peppermint is used as a diaphoretic and fever-reducing agent. Middle-aged adults eating peppermint porridge in spring can clear the heart, soothe the spirit, dispel wind, reduce heat, stimulate appetite, and aid digestion.
Goji Berry Porridge
Take 50 grams of goji berries and 100 grams of glutinous rice, cook into porridge. Consume in appropriate amounts for breakfast and dinner. Goji berries are sweet and neutral in nature, entering the liver and kidney meridians, a dual-purpose medicinal and edible substance for nourishing the liver and kidneys. Consuming goji berry porridge in spring helps address liver-kidney deficiency, treat weakness and impotence, and persistent cough without external infection. Additionally, goji berry porridge helps lower blood sugar and cholesterol, protects the liver, and promotes regeneration of liver cells.
Carrot Porridge
350 grams of carrots, washed and chopped, mixed with 100 grams of glutinous rice and water, cooked into porridge. Consume for breakfast and dinner or as an afternoon snack. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, which converts into vitamin A after ingestion, protecting eyes and skin. Those suffering from rough skin, night blindness, dry eyes, or childhood rickets benefit greatly. People with weak spleen and diarrhea should use cautiously.
Chrysanthemum Porridge
50 grams of chrysanthemum, 100 grams of glutinous rice. First, decoct chrysanthemum into a tea, then use the tea to cook into porridge. Consume in appropriate amounts for breakfast and dinner. Modern pharmacological studies reveal chrysanthemum contains volatile essential oils, giving it a fragrant aroma, as well as betaine, vitamins A and B, and amino acids. It enhances capillary resistance and lowers blood pressure. Elderly people consuming chrysanthemum porridge in spring can prevent wind-heat headaches, liver-fire red eyes, dizziness, tinnitus, and long-term use brings lightness in limbs, sharp hearing and vision, and mental clarity.
Chinese 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 for breakfast and dinner. Chinese yam is sweet and neutral in nature, a mild tonic for the spleen, lungs, and kidneys. Modern pharmacological research shows 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, thus providing nourishment. Elderly people consuming yam porridge regularly in spring receive significant benefits.