Start of Autumn, there is a folk saying called "attaching autumn fat". In the past, the folk had many rules about the solar terms, most of which were related to eating and preventing diseases. This was not unrelated to people's attention to their own health. "People take food as heaven", Start of Autumn is a very important solar term, so people can't forget to eat. It was popular in the folk to weigh people on the day of Start of Autumn, comparing their weight with that of Start of Summer to check whether they were fat or thin. If they lost weight, it was called "bitter summer". At that time, people's judgment on health was often based on fatness and thinness. Of course, if you are thin, you need to "make up for it", and the way to make up for it is to "attach autumn fat", eating delicious food with rich flavor, and of course, the first choice is to eat meat, "attaching fat with meat".
The custom of "attaching autumn fat" is popular in Beijing and Hebei areas. On this day, ordinary families eat stewed meat, while more particular families eat poached pork, braised pork, as well as meat dumplings, stewed chicken, stewed duck, and red-braised fish.
Nowadays, the food customs of Start of Autumn vary in different places in China. In the past, eating autumn peaches was popular in Hangzhou area. During Start of Autumn, adults and children all ate autumn peaches, one each, and kept the core after eating. On New Year's Eve, the peach cores were thrown into the stove and burned into ashes. People believed that this could avoid the plague for a year.
Start of Autumn is an important solar term valued by farmers. There is a proverb in the eastern Shandong region: "sit for a while at the beginning of Start of Autumn, and you will be hungry next spring", reminding people to speed up agricultural work and strive for a good harvest. The Laixi farming proverb says: "rain in伏will cause drought in伏, and rain on Start of Autumn will bring good meals". There is also a saying: "harvest everything in July autumn, lose everything in June autumn". This means that if Start of Autumn falls in the lunar July, the five grains can hope for a good harvest; if Start of Autumn falls in the lunar June, the five grains will not be abundant and may even be deficient. For farmers who could only rely on the weather for food in the past, the significance of Start of Autumn was not limited to eating.
Although it's time to eat heartily when autumn comes, traditional Chinese medicine, which emphasizes food therapy, still has its own dietary rules, especially in this season that tends to make people's mouths dry and tongues parched. Not all tasty foods are suitable for consumption. Therefore, attaching autumn fat should be selective.
Moisturizing is the main focus during Start of Autumn, and attaching autumn fat should be done cautiously. As the weather gradually cools down in autumn, people often experience varying degrees of dryness in their mouths, noses, and skin. Therefore, it is advisable to eat foods that have the effects of generating body fluids, nourishing yin, and moisturizing, and avoid spicy and fried foods. In autumn, it is suitable to eat clear, moist, sweet-sour, and cool foods. Cool foods can clear heat, sweet foods have the properties of nourishing, soothing urgency, harmonizing the middle energizer, and tonifying, and sour foods have the effects of astringency, generating body fluids, and quenching thirst. Meanwhile, according to traditional Chinese medicine, the lungs are closely related to autumn energy, so it is advisable to eat more foods that have the effects of moistening the lungs and generating body fluids, such as lily, lotus seed, yam, lotus root, enoki mushroom, tomato, etc. In view of this, after Start of Autumn, we should pay special attention to our diet and follow the principles of regularity, moisturizing, and strengthening the body.
After a long hot summer, due to frequent drinking of cold drinks and eating frozen products, people often have weakened spleen and stomach functions. Therefore, it is not advisable to start tonifying too early when autumn begins. Eating large amounts of tonics would suddenly increase the burden on the spleen and stomach, making the digestive organs, which have been in a weak state for a long time, unable to bear it immediately, leading to dysfunction of the digestive organs, resulting in symptoms such as chest tightness, abdominal distension, loss of appetite, indigestion, and diarrhea. Therefore, before tonifying in autumn, give the spleen and stomach a period of adjustment and adaptation. You can first eat some nutritious and easily digestible foods to regulate the function of the spleen and stomach, such as fish, lean meat of various animals, poultry eggs, yam, lotus seeds. In addition, dairy products, beans, fresh vegetables, and fruits are all suitable for moderate consumption.
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