What Are the Foods That Clear Heat and Reduce Fire?

During autumn and winter, the weather tends to be drier, and the availability of seasonal vegetables and fruits decreases significantly. If one has a preference for spicy food or if the body is lacking in water, it is easy to develop symptoms of "heatiness." Generally speaking, heatiness can be alleviated through dietary adjustments. Eating more vegetables and drinking plenty of water can help relieve symptoms of heatiness. But what are the foods that can clear heat and reduce fire?

Clear heat and reduce fire is a treatment approach that involves using herbal medicines with heat-clearing properties to treat conditions caused by excessive heat or qi imbalance. Here are some examples of foods that can clear heat and reduce fire:

1. Lotus Root: It has a sweet and cold nature, which can clear heat, quench thirst, and nourish the lungs and yin. You can make a drink by slicing lotus root and lotus seed hearts into small pieces, boiling them with a half of a peeled and cubed pear, and adding rock sugar. This can help improve dry mouth and bad breath, and promote a calm and restful sleep.

2. Celery: It has a cool and slightly cold nature, with a sweet and bitter taste, which can help relieve excessive heart fire. You can make a juice by blending celery and apples, adding boiling water and honey, which can help reduce heatiness and lower blood pressure.

3. Tomato: It has a sweet, sour, and slightly cold nature, which can aid in digestion, quench thirst, and improve symptoms of fever and excessive thirst. You can make a drink by blending cherry tomatoes, half a kiwi fruit, and an appropriate amount of low-fat yogurt or water. This drink can clear heat, quench thirst, reduce heart fire, and promote healthy digestion.

4. Sugarcane: It has a sweet and neutral nature, which can promote urination, clear heat, and quench thirst. You can make a drink by boiling green beans for 40 minutes until soft, discarding the liquid, and then mixing the beans with sugarcane juice. This drink can promote urination, relieve heatstroke, and detoxify the body.

In terms of fruits and vegetables that can clear heat and reduce fire, some good options include bitter gourd, loofah, cucumber, celery, lettuce, asparagus, winter melon, and eggplant. For fruits, you can consider pomelo, watermelon, olives, grapes, loquats, plums, persimmons, and apples.

There are also some herbal medicines that can clear heat and reduce fire. For example:

1. Celosia: It is an annual herb that can grow up to 1 meter tall. It has a bitter and slightly cold nature, and can clear liver fire, dispel wind-heat, improve vision, and lower blood pressure.

2. Gypsum: It is a mineral containing calcium sulfate. When used raw, it has the effect of clearing heat, reducing fire, relieving irritability, and quenching thirst. When calcined, it can promote wound healing, absorb moisture, and stop bleeding. It is commonly used to treat external febrile diseases, high fever with thirst, coughing due to lung heat, excessive stomach fire, headache, and toothache.

By incorporating these foods and herbs into your diet, you can help clear heat and reduce fire, promoting overall health and well-being.