Fitness & Wellbeing

Li Chun (立春) Solar Term – Diet and General Wellness Guidelines

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li chun

We are into the Li Chun (立春) solar term (节气) starting from 3 Feb to 17 Feb 2025. Li Chun is the 1st solar term out of the entire 24, and it also marks the beginning of the Spring season. 

Many people may be familiar with Li Chun for its traditions of egg-standing challenges and/or depositing money to bring good fortune. But in this post, let’s dive more into this solar term and learn how we can align our dietary habits with nature.

The spring season aligns with the liver organ as its representative element is wood. 

In the previous solar terms (winter season), the focus was on 藏 (storing essence in the body). As for Li Chun (spring season), we need to do the opposite, which is 生发—activating our Yang energy to promote outward growth.

As such, the dietary direction for Li Chun is 肝气疏畅，阳气生发. This means regulating our liver Qi to eliminate blockages and activating Yang energy for outward growth.

One way of activating our body’s Yang energy is by consuming sprout-type vegetables (I will share some examples later in this post).

During this period, we should also try to avoid consuming strong tonic foods (as opposed to what is usually done in the winter season).

Following are some of the recommended foods to consume during Li Chun solar term:

Chives (韭菜) – Chives have beneficial properties for various organs such as the kidneys, stomach, and liver. It is one of the rare vegetables that encourages the growth of Yang energy! You will typically find chives as a filling ingredient in baos and dumplings.

Sprouts – Bean sprouts and pea sprouts are some examples of vegetables in the sprout category that are ideal to be consumed during this solar term. As sprouts signify growth, they can help to play the role of encouraging the outward growth of energy in our body.

Coriander (芫荽) – Coriander is excellent for dispersing chill Qi (寒气) in the body and for improving appetite. A good way to consume coriander is to add them to porridge—this is especially helpful for people who are having cold-type flu.

Shepherd’s Purse (荠菜) – Shepherd’s purse has benefits for the liver, spleen, and bladder. The main difference between shepherd’s purse and the above-mentioned vegetables is that it can also help to reduce body heatiness and remove dampness from the body. Shepherd’s purse is highly suitable for people with dampness and heat body constitution. 

General Wellness Recommendation

Li Chun solar term is one of the common periods when many people will experience sinus issues, often triggered by pollen from blooming flowers.

If you are prone to sinus or have a runny nose almost every morning, try to wear a mask before you leave house for work, especially in the morning. 

Strong winds will also accompany this solar term, which means more pollutants may get blown into your work/living area depending on where your workplace/home is located. One way to minimize allergic reactions is to turn on air purifiers to help clean your surrounding air.

I hope you find this information helpful!

Have a healthy Li Chun!

Da Han (大寒) Solar Term – Diet and General Wellness Guidelines

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We are into the Da Han (大寒) solar term (节气) starting from 20 Jan to 2 Feb 2025. Da Han is the 24th solar term (the last) out of the entire 24.

After this solar term, we will start all over again from the Spring season!

Although Da Han is not the coldest solar term (traditionally),  it is still cold/cooling as compared to other solar terms.

As the saying goes “大寒大寒，防风御寒” — this means that we should protect ourselves from the cold weather as well as chilly winds during this period. 

As Da Han starts to bring in stronger and colder winds, people with Qi deficiency or Yang deficiency body type may feel weak or uncomfortable if they do not dress warmly enough to shield themselves from the cold and wind.

During this Da Han solar term, our dietary approach should be following the direction of 保阴潜阳. This means to nourish the Yin energy in our body to maintain a balance with the Yang energy.

The following foods are especially suitable to be consumed during this solar term:

Goji Berries – Not only can Goji berries strengthen the kidneys, they can also help to strengthen the liver. From the TCM perspective, the liver affects one’s eyesight, thus goji berries have been proven to help strengthen and protect eyes from weakening and diseases. Goji berries are one of the best foods/herbs to nourish Yin.

Black Beans – Black beans are an ideal food for people with weak kidneys and spleen. They have the additional benefits of dispersing blood clots and improving blood circulation. It can be added to rice or any soup (especially soups that enhance blood circulation).

Chinese Chestnut – Known as 栗子, it not only strengthens kidney Qi, but also helps to strengthen the spleen. Nowadays there are Chinese chestnut snacks available that you can consume straight from the packaging.

Walnuts – Da Han is one of the best solar terms to consume walnuts. It helps to boost kidney Qi, as well as relieve back pain and knee pain. Walnuts are easily available and can be consumed as snacks.

One Of The Best Solar Terms To Eat Porridge

Da Han is one of the best solar terms to enjoy porridge and the following is a simple Chinese Chestnut porridge recipe that you can try at home:

Ingredients (for 2 pax):

Steps:

  1. Wash and rinse the dried longan.
  2. Remove the red dates seeds and cut the red dates into small slices.
  3. Wash the rice and bring it to boil. Note: You will need quite a bit of water here because we are cooking porridge. For me, I add as many as up to 6 cups of water to 1 cup of rice.
  4. Once the rice starts to boil, put in dried longan, red dates and chinese chestnut (I use those instant snacks kind so it needs minimum cooking). Wait till it boils again then bring the fire to smallest and let it simmer for 15 to 20 mins. Then it is ready to eat!
  5. As I am using thermal pot, I only let it simmer over the fire for 4 mins, then I’ll remove it from heat. I then place the inner pot into the thermal pot and let it sit for one hour before consuming. I find that using thermal pot is very gas efficient (instead of having to simmer over fire for 15 to 20 mins), and it does not require any electricity or fire to work!

General Wellness Recommendation

This is the last solar term of the year to wake up a bit later (if possible). Avoid heading out too early to exercise (before the sun rises) as it will increase the chances of your lungs being exposed to cold air. If the morning sky is still dark, you can choose to do some light exercise indoors instead.

If the morning is sunny, then it is a good chance to go jogging or brisk walking. This will liven your mood and spirits as well. 

Remember to keep yourself warm especially if you know you will be heading outdoors or to colder places.

Have a healthy Da Han solar term!

Xiao Han (小寒) Solar Term – Diet and General Wellness Guidelines

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xiao han solar term

We are into the Xiao Han (小寒) solar term (节气) starting from 5 Jan to 19 Jan 2025. Xiao Han is the 23rd solar term out of the entire 24.

Traditionally, temperatures during the Xiao Han solar term are typically the lowest of the year, often even colder than the next solar term, Da Han (大寒).

In recent years, I still remember 14 Jan 2018 (which was during the Xiao Han solar term) was one of the coolest days recorded in Singapore (about 21 degrees celsius). I’m looking forward to this year’s cooling days during this solar term!

As the saying goes, “人到小寒衣满身, 牛到大寒草满栏” — this means that people should wear more clothes (depending on where you are living) during this Xiao Han solar term because of the cold/cooling weather.

During Xiao Han, we should also increase the intake of the following foods that have a warm thermal nature or are black in color (for alignment with the kidneys during this solar term):

Chinese Chestnuts – Called 栗子 (li zi) in Chinese. Not only do chinese chestnuts strengthen kidney Qi, they also help to strengthen the spleen. Nowadays, ready-to-eat Chinese chestnut snacks are readily available, making them convenient to enjoy straight from the package.

Walnuts – Help to boost kidney Qi, as well as relieve back and knee pain. Walnuts are easily available and can be consumed as snacks.

Black Sesame – Black sesame can be used for relieving constipation on top of its kidney and liver-strengthening properties. An easy way to enjoy black sesame is by spreading black sesame paste on bread for breakfast.

Deer Meat – Deer meat has a strong property of strengthening the kidney Yang energy (肾阳), making it an excellent dietary addition for people with cold palms and feet due to Yang deficiency in the kidneys (regardless of the solar term).

General Wellness Recommendation

As we are possibly into the coldest solar term of the year, I highly recommend that you keep your feet warm by wearing socks to sleep. This will make your body more resistant to the environmental chill Qi (寒邪).

For people who have running nose (or sinus) almost every morning, you may want to try putting on a fabric mask before you head out for work in the morning. By keeping the air you breathe warm, it can help to alleviate your running nose.

Remember to keep yourself warm by wearing more clothes especially if you know that you will be outdoors or in a cold environment most of the time.

I hope you find this information useful!

Recommended Tea to Drink these Few Weeks – Ginger

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ginger tcm

These few weeks, the weather has turned more cooling especially in the morning, and it will remain cooling till the Li Chun (立春) solar term (which will only start in early Feb 2025).

Hence, it is important to keep our body warm during this period, and for most people, I would recommend adding ginger into your diet.

One good way is to drink ginger tea in the morning, especially if you have a stuffy/running nose.

Ginger has three properties from the TCM perspective:

解表散寒 – This means ginger can help to expel the cold Qi in your body. A person can get cold easily when too much cold Qi enters the body. Thus, it is common for people to drink ginger tea when they get drenched in the rain.

温中止呕 – The second property of ginger is that it can help to warm the lungs and relieve vomiting. If you ever encounter a situation where you want to vomit because of motion sickness (seasick/carsick), ginger candy/tea/slices can help a lot.

化痰止咳 – Ginger can also help to relieve cough (phlegm-type cough) so ginger drink is recommended for people who are coughing (with phlegm).

However, you must avoid ginger if you are having heaty symptoms like yellowish urine color, sore throat or keep wanting to drink cooler drinks. This means your body is heaty and you should go for something cooler in thermal nature instead.

I personally like to purchase ginger tea blocks from my local TCM shop—I just need to add hot water to make a cup of ginger tea. You can also purchase ginger tea blocks/bags online nowadays.

Hope you find this information useful!

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