A scientific and reasonable approach to winter tonics is very important: diet and dietary taboos.

49. When it comes to winter tonics, a scientific and reasonable approach is very important.

Winter is considered the best time for tonifying the body, and many middle-aged men like to take supplements during this season to enhance their immunity. Many men believe that anything with high nutritional value, whether it's medicinal cuisine, food, or nutritional supplements, can be taken as a tonic, and the more the better. However, this is a big misconception.

While winter is the best time for nourishing the body, it's important to note that this doesn't necessarily mean consuming highly nutritious foods. Some seemingly ordinary foods can often bring unexpected benefits.

Winter Nourishing Recipes

(1) Chinese yam

Ingredients: 30g roasted sesame powder, 250g fresh yam, appropriate amounts of white sugar and refined vegetable oil.

Instructions: First, wash and peel the yam, then cut it into 4 cm long sections, and then into 1 cm wide strips. Heat oil in a wok over medium heat until it reaches 50% of its maximum temperature. Fry the yam strips until cooked through, then drain them using a slotted spoon. Leave a little oil in the wok, add white sugar and bring it to a boil. When it becomes syrupy and can be pulled into threads, add the yam strips back in, toss to coat them with the sugar syrup, sprinkle with sesame powder, and serve on an oiled plate.

Efficacy: Sweet, crispy, and fragrant; strengthens the spleen and consolidates essence.

(2) Tofu skin mixed with chili oil

Ingredients: 10g chili oil, 200g dried bean curd sticks, appropriate amounts of sugar, soy sauce, and salt.

Instructions: First, put the dried bean curd sticks in a bowl, then add hot water and soak for several hours. After they have softened, take them out and cut them into thin slices. Blanch them in boiling water, drain them, and put them in a plate. Then add salt, soy sauce, sugar, MSG, and fried chili oil and mix well.

Efficacy: Sweet with a hint of spiciness, warms the middle and dispels cold, strengthens the spleen and nourishes the stomach.

(3) Deer Antler Stewed Chicken

Ingredients: 1 hen, 100g deer antler, 15g goji berries, 15g longan, 15g Morinda officinalis, 5 slices of ginger, 15g Eucommia ulmoides, 25g Rehmannia glutinosa, 25g Cistanche deserticola, 50g rice wine, 5g dried tangerine peel, and appropriate amount of salt.

Instructions: First, split the deer penis lengthwise, then cut off the urethral layer with a blade. Scald it with boiling water to remove the outer skin, then remove the white skin layer. Wash and cut into sections. Slaughter the hen, remove the internal organs and feathers, and wash it clean. Place the goji berries, longan, dried tangerine peel, Morinda officinalis, Eucommia ulmoides, Rehmannia glutinosa, and Cistanche deserticola into a gauze bag and tie the bag tightly. Place the herb bag, chicken, and deer penis into a clay pot, add an appropriate amount of water, bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat until the chicken and deer penis are tender. Add salt to taste and serve.

Efficacy: Tonifies the kidneys and replenishes essence, strengthens yang and enhances sexual function.

(4) Stir-fried shredded pork with goji berries

Ingredients: 100g goji berries, 250g pork tenderloin, 3g salt, 2g MSG, 50g chicken broth, 5g Shaoxing wine, 10g egg white, 10g cornstarch, 2g white pepper, 250g refined vegetable oil, appropriate amounts of minced ginger and chopped green onions.

Instructions: First, cut the pork into evenly sized strips. Marinate with cornstarch, egg, and Shaoxing wine. Soak goji berries in warm water until softened. Mix all the seasonings together to make a sauce. Heat oil in a wok until it reaches 40% of its maximum temperature. Add the pork strips and stir-fry until cooked through. Drain the oil, leaving a little in the wok. Sauté minced ginger and chopped scallions until fragrant. Add the goji berries and pork strips, pour in the sauce, stir-fry, and then transfer to a plate to serve.

Efficacy: Tonifies the kidneys and strengthens yang, nourishes the liver and improves eyesight, prolongs life, and replenishes blood and nourishes deficiencies.

(5) Pine nut monkey head mushroom

Ingredients: 50g pine nuts, 15g red bell pepper, 250g fresh monkey head mushroom, 25g green bell pepper, 1 egg, 250g refined vegetable oil, appropriate amounts of MSG, salt, chicken broth, Shaoxing wine, wet starch, and dry starch.

Instructions: First, wash the monkey head mushrooms, remove the roots, blanch them in boiling water until cooked through, then rinse them in cold water. Drain and coarsely chop them, place them in a bowl, add cornstarch and egg white, and mix well. Sauté the red and green bell peppers briefly, then add the monkey head mushroom pieces and pine nuts. Heat oil in a pan, add Shaoxing wine, MSG, and salt, bring to a boil, and thicken with cornstarch slurry.

Efficacy: Nourishes the stomach and warms the middle jiao, nourishes yin and moistens the intestines.

Several taboos regarding winter tonics

(1) Avoid taking supplements: If you want to be healthy, it is absolutely not enough to just take supplements. You should also pay attention to appropriate exercise, avoid evil and stay quiet, use your brain more (do brain exercises), adjust your diet, etc. Only in this way can you achieve the true meaning of health preservation.

(2) Avoid indiscriminate supplementation: First, one should understand their own constitution, whether supplementation is appropriate, and which organs or systems are deficient. Generally speaking, middle-aged people should focus on tonifying the spleen and stomach. However, individual deficiencies vary, including blood deficiency, qi deficiency, yang deficiency, yin deficiency, and combined qi, blood, yin, and yang deficiency. These must be carefully analyzed, and it is best to have a doctor's help in making a diagnosis. Only by doing so can one ultimately take targeted measures.

(3) Nourish but avoid greasy food: For those with poor digestion and poor physical condition, the first step is to restore their gastrointestinal function to normal. Otherwise, no matter how much tonic you take, it will not have any effect. It is not advisable to take too much rich and greasy food in winter. Easily digestible food is the best.

(4) Supplementing while avoiding imbalance: Although Yin and Yang, Qi and Blood are two opposing aspects, they complement each other. When supplementing in winter, one should pay attention to taking into account Yin, Yang, Qi and Blood, and not supplement one aspect indiscriminately, because excessive supplementation can cause other diseases.

(5) Avoid judging a hero by its price: Whether it is medicine or food supplement, it is not that the more expensive the thing, the better. On the contrary, some cheap things may also have good effects.

(6) Avoid taking tonics when suffering from external pathogenic diseases: Try not to take tonics when suffering from external pathogenic diseases such as cough or cold, otherwise it will have a great adverse effect on the body.

The cold winter weather can affect the body's nutritional metabolism, increasing the consumption of each nutrient to varying degrees. Middle-aged men are often not as healthy as before, frequently lacking elements such as calcium, potassium, iron, and sodium. Furthermore, increased urination in winter leads to a greater excretion of inorganic salts. Therefore, they should eat more foods rich in iron, calcium, potassium, and sodium, such as dried shrimp, bananas, pork liver, and sesame paste.