Often, people believe that if they eat healthy, avoid processed or fried foods, and practice calorie deficit, they have achieved a healthy lifestyle. However, according to Malaysia-based Chee Hee Seng, a Chinese medicine practitioner, if you think you’re healthy just because you’re eating clean, that’s just level 1 in China.
In an Instagram post shared on December 27, Seng highlighted that Chinese people truly understand their food; they recognise its energetic temperature and how the flavours affect their health. Inspired by the same, he introduced five habits that Chinese people avoid to maintain a strong and healthy gut.
Here’s what he shared:
1. Overeating
The first thing you should avoid is overeating, according to Seng. He shared, “The right amount of food will nourish your body and support your energy levels. However, consuming more than that will burden your stomach and weaken your digestive health in the long run. You want to eat to satiate your hunger, and that’s enough.”
2. Not exercising
The second thing to avoid is not exercising, according to the Chinese medicine practitioner. He explained that in Chinese medicine, there is a concept known as “脾主四肢 (Pí zhǔ sìzhī),” which means that the spleen governs the four limbs. If you work your limbs—your arms and legs—you are actually strengthening your appetite and helping your digestive system.
3. Too much cold water
The third thing you should avoid is drinking too much cold water. “Chinese people try to limit or avoid it completely. Even the Japanese do not drink cold matcha daily; they prefer their matcha warm because they know that matcha itself is cooling,” Seng elaborated.
Consuming too many cooling foods can harm your stomach qi and compromise your digestive health, according to him. He added that in Chinese medicine, the spleen is the mother of the lungs. Therefore, if you have weak digestive health, you’ll also likely experience weak respiratory and immune health. “Therefore, limit or avoid cold water completely,” Send said.
4. Eating too late at night
The fourth thing to avoid is eating too late at night. “Your stomach needs to rest at night so that it can function the next day and help digest your food, transforming it into energy that you can use,” Seng explained.
According to him, if you eat late at night, you’re not giving your stomach enough time to rest, and gradually, your digestive function will weaken because you’re overexerting it.
5. Eating too many extreme foods
The last habit Seng cautioned against was avoiding eating too many extreme foods. This includes foods that are extreme in flavour or in the way they are prepared, such as fried foods or cold foods, he explained.
“Foods that are too spicy, too sweet, or too sour disrupt a balanced diet, which should be full of different flavours and energetic properties. For example, peppermint is cool, while ginger is warm,” he added.
Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.
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