7 longevity tips from a centenarian Chinese medicine practitioner

Gan Zuwang has been engaged in clinical practice for more than 60 years, teaching for more than 40 years, and medical professional writing for more than 50 years. He is still working on the front line of clinical practice, teaching, and writing. He has written nine monographs, including "Famous Doctors and Famous Prescriptions", "You's Laryngology", "Biography of Sun Simiao", and "Gan Zuwang's Medical Talks". He said that the secret to his longevity is: "childlike innocence, ant food, turtle desire, and monkey behavior." Today, he would like to share these 7 tips from the Public Health Network with you.

1. In addition to drinking, eat less cold dishes

In ancient times, people would eat cold dishes with wine, because both white wine and yellow wine are warm, and cold dishes can just neutralize the heat. It has become a habit for modern people to eat cold dishes, which I think is unhealthy and not good for the stomach.

2. Don’t eat bitter melon fried eggs

Chinese people do have a tradition of loving to eat eggs. They eat boiled eggs in the morning, scrambled eggs with tomatoes at noon, and scrambled eggs with bitter gourd in the evening. Bitter melon is cold in nature, and eggs are also cold. The combination of the two is very serious, and in my opinion it is poison.

3. Breakfast is traditional, with porridge, fried dough sticks or fried eggs

What to eat healthily? Many people criticize fried dough sticks as unhealthy and junk food. I think there is nothing wrong with the food itself. The key is moderation. White porridge, fried dough sticks and side dishes are Chinese traditions and they are comfortable to eat. Boiled eggs are cold, so I don’t eat them. Frying them in oil will neutralize the taste, so I eat fried eggs.

4. Eat in moderation

Taoism has a view that the amount of food a person eats in his lifetime is limited. If you eat too much and too early, you will die early. If you eat slowly and leisurely, you will live longer. So I definitely don’t overeat.

5. Eating eggs and milk in the morning when you are not hungry is poison.

Many people ask me what to eat to be healthy. I say that what you eat is not important, but how and when you eat is the key. Don’t eat when you are not hungry, even if it is time to eat. The external clock is not important, your own biological clock is important. People advise people to eat breakfast, but no one cares whether they are hungry or not when they wake up early. If a person has not digested the food eaten the night before and has no appetite, and then feeds him milk and eggs, isn't that poison? If you are hungry but not starving, you should eat some snacks, three bites will be enough. If you are hungry but not hungry, you should see a doctor and regulate your mood.

6. Drinking lots of water can cause kidney damage in severe cases

I don’t know when the so-called health concept emerged, which is to drink eight glasses of water a day. It is said that drinking more water can detoxify and flush the large intestine. In fact, drinking water like this is very harmful to the kidneys. In severe cases, it can cause kidney deficiency and inability to hold urine. Drink water in small sips, no more than three sips, leaving room for digestion and absorption. Modern people only want to be fast and guzzle water, which results in a large amount of cold water accumulating in the stomach, which is either urinated out or retained and cannot become body fluids.

The art of drinking water also lies in not drinking fresh water. The side effect of fresh water is that it is a diuretic. Fresh water passes through the intestines and leaves body fluids nowhere to stay. Therefore, the ancients added bitter tea leaves to fresh water and added trace amounts of salt when eating watermelon, in order to prevent the loss of body fluids.

7. Drinking cold water or cold drinks is very harmful

When cold drinks enter the stomach, they rely on the heat from the stomach to warm it to the same temperature as the human body, 36.5℃. Over time, the stomach can't bear it and the lungs are also affected.

Some people like to have a cold drink before eating, but that’s it. When you eat, no matter how much you eat or how full you are, you won’t feel anything. Over time, you will get fat. Before you know it, various diseases will come knocking on your door along with obesity.