December | Preserve

 Major Snow arrives and the end of this year is coming

Major Snow means the arrival of the last season of the whole year. Everything begins to rest and nourish. Autumn has gone and we will enjoy the clear winter, bathing in the warm and comfortable sunshine. It is quite enjoyable to spend the winter nights with friends or family chatting, eating hot pot and drinking wine to warm up. The change will also make people become calm and no longer fidgety.

Major Snow is the third solar term during the winter. From this day onward, the frequency and extent of snowfall increases. In a northern country scene, expansive land is enclaved by ice and vast sky is full of whirling snow. The houses are covered with heavy snow and the roaring waves quiet down. A great event of snow is the most unmissable in winter, which not only means a pleasant harvest next year, but also a sense of peace and comfort.

What makes snow so charming is that everything in the world becomes pure under its covering. A snow can let the world return to its original purity and peace.

Health Guidelines

Winter is the best season to nourish yourself. Everything rests during the winter and we should fit into the laws of nature by following the regimen of “winter nourishing”. It’s advisable to store more energy and avoid over-drafting physical strength. You can make a healthy schedule for the whole family, including diet and exercise.

Be sure to keep warm

The air humidity is quite low during winter. As the temperature decreases, we should add proper clothing to keep warm and try not to sweat as much to prevent deprivation of Yang-Qi. The temperature at night will be lower. When you sleep, you should cover with a thick quilt to warm your limbs and keep your blood flowing smoothly.

Ventilate the room regularly

Due to the cold weather, some people like to sleep with closed doors and windows or cover their heads. These actions are not advisable. You are recommended to keep doors and windows open for ventilation.

Drink more hot porridge

Health experts suggest that it is advisable to eat more hot porridge for health maintenance. For example, Chinese people have the habit of eating red bean porridge at the winter solstice and Laba porridge on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Eating these kinds of porridge often has the function of increasing energy and nutrition. In addition, wheat porridge can protect the heart, radish porridge can eliminate phlegm, poria porridge can strengthen the spleen and stomach, etc. The body metabolizes faster and needs more vitamins in winter. The vitamin in jujube is high and jujube has the function of strengthening the spleen. Therefore, eating jujube in winter has many benefits.

Eat winter tonifying food

The old saying goes: if you eat well during the Major Snow, you can be healthy and energetic in the next spring. Our diet should include food with high protein, vitamin and cellulose and low fat and sugar. You can eat more lamb, beef, celery, white radish, potatoes, Chinese cabbage, spinach, apples, longans, etc. and avoid cold foods such as seafood and cold drinks.

People rarely sweat in winter, so it is suggested to reduce salt intake to reduce the burden on the kidney, and appropriately have bitter food to strengthen the kidney and nourish the heart. In addition, you can eat more black foods to tonify the kidney, such as black rice, black date, black wolfberry, black beans, black fungus, black buckwheat, etc.

The temperature is low in this season. We should drink more water, which is conducive to the supply of oxygen, smooth breathing and keeping healthy. It is appropriate to drink warm water in winter. You are recommended to drink a cup of warm water after getting up and before going to bed.

Pay attention to exercise intensity

In cold weather, the protection and stretchability of human organ systems are both decreased and muscle viscosity is increased so that the range of joint motion is reduced and the body is prone to stiffness. We can choose aerobic exercise with small motion amplitude, such as brisk walking, jogging, skipping rope, climbing stairs, walking, Tai Chi, etc.

There’s always a heavy snow, coming for you.

The next solar term is Winter Solstice. On this day, the sun is almost directly on the Tropic of Capricorn; it is the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. The ancients believed that from this day on, the day would be longer, and the Yang-Qi would rise, representing the beginning of the next cycle, the next round of birth, growth, harvest, and storage.