Health: 5 tips to boost your spleen before winter

 Health: 5 tips to boost your spleen before winter

The spleen is a fragile organ that maintains internal energy, the ability to digest food well and therefore weight. Called the "digestive fire" in traditional Chinese medicine, this essential resource as winter approaches is nourished by foods that warm the body.

An organ of the immune system, the spleen maintains the internal energy of our body. How to preserve it at the approach of winter? Discover 5 tips to follow without delay. 

Exit the cold on the plate

Avoid foods that are too raw or too cold such as excess raw vegetables, cold drinks, foods that come out of the refrigerator and that kill the " digestive fire ". Diets green salad and raw vegetables rich in water, for example, promote the appearance of cellulite and swelling.

On the other hand, a herbal tea or infusion after the meal helps to digest . Foods that particularly tone the spleen are dates , grapes , pear, potato, cucumber, carrot, melon , cereals, licorice, honey , cinnamon and anise.

Exit sugar and fat 

Any excess sugar that tires the pancreas does not mix well with the spleen. So-called "moisturizing" food should be avoided : alcohols, fats, fast sugars and excess dairy products. For example, we discard the jar of cottage cheese, which contains 80% moisture.

Avoid dietary changes

The spleen hates bad eating rhythms. It is for example weakened when we skip breakfast, eat too much at dinner and / or late or when we snack.

Yes to whole grains and legumes

Cereals and legumes in moderate quantities will provide the necessary fuel for the spleen. Rice, wheat, quinoa , millet, buckwheat , lentils, dried beans, chickpeas and peas of all kinds can be eaten every day, but in small amounts . They can be accompanied by a generous portion of vegetables with meat or fish, again in reasonable quantities.

As for vegetables, we prefer the stars of autumn with a mild flavor , orange-yellow in color and which grow on or below the ground, such as carrots, parsnips, pumpkins, potatoes or sweet potatoes.

Knowing how to ease off

When the spleen remains weak despite proper food hygiene, it can come from overwork, a lack of physical activity, worry ("to put the spleen in court bouillon"), an illness, an environment or of a too humid climate. The main associated symptoms are: poor digestion, cold limbs, fatigue, loose stools, edema. In traditional Chinese medicine, we speak of a Qi vacuum, or even a Yang vacuum in the spleen .