Winter Wellness — TCM Seasonal Food Therapy

Seasonal Food Therapy

Seasonal Recipes

• Angelica and Ginger Mutton Soup: 500 g mutton, 18 g Chinese angelica root (danggui), 30 g ginger. Wash and chunk the mutton and blanch to remove blood water; place it in a clay pot with the angelica and ginger, add plenty of water, bring to a boil over high heat and skim off the scum, then simmer over low heat for 1.5-2 hours until the meat is tender; season with salt. Traditionally used to warm the middle and dispel cold, nourish and move the blood, and supplement qi and blood, and may support those with yang deficiency who fear cold and have cold hands and feet (a famous warming and tonifying formula from the "Synopsis of the Golden Chamber").
• Black Sesame Paste: 150 g black sesame, 75 g glutinous rice, white sugar to taste. Wash the black sesame and dry-roast over low heat until fragrant; dry-roast the glutinous rice until slightly golden; grind both into a fine powder in a food processor, and mix a suitable amount with boiling water into a paste to eat. Traditionally used to nourish the liver and kidney, moisten the five organs, darken the hair and brighten the eyes, and moisten the intestines to ease bowel movement.
• Walnut and Black Sesame Paste: 1 cup brown rice, 5-6 spoonfuls black sesame paste, crushed walnut to taste, rock sugar to taste. Cook the brown rice, then blend it with rock sugar and boiling water into a rice milk; stir in the black sesame paste and simmer over low heat until thick; serve in a bowl topped with crushed walnut. Traditionally used to nourish the kidney, consolidate essence, moisten dryness, darken the hair, and support the brain.
• Chinese Yam and Silkie Chicken Soup: half a silkie chicken, 15 g Chinese yam, 15 g prepared rehmannia root (shudihuang), 10 g goji berries, 10 g jujube. Blanch the silkie chicken, place it in a clay pot with all the other ingredients, bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat for about 3 hours; season with salt. Traditionally used to nourish yin, tonify the kidney, strengthen the spleen, and generate fluids.
• Eucommia and Codonopsis Squab Soup: 1 squab, eucommia bark, codonopsis root (dangshen), astragalus root (huangqi), and mature ginger in suitable amounts. Clean and blanch the squab, place it in a pot with the washed herbs and ginger slices, bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat for about 3 hours; season with salt. Traditionally used to nourish the kidney, invigorate yang, and strengthen the sinews and bones.
• Codonopsis and Red Date Beef Brisket Stew: 30 g codonopsis root, 5 red dates, 400 g beef brisket, 3 slices of ginger. Cut the brisket into pieces and place it in an earthenware pot with the soaked codonopsis, pitted red dates, and ginger slices; add about 2500 ml water, bring to a rolling boil over high heat, then reduce to low heat and simmer for about 2 hours; season with salt. Traditionally used to warm the middle, nourish qi, tonify the kidney, and strengthen the stomach.

Wellness Principles

• Daily living: retire early and rise late, waiting for the sunlight — go to bed early to conserve yang qi, and do not rise until the sun is up, avoiding severe cold to store yang qi (Su Wen, "Discourse on the Four Seasons and the Regulation of the Spirit").
• Daily living: avoid the cold and seek warmth, and do not let the skin leak — keep warm and guard against cold, and do not let the skin open and leak with heavy sweating, so as to prevent the dispersal of yang qi.
• Emotions: let the will be as if hidden and concealed, as if one had private intentions, as if one had already obtained something — keep the spirit stored deep within, calm and composed, so that it is not leaked outward to disturb yang qi.
• Exercise: keep up moderate exercise (walking, jogging, tai chi, baduanjin, etc.) to nourish the sinews and strengthen the kidney and resistance, but avoid heavy sweating; put on more clothes promptly after sweating to prevent catching cold.
• Diet: favor warm and hot foods and avoid raw and cold ones, and warm and tonify to support yang (mutton, beef, walnut, black sesame, Chinese yam, chestnut, etc.); reduce salty and increase bitter flavors to supplement heart qi and consolidate kidney qi.
• Restrain desire and store essence: reduce sexual activity and restrain desires; "if essence is not stored in winter, one will fall ill with warm disease in spring" — store kidney essence to build up strength for the spring's birth to come.

Understanding the Season

The three months of winter are the season of "closing and storing": water freezes and the earth cracks, the myriad things hibernate, and the body's yang qi is drawn inward and stored away. Among the five zang-organs, the kidney governs water and governs storage, and it is connected with the qi of winter, so winter health preservation is rooted in nourishing the kidney and storing essence and consolidating yang qi (nourishing storage to secure the foundation). The Huangdi Neijing calls the kidney "the foundation of prenatal endowment and the root of life," governing essence, water, bones, and the production of marrow. If in winter one can "not disturb the yang" and "avoid the cold and seek warmth" to consolidate the storage qi, then kidney essence is abundant and strength is stored up for the coming "spring birth"; if one goes against winter's closing and storing qi (through overexertion, heavy sweating, excessive sexual activity, or exposure to cold), the kidney is injured and yang is damaged — "going against winter qi, the lesser yin fails to store, and kidney qi sinks alone" — and in spring, because the essence that serves the birth is insufficient, one may develop wilting and reversal (weak, limp limbs and cold extremities). Hence "if essence is not stored in winter, one will fall ill with warm disease in spring" — failing to store in winter leaves the body's upright qi insufficient in the following spring and prone to warm disease.

This content is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.