The relationship between seasons and five flavors is specially introduced in the twenty-second article of Huangdi Neijing Su Wen, On the Method of Dirty Qi. The original text is [1] "The liver governs the spring, ... The liver is bitter and anxious, and it is slow to eat. My heart governs summer, ... My heart is bitter and slow, and I am anxious to eat sour. Spleen governs midsummer ... spleen is bitter and wet, and haste is dryness. Lung governs autumn, ..... Bitter gas in lung goes up and down, and if you eat hard, you will be exhausted. Kidney governs winter, ... kidney is bitter and dry, and it is urgent to eat spicy food to moisten it. " Traditional Chinese medicine links the changing law of nature with human physiology and pathology, and runs through it with the theory of five elements, which divides a year into five seasons: spring, summer, long summer, autumn and winter. The taste of diet is divided into five categories, namely sour, bitter, sweet, pungent and salty. According to the analysis of modern medicine, diseases that occur all year round have their regularity and objective reasons. If we can scientifically match the diet with the seasons, we can improve the disease resistance, avoid the occurrence of diseases or reduce the harm of diseases. 1 spring: keeping acid sweetens it. Everything is flourishing in spring, and people's liver qi should stretch like a tree in spring. Therefore, going out for an outing in spring is beneficial to Xu Xiasheng, who is full of liver qi, and patients with chronic liver disease should pay more attention to maintaining this festival. In the spring diet and health care, there has long been a saying that "preserving acid and sweetening", that is, eating less sour food and increasing sweet food. Sour food has the function of convergence and astringency, which is not conducive to the stretching of liver qi; Sweets are mostly warm and have nourishing and nourishing effects. In spring, the yang rises, and eating sweet food can nourish the yang of the human body, which is beneficial to the vigorous metabolism of the human body in spring. It can be seen in the five elements that eating more sweets, such as jujube, chestnuts, peanuts, etc., can strengthen the spleen and replenish qi, prevent excessive liver qi, and avoid diseases such as liver qi invading the stomach caused by "borrowing soil from wood". Spring diet can be divided into three periods. 1. 1 In early spring, the yin cold gradually recedes and the yang begins to rise. The climate is still cold, and the human body consumes more calories, which is suitable for eating warm food. According to the theory of "nourishing yang in spring and summer" in traditional Chinese medicine, you can eat onions, ginger, garlic, leeks and mustard greens. At this time, it can not only dispel the yin cold, but also help the spring sun to rise, and the effective components contained in it also have the efficacy of sterilization and disease prevention. At this time, it is advisable to eat less cold food to prevent the yang from rising. The principle of diet is mainly to choose staple food with high calorie and pay attention to supplement enough protein; At the same time, some beans, peanuts and dairy products can be added. 1.2 Midspring (Midspring) The ancients said that spring should be in the liver. The liver wind is flourishing, the liver qi tends to flourish in mid-spring, and everything rises. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that hyperactivity of the liver can damage the spleen (Muketu) and affect the transport and transformation of the spleen and stomach. Therefore, Sun Simiao, the drug king, once said that "it is advisable to keep sour and sweet in spring to nourish the temper". At this time, you can eat some foods that replenish the spleen and stomach, such as jujube and honey, and eat less indigestible foods such as acid or greasy. During this period, we should appropriately increase the intake of wild vegetables, such as shepherd's purse, purslane, houttuynia cordata, bracken, bamboo shoots, Toona sinensis and so on. Therefore, the weather changes greatly and the temperature is hot and cold, which can be carried out with reference to the early spring diet. When the temperature is high, you can increase the consumption of vegetables and reduce the consumption of meat. 1.3 The temperature rises day by day at the end of spring. At this time, we should give priority to a light diet. Besides eating high-quality protein food and fruits and vegetables, you can also drink mung bean soup, red bean soup, sour plum soup and green tea to prevent heat accumulation in your body. Spicy and irritating foods such as mutton, dog meat and pepper are not suitable for eating. The principle of diet is to choose light food, and pay attention to supplement enough vitamins, such as increasing vegetables appropriately. Early summer: In early summer (at the turn of spring and summer), in order to ensure the exuberance of the heart and the good operation of qi and blood, we should eat less bitter food that can purge fire and grieve the yang, and eat some spicy (spicy) food that can disperse qi appropriately, which is conducive to warming the heart and further cultivating the yang of the human body. The five elements have the miraculous effect of "fire produces soil", which is beneficial to the digestive function of the spleen and stomach. Especially in the south of China, the weather is humid, and eating spicy food is also helpful to promote qi circulation and eliminate dampness. Therefore, it is necessary to "be less bitter and suitable for spicy food", that is, eat less bitter food and increase some spicy food appropriately. The principle of diet in spring and summer embodies the basic health-preserving concept of "nourishing yang in spring and summer" in traditional Chinese medicine, and is also the truth of "treating winter diseases in summer". Many medical experts emphasize that you should not be too greedy for cold and cold drinks in early summer. Excessive cold food in early summer, excessive contraction of blood vessels inside the human body and excessive heat outside the body constitute great disharmony, which can easily cause gastrointestinal dysfunction and other related diseases and respiratory diseases in autumn and winter. In early summer, some people have hemorrhoids, toothache or aphtha, erosion of corners of the mouth and so on. These are all related to excessive intake of irritating food and alcohol, which leads to the rise of stomach fire and heart fire in the body. In this regard, we should also pay attention to diet regulation and "fire fighting". Raw hemorrhoids, eat more fruits and vegetables and drink more water. The occurrence of hemorrhoids is mainly related to diet and entertainment habits. Eat more fish and fine food, reduce the intake of crude fiber, and the stool is easy to dry. In addition, many people surf the Internet for a long time, and after sedentary, their activities are reduced, and the venous return at the anus is blocked, which causes vasodilation and is prone to constipation and even hemorrhoids. Drink more water, eat more fruits and vegetables, keep your stool unobstructed every day, and increase exercise appropriately. Bad mouth, rough rice. Overeating greasy, spicy, fried, alcoholic and other foods damages the spleen and stomach, leading to excessive internal heat, and in severe cases, oral erosion occurs. For such a "fire", we should eat more coarse grains such as rice noodles, beans and millet and green fresh vegetables. Avoid spicy, barbecue and other irritating foods, reduce the irritation to the mouth and stomach, remove bad habits, and prevent overeating or hunger. Toothache swollen face, cool and detoxify. For such a "fire", we should eat more cool and detoxifying foods, such as honeysuckle and cassia seed, drink more water and eat more vegetables. Do not eat high-calorie foods such as chocolate, pepper and mutton. 3 long summer: no sweetness and no salt. With the climate warming, the duration of high temperature and summer heat is prolonged, and the characteristics of long summer are more and more obvious. Many experts emphasize that people should pay attention to drinking more water in hot summer to avoid heatstroke. According to the theory of five elements, the diet should be "neither sweet nor salty", and it is too humid in summer to eat sweets. Long summer is the hottest, generally above 30℃, even as high as 40℃. When the temperature is above 30℃, the human body mainly dissipates heat by evaporating water, and a large amount of water is evaporated every day to maintain a relatively stable temperature; At the same time, a lot of salt is lost with sweat. Therefore, in the high temperature environment, the human body must supplement salt in addition to a lot of water. The best salt supplement is dried sea salt. Sea salt not only contains Na+ and Cl-, but also contains K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, I- and Br-, which is beneficial to electrolyte balance and can supplement human body with water. In summer, the metabolism level is high, so adding more fresh fruits and vegetables can not only supplement vitamins, but also supplement some minerals. In summer, the metabolism of the human body is very vigorous, and there are often symptoms such as general fatigue, loss of appetite, dizziness, upset, drowsiness, and even heatstroke, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea and other diseases. So we should pay attention to the following points: First, the diet is light, but don't refuse meat dishes. In summer, the secretion of gastric acid decreases, and drinking more water leads to weak digestive function and light diet. You should eat more nutritious and bland foods and avoid greasy, fried and spicy foods. But being light doesn't mean being vegetarian, because vegetarian dishes contain a lot of dietary fiber and rich vitamins, but they lack the protein necessary for human body, so long-term vegetarian diet will easily lead to nutritional imbalance. Therefore, even in hot summer, don't refuse meat dishes, but eat some lean meat, eggs, milk, fish and so on. Second, eat more bitter. Chinese medicine believes that most bitter vegetables have the function of clearing away heat. Nutritionists suggest that eating bitter food often in summer can play a role in relieving fever, dispelling summer heat and eliminating fatigue. For example, bitter gourd, known as the "gentleman in the dish", can reconcile the spleen and stomach, eliminate fatigue, refresh the mind, and have a certain preventive effect on heatstroke and gastrointestinal diseases. Sowthistle is also a vegetable with the same origin of medicine and food, which has the functions of cooling and detoxifying, disinfecting and expelling pus, removing blood stasis and relieving pain, and preventing and treating gastroenteritis. When eating bitter vegetables, the roots and leaves should be washed, and they can be mixed and fried to make soup. Its taste is bitter and fragrant, and it is a delicious food for relieving summer heat and appetizing, and has certain preventive and therapeutic effects on enteritis and dysentery. 4 Autumn: In autumn, as the temperature drops, the rainfall increases, the moisture in the air decreases, and the autumn climate becomes refreshing. Due to summer heat, the climate is dry. Among the five elements, represented by gold, pungent dryness is the characteristic of autumn, and spicy food has the characteristic of divergence, which is easy to hurt yin and blood. Sour food has astringent effect, and the autumn diet should be "spicy and sour", which is in line with the principle of "sour and sweet nourishing yin". Autumn is prone to squabble or chapped skin, which is related to autumn dryness. If you pay attention to eating more sour foods in your diet, such as bayberry, hawthorn, grapes, etc., it will help reduce the occurrence of autumn diseases. Autumn is conducive to conditioning vitality, getting rid of the old and replacing the new, which is the most suitable season for human body supplement. Therefore, with a little nourishment, you can get the effect of getting rid of diseases and prolonging life. Those who are prone to chronic heart and lung diseases in winter should lay a good nutritional foundation in autumn, enhance their internal adaptability, reduce virus infection in winter and prevent the recurrence of old diseases. Autumn tonic, should choose "tonic but not strong", "anti-dry and not greasy" flat tonic products. Foods with such functions include water bamboo, pumpkin, lotus seeds, longan, black sesame seeds, red dates and so on. Zizania latifolia can reduce blood fat, clear away heat and toxic materials, and facilitate defecation. Pumpkin can moisten the lungs and replenish qi, relieve pain and prevent miscarriage; Lotus seeds benefit the spleen and nourish the heart, solidify essence and stop diarrhea, stimulate appetite and soothe the nerves; Longan is used to treat anemia, neurasthenia and postpartum blood deficiency; Black sesame can nourish the lungs and spleen, moisten the intestines and relieve constipation, and benefit the skin; Jujube tonifies spleen, flattens stomach, flattens middle energizer, and nourishes blood and yin. The climate is dry in autumn, winter and March. You can eat tremella, sesame, honey, rock sugar, pears and other foods in late autumn and early winter to nourish yin and moisten dryness. Old people with weak spleen and stomach should eat warm cooked food. People with chronic diseases can take food supplements and dietotherapy, and healthy people without diseases can also take food supplements, but they should choose foods with weak breath and taste. General cardamom steamed bread, magnolia chicken, dried hawthorn, beef soup, shrimp and so on can be commonly used. Patients with spleen and stomach weakness and indigestion can take lotus seeds, yam and lentils. , can strengthen the spleen and stomach. Autumn is prone to dry mouth, burning lips and other "autumn dryness" symptoms. You should choose foods that nourish and moisten dryness, and benefit the middle and qi. This kind of food includes tremella, lily and so on. Tremella contains carbohydrates, fat, protein, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, calcium and so on. Has the effects of nourishing yin, moistening lung, nourishing stomach and promoting fluid production. Can be soaked in water, boiled and taken with sugar, which has a good effect on treating and preventing "autumn dryness"; Lily also has the effects of nourishing lung yin, nourishing lung dryness, clearing heart fire and calming nerves. Winter: light and bitter winter, cold weather, greatly reduced human life activities and metabolism, represented by water. Because water vapor accumulates in the body, if you eat too much salt, it will lead to too high salt concentration in the human body, which is not good for the kidneys and even lead to diseases such as high blood pressure. According to the theory of five elements, the diet should be "light and bitter". Light means eating less salt, and the diet tends to be light. For example, eating some cabbage and radish has many benefits, which also corresponds to the folk saying "eat radish in winter". Bitter food can purge fire and hide yin, which is what Chinese medicine calls "strong yin" Especially with the warming of the climate, removing the residual fire in the body through diet is conducive to reducing the occurrence of warm epidemic in spring. It is freezing in winter, and people should follow the following three principles in their daily diet, namely, keeping warm, keeping out the cold and preventing dryness through diet. First, we should pay attention to supplement heat source food and increase the supply of heat energy to improve the body's tolerance to low temperature. These foods include carbohydrates, fats and protein, especially foods rich in high-quality protein, such as lean meat, chicken and duck, eggs, fish, milk and bean products. Second, it is necessary to supplement foods containing methionine and inorganic salts to improve the body's cold resistance. Methionine can provide a series of methyl groups necessary for cold tolerance by transfer. The cold climate increases the excretion of creatine in human urine, accelerates the metabolism of fat, and requires methyl to synthesize creatine, fatty acids and phospholipids, and releases heat in mitochondria. Therefore, we should eat more foods containing methionine in winter, such as sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, yeast, dairy products, leafy vegetables and so on. In addition, medical research shows that people's fear of cold is closely related to the lack of inorganic salts in their diet. Therefore, we should eat more root vegetables containing more inorganic salts in winter, such as carrots, lilies, sweet potatoes, lotus roots, vegetables, Chinese cabbage and so on. The content of calcium in human body can directly affect the flexibility and excitability of human heart, blood vessels and muscles, and calcium supplementation can also improve the cold resistance of human body. Foods containing more calcium are: milk, bean products, shrimp skin, kelp, Nostoc flagelliforme, sesame sauce and so on. Third, eat more foods rich in VA, VB2 and VC to prevent diseases such as angular stomatitis, cheilitis and glossitis. The cold climate has strengthened the oxidation function of human body, and the vitamin metabolism of human body has also changed obviously, which is prone to symptoms such as dry skin, chapped skin, angular stomatitis and cheilitis. Therefore, vitamin B2 should be supplemented in time in the diet, mainly in animal liver, eggs, milk, beans and other foods; Foods rich in vitamin A include animal liver, carrots, pumpkins and red sweet potatoes. Vitamin C mainly exists in fresh vegetables and fruits. ◇