What and how we eat can make a big difference to our digestion. Here are some general and specific tips to help you if you’re experiencing Wind Heat as diagnosed by your Chinese Medicine practitioner.
• Include a large variety of foods in the diet.
• Live on a mainly vegetarian diet of light, simple foods.
• Eat largely whole, unprocessed foods.
• Chew and swallow slowly.
• Relax whilst eating; avoid eating while reading, watching TV or rushing.
• Eat regularly. The amount of food and time of meals should be similar every day. Optimal is breakfast at about 7 A.M., lunch around 12 noon and supper at 6 P.M.
• Food intake should be greatest in the morning, a moderate amount at lunch, and a small amount at the evening meal.
• Eat small amounts of food frequently rather than large amounts of food infrequently.
• Avoid eating when in any kind of extreme emotional state.
• Eat moderately at each meal; eat until only 2/3 full.
• Eat clean, fresh, organic and seasonally ripe produce as often as possible.
• Avoid extremes in the diet, such as too hot, spicy, too raw, too cold, or too greasy.
• Balance the five flavours; sour, bitter, sweet, pungent and salty, to the best of your ability. Ask your practitioner for clarification on flavour categorisation.
• Avoid eating anything 2-3 hours before sleep.
Specific advice for Wind Heat
Have:
Tea – Peppermint and or Chrysanthemum tea with honey.
Our medicinal teas: Super Cooling Tea, Sweet Cooling Tea, Barely Tea.
Breakfast – An example of a good breakfast is warm tea and Amaranth flakes cereal with soy milk. You may add almonds and walnuts or honey to help stop coughing. Also try Grilled Mandarins for a chesty cough.
Avoid:
Generally avoid spicy (pungent) tasting foods and foods that have a very warm or hot nature such as scallions, chillies, garlic, wine and keep your intake light. Also, use ginger with care. It is great to help stop cough and nausea but do not overuse because it is warming.
