Aunt Liu is a retired worker and has worked hard for most of her life. In order to have a healthy body in her later years, she pays great attention to health care after retirement. Recently, however, she has encountered a problem in health care: Aunt Liu thinks that spring is the season for liver qi to grow, and it is appropriate to replenish the liver in spring. Because Chinese medicine says that five flavors enter the five internal organs: acid enters the liver, bitter enters the heart, sweet enters the spleen, pungent enters the lung and salty enters the kidney, so nourishing the liver should be sour. However, she has also heard that keeping in good health in spring should be "more sweet and less bitter". Then the question comes: How good is it to eat sour or sweet in spring?

In fact, Chinese medicine has long given the answer to this question. Sun Simiao, the king of medicine in the Tang Dynasty, said: "It is advisable to keep sour and sweet in spring to nourish the temper." This means that when spring comes, people should eat less sour food and more sweet food, which has the benefits of strengthening the spleen and stomach. Why are you doing this?

Spring is the season of liver, and the liver is full of qi in spring. If you eat sour food at this time, it will make the liver qi "add fuel to the fire" and lead to the negative effect of "excess". There is a saying that the five elements of traditional Chinese medicine are mutually generated and restricted. In the mutual restraint of the five elements, the liver (wood) restrains the spleen (soil). Excessive liver qi and spleen (soil) obstruction in spring will not only inhibit the growth of temper, but also hurt the spleen and stomach, resulting in adverse consequences. Therefore, keeping in good health in spring should keep sour and sweeten, and nourish temper.

After saving acid, moderately inhibit the excessive growth of liver qi, add some sweetness appropriately, help the temper rise, and make the liver qi reach a moderate balance, thus realizing the balance of yin and yang pursued by traditional Chinese medicine.

Here are some foods suitable for spring health. Individuals can choose according to their own tastes and preferences: Toona sinensis, Artemisia capillaris, Malantou, shepherd's purse, bamboo shoots, red dates, medlar, dried longan, honey, yam and so on. In addition, you can eat more fruits, such as apples, pineapples, mulberries and cherries, which can also play a good health care role.