Healthy Living Tips: Staying Well on Cold Days

Hello. This is Hayashi, the manager of Kurashisha.

It's now the season for delicious stews and hot pots. Hot, hearty dishes that warm your chilled body are truly the best feast.

When taking care of yourself in winter, it's important to "keep your body warm" and "conserve energy."

In your meals, try to avoid raw or cold foods and choose ingredients that warm your body from the inside.

According to medicinal cuisine, foods that warm the stomach include chicken, beef, pumpkin, and turnips. If you are particularly concerned about coldness in your lower body, shrimp, chestnuts, walnuts, and chives are recommended.

While eating a hot pot dish will temporarily warm your body, common ingredients like napa cabbage, tofu, bean sprouts, and pork are considered cooling foods. In winter, it's recommended to combine them with warming ingredients.

At the first sign of a chilly cold, try ginger, green onions, or shiso. These help expel cold pathogens from the body's surface through perspiration.

Also, in East Asian medicine, it is believed that winter is a good time to store energy in the body and live quietly so as not to deplete it.

This season has many events, so some of you may be busy every day, but taking care of your body and mind by not overdoing it is also part of self-care.

When going out, use warm scarves or socks to protect yourself from the cold wind.

Winter self-care also leads to anti-aging. Take good care of your body and stay healthy even on cold days.