The weather these few days is getting even warmer and drier than before. I got to know of a few people who noticed blood stains in their phlegm. Some people may also smell blood when they are coughing.
These symptoms could be due to the drying of your lungs (肺阴虚) as a result of the weather and your eating habits.
For people who are experiencing the above symptoms, especially during these few days and the upcoming months (when the air turns even drier), please avoid consuming spicy foods and biscuits (as biscuits tend to have a drying and heaty effect on the body).
The following are some foods that you can consume to moisturize your lungs to regain its balance:
1. Pear (梨) – Pear has a very good moisturizing effect on the lungs and it also helps to clear heatiness in our other organs. In fact, its lung-moisturizing benefits are even greater if you cook it! For recipe ideas, you can search for “小吊梨汤” on YouTube.
2. White fungus (白木耳) – White fungus is another great good for moisturizing our lungs. In the TCM classic,《增订伪药条辨》, it says 治肺热肺燥，干咳痰嗽；衄血，咯血，痰中带血. This means white fungus can effectively treat blood in phlegm and cough. It requires some effort to prepare and cook white fungus but nowadays, you can easily purchase white fungus dessert or white fungus drink in most TCM retail stores. Drink it consistently for 3 to 5 days to see relief.
3. The third option is not a food but a traditional ‘cough syrup’ that most people know of, which is 川贝枇杷膏. This syrup contains herbs that can nourish the lung Yin energy and treat blood in phlegm. This makes it a good alternative for busy people who really have no time to find pears and white fungus.
Hopefully we can see some rain in the next few days before we go into the drier season, especially from late August onwards.
Take care, friends!