(Source: nipic.com)

In many places in China, a saying goes “having radishes in winter and ginger in summer sends our poor doctors into extended unemployment.” Radishes have the effect of promoting the circulation of qi, relieving coughs and reducing phlegm, promoting the secretion of saliva and other body fluids, refreshing and detoxifying the body.

Chinese Medicine experts also recommend eating more warm porridge. In China, the custom is to eat Red Bean Porridge on the first day of Winter Solstice and Eight-treasure Porridge on the eighth day of the last month of the lunar year. To have more porridge of this kind could be helpful to increase one’s personal heat and nourish the body. In addition, there are other porridges such as Wheat Porridge to nourish the heart and calm the mood, Sesame Porridge to replenish the vital essences and nourish the yin, Radish Porridge to help to digest and reduce phlegm, Walnut Porridge to nourish the yin and strengthen the vital essences, Tuckahoe Porridge to tonify the spleen and nourish the stomach, and Date Porridge to replenish the qi and nourish the yin.

Before drinking tonic in the winter, it is better for Chinese to have a process of adaptation for the intestines and stomach. To adjust the function of the spleen and stomach, they will have some Stewed Beef with Dates, Peanut with Brown Sugar, or some Beef Soup with Ginger.