24 Solar Terms -" First Frost "

"First Frost" is the last solar term of autumn, falling on October 23rd or 24th each year. During this period, the temperature difference between day and night gradually increases, with yang energy retreating inward and yin energy becoming more dominant. Many people say, "It's better to nourish your body during Frost's Descent than in winter." This is because only by adjusting the body's qi, blood, yin, and yang in late autumn can you better digest and absorb the essence of winter food, nurturing the body's yang energy, qi, blood, and fluids, and achieving a protective and health-enhancing effect. In the context of the Five Nourishments for the Four Seasons (spring tonifying, summer clearing, late summer light nourishing, autumn balancing, winter warming), the principle is to focus on balancing nourishment. While moistening the lungs and preventing dryness, one should also pay attention to nourishing qi, blood, and spleen and stomach. Foods that moisten the lungs and prevent dryness include lily, pear, radish, honey, Tremella mushroom, lotus seeds, and winter melon. Lamb, beef, duck, and rabbit meat are good choices for nourishing qi, blood, and spleen and stomach. Rabbit meat, in particular, is said to be best enjoyed after First Frost, as it becomes more delicious and nutritious.

Chinaturel introduces several health-nourishing soups and porridges:

1. Lily, Solomon's Seal, and Pigeon Soup

   • Ingredients: 1 pigeon, 30g Solomon's Seal, 15g lily, 15g goji berries, 10g dried longan, 2 slices of ginger.

   • Instructions: Clean the Solomon's Seal, lily, and goji berries. After preparing the pigeon, remove feathers and internal organs, wash, and cut it into large pieces. Place all ingredients in a pot, add an appropriate amount of water, bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer for 2 hours over low heat. Finally, season with salt.

   • Benefits: Nourishes yin and blood, calms the mind. Suitable for those with lung and kidney yin deficiency, as well as restlessness and poor sleep.

2. Osmanthus and Sour Plum Soup

   • Ingredients: 3-5 sour plums, 15g hawthorn berries, 15g prepared rehmannia, half a tangerine peel, osmanthus, and rock sugar (to taste, for 3 servings).
   • Instructions: Wash the sour plums, hawthorn berries, prepared rehmannia, and tangerine peel. Wrap them in gauze. Boil water in a pot, add the gauze bag with the herbs, and simmer on low heat for 40 minutes. Add rock sugar and remove the gauze bag. Sprinkle with osmanthus before serving.

3. Adenophora and Ophiopogon Soup

   • Ingredients: 15g northern adenophora, 10g Solomon's Seal, 10g ophiopogon, 5g licorice root, 10g mulberry leaves, 10g hyacinth bean, 10g fritillary bulbs.
   • Benefits: Clears and nourishes lung yin, generates fluids, and relieves dryness. Suitable for treating lung and stomach dryness and deficient body fluids.

These health-nourishing soups and porridges contain various ingredients known for their medicinal properties and are suitable for autumn's transitional period to help maintain and restore balance in the body. Please consult with a healthcare professional, especially a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, before consuming these if you have specific health concerns or needs to ensure they align with your individual health conditions.

Rehmanniae Glutinosae 

https://www.chinaturel.nl/en/shu-di-huang-radix-rehmanniae-glutinosae-conqui-500-gr/a8549?search=%E7%86%9F%E5%9C%B0%E9%BB%84&m=8554#gallery

Jade green form

https://www.chinaturel.nl/en/yu-ping-feng-san-jade-screen-form/a9836?search=%E7%8E%89%E5%B1%8F%E9%A3%8E#gallery

Rhizoma Polygonati Odoratae

https://www.chinaturel.nl/en/yu-zhu-rhizoma-polygonati-odoratae-500-gr/a9004?search=%E7%8E%89%E7%AB%B9&m=9009