The lungs are the most important organ of the human respiratory system. An adult lung contains about 300 to 400 million alveoli, with a total area of 100 square meters, which transmit and exchange gases through the blood. The lungs are constructed like an air filter, absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere into the blood and eliminating carbon dioxide from the body. Among the five organs, the lungs are the only organ that is directly connected to the external environment. In Chinese medicine, “gold” is used as a metaphor for the lungs, which illustrates the importance of the lungs in all organs of the body. Today, we will introduce in detail how to nourish the “golden” lungs through a dietary regimen.
1. The golden lung in Chinese medicine
Chinese medicine believes that the lung is gold, through the autumn qi, sex like clear, main qi, the Division of breathing. The lungs are responsible for breathing in the clear air of nature and exhaling the turbid air of the body. The lung is oriented towards the hundred channels, and is the main regulator of the joints, helping the heart to move blood. The lung is the source of water and is responsible for the movement of water. The cathartic and purgative functions of the lung have a draining and regulating effect on the transmission, movement, and excretion of water in the body. The cathartic and purgative functions of the lung are contradictory movements that enable the smooth flow of qi in and out, and the evenness of breathing to maintain the exchange of gases inside and outside the body, so that the tissues of the internal organs can be irrigated by the nutrients of qi, blood, and fluids, and the water-damp phlegm and turbidity can be eliminated, so that the lung qi does not dissipate too much, thus always maintaining a normal state. When the lung qi is not promoted, coughing is common; when the lung is not purified, shortness of breath and rebellion are seen.
The lung is in the highest position, like an umbrella over the other organs, and is the main surface of the body and the external guard of the internal organs. In particular, wind-cold evil qi mostly enters the lungs first and leads to the loss of the lung guard and unfavorable lung orifices, etc. Since the lungs and the skin and hair are in harmony, the initial stage of the disease is characterized by fever and bad chills, cough, and nasal congestion. In autumn, dryness can easily invade the body and deplete the lung’s yin and fluids, resulting in symptoms such as cough, dry skin, and nose and mouth.
The lungs should not eat spicy food into the lungs, appropriate consumption of spicy food can promote lung gas, and warm the lungs to protect against the cold, such as ginger, white onion, garlic, and pepper, everything too much is not enough, too much spicy food, but hurt the lung gas, damage the lung fluid. Silver fungus, bird’s nest, white radish, water chestnut, cabbage, honey, sugar cane, pear, grapefruit, and walnuts can nourish the Yin and produce fluid, moisten the lung and stop cough; figs, persimmon, winter melon, lotus root, duck egg, jellyfish can clear the lung and remove fire; loquat, black fungus, pig’s blood can nourish the lung and help clear the lung; soy milk, bamboo fungus, golden needle mushroom, carp, silver carp, perch, pork lung, duck meat, etc. can benefit the lung and moisten the lung.
Chinese herbs that nourish and moisten the lung include Luo Han Guo, Perilla, Lily, White fruit, Chen Pi, Yu Zhu, Dendrobium, Ganoderma lucidum, American ginseng, Almond, Radix et Rhizoma oryzaeum, Huang Jing, etc. Luo Han Guo, also known as Shen Xian Guo, is rich in nutrients and sweet in taste. For patients with acute and chronic cough with Yin deficiency and lung dryness, lung heat, and injury, you can drink a cup of Luo Han Guo tea every day. The lungs are afraid of colds, and cold food has a curbing effect on the spleen and lung yang, producing phlegm and dampness, aggravating coughs, palpitations, and asthma. For patients with lung disease, dairy products and sweets should be eaten sparingly to reduce the secretion of mucus in the lungs. The lungs are afraid of dryness, so it is not advisable to eat more hot foods such as dog meat, rooster, lychee, and tangerine, and caution should be exercised on foods that can easily cause allergies such as bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and seafood.
2.”Golden” lung diet
Lung disease is divided into deficiency and reality, lung deficiency mainly has lung gas deficiency, lung Yin deficiency, etc. The actual lung disease mainly has wind-cold offending lung, wind-heat offending lung, phlegm-blocking lung, etc., and should be adjusted according to the specific treatment.
(1) Lung qi deficiency
This evidence is mostly seen in cough, shortness of breath, low voice, spontaneous sweating, easy-to-catch cold, the face is white, the tongue is light, the moss is white and moist, the pulse is weak; it is appropriate to use the treatment of tonifying the lung qi.
Sugar Water Pumpkin] Composition: 500 grams of fresh pumpkin, 50 grams of red dates, brown sugar. Production: fresh pumpkin peeled off the skin, red dates to remove the core, the appropriate amount of water, stewed until cooked, add brown sugar to taste.
Efficacy: tonifies the middle and benefits the qi, converges the lungs, and replenishes the deficiency. This remedy can be used to treat chronic bronchitis and bronchial asthma in the elderly.
Pig lung soup with American ginseng] Composition: 500 grams of pig lung, 10 grams of American ginseng, 250 grams of pork ribs, 6 slices of ginger. Production: first cut the pig lung, soak it in water for 60 minutes to discharge toxic alveoli and blood, rinse several times until clean, put it into a pot of boiling water with the ribs, put it into a casserole, fill it with water, put in American ginseng, ginger, cover it with a lid, boil it and simmer it over a slow fire for about 1 hour, season it.
Efficacy: replenish the lung, livening up the throat.
(2) Lung Yin deficiency evidence
This evidence is mostly seen in dry cough phlegm sticky, phlegm is difficult to cough, dry throat and mouth, hoarse voice, red tongue, less fluid, thin pulse, heavy lungs, and kidney yin deficiency evidence manifested as afternoon hot flashes, five heart trouble, night sweating, two cheek red, or see blood in the phlegm or hemoptysis; appropriate to use the treatment of nourishing Yin and moistening the lung.
Honey duck pear] Composition:: 2 duck pears, 20 grams of green plum, 20 grams of hawthorn cake, honey, sugar, sesame oil, and another appropriate amount. Production: wash the pear, peel, and core, cut into pieces and spare; plum, hawthorn cake cut into cubes square dice; pot into sesame oil and sugar, stir-fried into a golden brown, add water and boil, into the pear block, with a light fire stew until rotten, fished into the plate, sprinkle plum, hawthorn cake dice; a pot of soup with honey, poured over the pear. Take 2~3 times a day.
Effect: Nourish yin and clear heat, moisten the lung, and stop cough. This remedy is suitable for cough with Yin deficiency and lung dryness, dry throat, and mute voice; dry throat and thirst after heat illness, irritable heat, etc.
Lily and apple soup] Composition: 30 grams of yucca and lily, 6 grams of peel, 10 jujubes, 3 apples, and the right amount of rock sugar. Preparation: wash the first four flavors, into the casserole stew for 20 minutes, apple peeled and sliced, into the soup, stewed until soft, and add ice sugar to taste.
Effect: It can moisten the lung, remove phlegm and stop cough. This soup is suitable for dry cough with little phlegm, dry and itchy throat, blood in phlegm, etc. caused by lung deficiency or lung deficiency.
(3) Wind-cold offending the lung
This evidence is mostly seen in chills and fever, fear of wind, nasal congestion and runny nose, cough and asthma, sputum thin and clear, head and body pain, thin white tongue coating and moist, Chinese medicine also called this evidence for wind-cold surface evidence, that is, wind-cold cold; treatment is appropriate to dredge the wind and promote the lung, disperse the cold evil.
Ginger sugar and sage drink] Composition: 6 grams of ginger, 6 grams of sage leaves, brown sugar appropriate amount. Preparation: Cut ginger and perilla leaves into shreds, boil them in boiling water for 1~2 minutes, put them into porcelain cups, add brown sugar to taste, and take them while hot.
Effects: Dispelling wind and dispersing cold and relieving symptoms. This product can treat wind-cold colds such as headache and fever; it is more suitable for gastrointestinal colds which also suffer from nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, and abdominal distension; in addition, it can also be used for patients who have the above symptoms due to fish and shrimp poisoning.
(4) Wind-heat offending lung
This evidence is mostly seen in fever, slightly vicious cold, coughing and wheezing, coughing and vomiting yellow thick sputum, sore throat, thirst and happiness to drink, or even wind-heat into the lungs, forming lung-heat congestion evidence. Wind-heat offending the lung is also known as wind-heat surface evidence in Chinese medicine, namely wind-heat cold.
The composition: 30 grams of honeysuckle, 10 grams of peppermint, 60 grams of rhizome, and sugar. Preparation: First, add 500 ml of water to honeysuckle and rutabaga, boil for 15 minutes, then boil the mint for 3 minutes, strain the dregs, and add the appropriate amount of sugar to the filtrate.
Effect: Pungent, cool, and clear heat, dispel wind and relieve symptoms. This drink is suitable for wind-heat colds, autumn dryness when wind-dry colds, accompanied by dry cough, dry mouth, itchy throat, little sputum and sticky, not easy to cough out, etc.
Fishy grass mixed with lettuce] Ingredients: 50 grams of fishy grass, lettuce 250 grams, of ginger, onion, garlic, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil appropriate amount. Preparation: remove the old roots of fishy grass, wash and cut, put in boiling water blanching for 1 minute, and then pulled out, add salt and stir marinade for use; lettuce peeled and cut shredded, add salt marinade and drain; lettuce and fishy grass together in a bowl, add onion, ginger, garlic, and put soy sauce vinegar mixed with a drizzle of sesame oil is ready.
Efficacy: fishy grass resolves phlegm and detoxifies, and lettuce clears heat and lung This meal is suitable for people with lung-heat cough, sputum, yellow urine, and hot pain in the urinary tract.
(5) phlegm obstructing the lung
This evidence can be seen in various acute and chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchiectasis, pulmonary fibrosis, and other lung disorders, the symptoms are mostly seen in cough and phlegm, chest fullness, shortness of breath and phlegm, light tongue, white greasy coating; it is appropriate to use the treatment of drying dampness and resolving phlegm.
Radish stew with lamb] Ingredients: 1 white radish, 300 grams of lamb, 20 grams of peel, and the right amount of each seasoning.
Preparation: wash the lamb and cut it into pieces to remove the blood; cut the radish into pieces and set aside; add the lamb and peel into the pot, add water, and boil, cook for half an hour on a gentle fire, add the radish and seasonings and stew until the radish is cooked cease-fire, add salt to taste.
Effect: Expectorant and cough, warm the middle and benefit the qi. This remedy is suitable for cough with phlegm and asthma, which may be accompanied by loss of appetite, physical weakness, and cold abdominal pain.
Loofah flower and honey drink] Composition: 10 grams of loofah flower, an appropriate amount of honey. Preparation: 10 grams of clean loofah flowers, put into a porcelain cup, brew with boiling water, cover and soak for 10 minutes, then mix in the right amount of honey, take while hot, 3 times a day.
Effects: Clearing the lung and dispelling phlegm. This drink is suitable for acute and chronic bronchitis of lung heart type, accompanied by coughing and spitting yellow phlegm, wheezing, chest pain, dry mouth, etc.
The above is the “golden” lung dietary regimen, lung problems are the most likely to occur, but also people are prone to encounter the daily, you can choose the appropriate medicinal formula according to the symptoms of concentrated lung we introduced, and the effect is obvious. The basic causes and symptoms of the lungs have been covered, are easy to understand, and are simple to operate.