What to Eat to Relieve Excessive Damp-Heat?

Nowadays, many young people do not pay attention to their dietary habits on a daily basis. Long-term unhealthy eating habits or living in a damp environment can easily lead to the appearance of damp-heat in the body. Damp-heat can not only trigger skin diseases but also cause other bodily illnesses. Therefore, it is essential to take damp-heat seriously. Patients with damp-heat should be more mindful of their diet as there are many foods that can alleviate damp-heat conditions.

Small red beans have the functions of promoting urination to reduce swelling, detoxifying and draining pus, clearing heat and removing dampness, strengthening the spleen, and stopping diarrhea. Skin eczema is often caused by spleen deficiency and accumulation of dampness and toxins. With the help of small red beans' functions of strengthening the spleen and draining dampness, as well as clearing heat and promoting urination, patients with skin eczema can benefit from eating them regularly. Therefore, both acute and chronic skin eczema patients are advised to consume them frequently.

Luffa is cool in nature and sweet in taste. It is suitable for people with skin eczema to eat regularly, as it can clear heat, cool the blood, and detoxify. As mentioned in "Introduction to Medicine," luffa can be used to treat various skin diseases such as sores, childhood rash remnants, and breast abscesses. These conditions are often caused by damp-heat, similar to skin eczema. Consuming luffa can help remove damp-heat and detoxify the body.

Mung beans are also cool in nature and sweet in taste, with functions of clearing heat, dispelling summer heat, promoting urination, and detoxifying. Ancient medical practitioners believed that mung beans can be used to treat conditions such as erysipelas, urticaria, acne, and abscesses, all leveraging their ability to clear heat, promote urination, and detoxify. People with acute skin eczema can consume mung beans to help remove damp-heat and clear heat.

Amaranth stalks are cool in nature and sweet in taste. They are rich in calcium that is easily absorbed by the body and have the functions of detoxifying, clearing heat, promoting urination, and replenishing blood and stopping bleeding. Amaranth can help remove damp-heat, but it should be avoided by those with a deficiency of spleen and stomach yang or those who are prone to diarrhea due to coldness in their gastrointestinal tract.

Water spinach has the functions of clearing heat and detoxifying, as well as promoting urination. If damp-heat symptoms appear, water spinach can be used to make soup, which can effectively remove dampness. Water spinach is rich in vitamins and moisture, which can promote metabolism in the body, clear heat and detoxify, and also alleviate edema.

Patients with a damp-heat constitution should pay more attention to their health maintenance on a daily basis. This can not only help alleviate damp-heat but also prevent it from worsening and benefiting their overall health.