Fitness & Wellbeing

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!

Dong Zhi (冬至) Solar Term – Diet and General Wellness Guidelines

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Dong Zhi

We are into the Dong Zhi (冬至) solar term (节气) starting from 21 Dec to 5 Jan 2025. Dong Zhi is the 22nd solar term out of the entire 24.

Of all the 24 solar terms, perhaps people are most familiar with the Dong Zhi solar term as it is popularly associated with sweet dumplings (汤圆).

When I was a child, I always looked forward to Dong Zhi because I loved to eat sweet dumplings and Dong Zhi was the only time we would eat them.

The dietary direction during the Dong Zhi solar term is 温肾阳、暖脾阳—it means boosting the Yang energy of the kidneys and the spleen.

So do your best to avoid consuming cold drinks as it is a sure way to hurt your spleen Yang (脾阳) energy.

Unless you are living in a cold climate, there’s no need to consume mutton soup to boost your kidney Yang (肾阳) energy during this solar term.

Some of the suitable foods (and a fruit) that you can eat during Dong Zhi solar term are:

Chinese Chestnut – Known as 栗子. Not only does it strengthen kidney Qi, it also helps to strengthen the spleen. Nowadays there are convenient Chinese chestnut snacks available that are ready to eat straight from the packaging.

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

Cherry – Most people do not know that cherry actually helps to strengthen kidney and spleen Yang energy, thus making it an ideal fruit to be consumed during this and the next two solar terms.

If you also have the habit of eating sweet dumplings during Dong Zhi, perhaps you can choose to eat sweet dumplings (with black sesame filling). It has the following benefits:

Glutinous Rice – Most sweet dumplings are made of glutinous rice and its thermal nature is warm. Glutinous rice can strengthen spleen Yang energy so it is ideal to be consumed during this solar term for the benefit of our spleen.

Black Sesame – Although most black sesame filling found in commercial sweet dumplings are too sweet and not 100% pure black sesame, you can still get some benefits of black sesame (liver, spleen and kidney strengthening). Of course, you can choose to make your own sweet dumplings using 100% pure black sesame powder for maximum benefits!

General Wellness Recommendation

There is a tradition where children will give socks to the elderly as a gift during the Dong Zhi solar term. The purpose is to remind the elderly to keep themselves warm, especially during sleep.

There is a saying goes 寒从脚下生—it means that the cold environment Qi (that can make a person sick) can enter the body through the feet. Thus, it is important to keep our feet warm when we sleep during this and the next few solar terms.

You might need some time to get used to wearing socks to sleep if you do not have such a habit. But it is a very good way of helping your body to strengthen its immunity for the long term. Do give it a try!

Da Xue (大雪) Solar Term – Diet and General Wellness Guidelines

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We are into the Da Xue (大雪) solar term (节气) starting from 6 Dec to 20 Dec 2024. Da Xue is the 21st solar term out of the entire 24.

The weather will be colder (or cooler for tropical countries like Singapore) than in the previous solar term (Xiao Xue, 小雪).

As the saying goes, “小雪腌菜，大雪腌肉”—this means that the previous solar term (Xiao Xue) is when people start to make preserved vegetables, and when the Da Xue solar term comes, people start to make preserved meat to prepare for the new year.

Besides making preserved meat, Da Xue solar term is also a good time to consume tonic to boost our immunity.

There’s also a saying, “冬令进补，春天打虎”. This means that if a person were to consume tonic during this period, the body would have the resources (essence stored in the kidneys) and energy to fight a tiger when the new year comes! (This is just an analogy, please don’t try it!)

Having said that, I do not recommend most people to consume heavy tonic foods because not everyone is suitable to eat strong tonic herbs.

Instead, I recommend the consumption of gentle and warm kidney Qi-boosting foods that are generally safe for most people and are also effective for boosting immunity.

During these few solar terms, we need to consume foods that help to strengthen our kidneys.

In TCM five elements (中医五行), the kidney aligns with the color, black. Thus, we can increase our intake of the following black-colored foods:

  1. 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 and cooked together or added to any soup (especially soups that enhance blood circulation).

  2. Black Rice – Black rice is also known as 药米 (medicinal rice). Besides strengthening the kidneys, black rice can also strengthen the spleen and stomach. Thus, it is suitable for people with poor digestion and weak spleen. You can simply add some black rice together with white/brown rice in your next meal.

  3. Black Sesame – Black sesame can also be used for relieving constipation on top of its kidney and liver-strengthening properties. One easy way of consuming black sesame is to apply black sesame paste to your bread for breakfast.

  4. Black Fungus – Although black fungus does not have direct benefits for the kidneys, it has great benefits for the lungs and liver. During this cooler weather, it is important to keep our lungs moisturized (润肺) to prevent coughing. Also, black fungus can help to reduce blood pressure and has anti-cancer properties. Thus, it is an excellent food to add to your dishes these few weeks.

General Wellness Recommendation

Getting enough sleep during this solar term is important. So make sure you go to bed earlier and wake up a bit later (if possible). Do avoid heading out too early (before the sun rises) to exercise as it will increase the chance of your lungs being exposed to cold air. If the morning sky is still dark, you can do some light exercise indoors instead.

yong quan acupoint
Image referenced from acupressure.com.au

One well-being tip that you can do is to massage the Yong Quan (涌泉) acupoint, which is located at the base of your foot.

Yong Quan acupoint is very effective in warming up your body as it helps to boost your kidney Qi.

You can make it a habit of massaging the point when you are watching videos or listening to music.

Here is one resource I found online that details the effect of Yong Quan.

Hope you find this post useful!

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