With the Lunar New Year comes a succession of reunion dinners, often featuring rich, heavy foods that can lead to indigestion, stomach pain, and bloating. A Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner shares how to make two simple detox teas and use acupressure points to quickly relieve discomfort and get your digestion back on track.
TCM practitioner Dr. You Yan-nan explains that festive tables are laden with delicacies like Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, braised pork, and fried foods. Days of feasting can overwhelm the digestive system. Before one meal is fully digested, the next arrives, easily leading to "food stagnation." In TCM, "food stagnation" equates to what Western medicine calls indigestion. It occurs from eating too much too quickly, or not chewing thoroughly, causing food to stagnate in the stomach and intestines. Common symptoms include:
- Abdominal bloating
- Abdominal discomfort
- Belching
- Acid reflux
- Hiccups
- In severe cases, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
During the holidays, overeating and lack of activity can further disrupt digestive Qi flow, causing acid reflux or constipation.
TCM Tips: Acupressure, DIY Teas, and Adding Spinach to Your Meal for Relief
You suggests incorporating these 5 digestion-friendly ingredients into your New Year dishes to lighten the load on your gut. If bloating has already set in, aid digestion with herbal teas, simple acupressure, and warm compresses.
5 Ingredients to Cut Through the Grease:
- White Radish: Promotes Qi circulation, reduces stagnation, and stimulates bowel movements.
- Hawthorn: Its sour flavor specifically helps digest meat-based foods. Add it to braised dishes for flavor and to cut grease.
- Tangerine Peel (Chenpi): Its unique aroma and slight sourness aid digestion of oily foods. Great in steamed fish or soups.
- Mushrooms (e.g., shiitake, enoki): Rich in dietary fiber and polysaccharides, they boost metabolism and absorb fats, reducing greasiness.
- Celery & Spinach: High in fiber, they help eliminate oils and promote intestinal motility.
DIY Detox Teas
1. Roselle & Lotus Leaf Tea
- Ingredients: Roselle (10g), Lotus Leaf (5g), Hawthorn (5g), Cassia Seed (5g), Tangerine Peel (5g), Smoked Plum (3 pieces)
- Benefits: Roselle and lotus leaf are the key ingredients, working to reduce fat, boost metabolism, eliminate water retention, and clear heat and dampness.
2. Hawthorn & Smoked Plum Tea
- Ingredients: Hawthorn (10g), Smoked Plum (4-5 pieces), Tangerine Peel (5g), Poria (5g), Codonopsis (5g), Licorice (2 slices)
- Benefits: The sourness of hawthorn and plum cuts through grease and promotes fluid production. Codonopsis and Poria boost Qi and strengthen the spleen, helping regulate digestion.
Method for Both Teas:
- Wash all ingredients and place in a tea filter bag.
- Put the bag in a pot with 1500ml of water.
- Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Ready to drink.
- Important: Not recommended for pregnant women or during menstruation.
Acupressure Massage
- Neiguan (PC6): Located on the inner forearm, about three finger-widths below the wrist crease.
- Taibai (SP3): Located on the inner side of the foot, in the depression behind and below the head of the first metatarsal bone.
- Method: Using a knuckle, gently press the Neiguan point on both wrists and the Taibai point on both feet. Press for 10 seconds each time, repeating at least 20 times daily.
Warm Compress on Acupoints:
- Xiawan (CV10): Located 2 cun (about three finger-widths) above the navel.
- Zhongwan (CV12): Located 4 cun above the navel (2 cun above Xiawan).
- Method: Apply a warm compress to Xiawan and Zhongwan for 3-5 minutes after meals to promote gastrointestinal circulation.
