Children’s problems are also numerous nowadays, but they all boil down to “deficiency” and “phlegm.”

“Deficiency” mainly refers to the insufficiency of a child’s spleen and stomach. During the developmental stage, the kidney yang is still immature, making it easy for food to be undigested, leading to insufficient qi and blood. Nowadays, children do not lack healthy food, but they lack healthy eating habits. Being either too fat or too thin is not considered healthy; it’s still a manifestation of deficiency.

“Phlegm” mainly refers to children having poor digestion, where food is not properly metabolized, eventually turning into phlegm-dampness that cannot be expelled. Dampness follows the flow of qi and turns into phlegm when encountering heat.

When it lingers in the head and face, it becomes “allergic rhinitis,” “sinusitis,” “otitis media,” “adenoid hypertrophy,” “tonsil enlargement,” and even “hyperactivity.”

When it lingers in the lungs, it becomes “mycoplasma,” “chlamydia,” “pneumonia,” and even “asthma.”

When it lingers in the triple burner, it becomes “allergies” and “skin diseases.”

When it lingers in the spleen and stomach, it becomes “infantile malnutrition.”

Although surgery can solve temporary problems, if the body’s ability to metabolize phlegm-dampness is not restored, new chronic inflammations will arise.

Moreover, many issues cannot be resolved by surgery, such as facial problems caused by adenoid hypertrophy.

When it comes to dietary restrictions for children, many parents’ first reaction is that it’s difficult.

However, once we understand the principles of illness and realize that these pathological products start from unhealthy eating habits, we naturally pay more attention to dietary restrictions.

I. Eating: Control the mouth, eat less

Children’s spleen and stomach are delicate; eating the wrong things can easily lead to food stagnation and phlegm-dampness, so strict control is necessary.

• Basic Principles: Eat less greasy and hard-to-digest foods, more staple foods (rice, wheat, flour), and avoid constant snacking and fruit consumption.
• Meat:
  • Recommended: Pork (avoid pork head meat, too cold), duck meat, small amounts of chicken (slightly warm).
  • Avoid: Beef, lamb, offal, shrimp, as these can easily trap dampness.
• Vegetables:
  • In spring, avoid wild vegetables, bamboo shoots, and radishes; other light vegetables can be eaten freely.
• Fruit:
  • Regardless of whether they are warm or cool, they can easily produce dampness, especially during illness, so they should be avoided.
  • If you can’t quit, replace them with dried fruits like lotus seeds, seaweed, yam cakes, and hawthorn, in small amounts.
• Dairy Products:
  • Avoid drinking milk as much as possible, especially during colds or food stagnation. Breast milk for infants is fine, but mothers should maintain a light diet, avoid cold, keep warm, and stay emotionally balanced. Otherwise, the heat in the breast milk can cause heat and food stagnation in the child. Adjust the mother’s constitution first, then give the child a medicinal bath.
• Snacks:
  • Avoid spicy strips, milk tea, ice pops, and other harmful snacks that damage the spleen and stomach. If you must snack, choose clean snacks and check the ingredient list to avoid those with additives.
• Meal Times:
  • For children with food stagnation, avoid eating two hours before bedtime, as it can affect digestion and sleep.

II. Clothing: Keep Warm, Avoid Cold

Catching a cold is the root of many diseases in children, especially with the current unpredictable weather, so be careful:

• Add Clothes Timely: When there’s a big temperature difference, avoid exposing the back, navel, knees, and neck to prevent wind and cold.
• Keep Warm During Sleep: Change clothes if they sweat a lot; adjusting the constitution can help reduce sweating.
• Small Tips: If a child kicks off the blanket and gets cold easily, buy a U-shaped pillow, place it upside down to cover the blanket; it’s light and blocks the wind, so the child won’t be affected by rolling around.

III. Living: Early to Bed + Get Moving

• Sleep: Children are growing, so they must be in bed by 10 PM. Late sleep harms qi and blood, slowing recovery.
• Exercise: Don’t let them sit and watch TV or play on their phones all the time; walking, running, and jumping are all good. Children with weak yang should avoid swimming, as it can be too exhausting.

IV. Behavior: Good Mood, Fewer Illnesses

• Emotions: Avoid letting children experience extreme joy or sorrow. Parents can read “The Rules for Disciples,” “The Four Lessons of Lian Chi,” “The Record of Self-Reflection,” “The Family Instructions of Yan,” and “The Family Instructions of Zhu Zi” to stabilize their own mindset, which will help keep the child calm.

V. Appendix: Dietary Restrictions Have Nuances, Trigger Foods Vary by Person

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, “trigger foods” are not fixed but depend on the constitution. For example, if a child with yang deficiency gets diarrhea from drinking cold water, then cold water is a trigger food for them; it might not affect others. Nowadays, most children have spleen and stomach deficiency along with phlegm-dampness, so they should eat less greasy and dampness-inducing foods. Don’t worry about insufficient nutrition; overeating leads to indigestion, which can turn into phlegm-dampness, causing cysts and nodules, which is more troublesome.

Most people today have a constitution that combines “deficiency of qi, blood, yin, and yang” with “phlegm-dampness.” Foods that easily increase dampness and are hard to digest should be eaten in smaller amounts.

You don’t need to worry about lacking nutrition because you’re not eating a varied diet. Your spleen and stomach can’t absorb so much anyway; eating doesn’t mean absorbing, and you’re just accumulating more phlegm-dampness.

When dampness gathers into phlegm, and phlegm grows larger, it turns into cysts, nodules, stones, fibroids, tumors, and other pathological products.

Many problems don’t need to wait until the last minute for surgery; they can be completely addressed by choosing a healthy lifestyle, truly healthy, and long-term happy way of living.

How to Eat Fruit?
If you want to eat, choose seasonal apples and bananas, 2-3 a week. The best standard is to check the tongue coating; if you ate fruit yesterday and the center of the tongue coating is still white after a night’s digestion, it means it’s not digestible. That indicates you shouldn’t eat more.

How to distinguish white coating? See the diagram below:

In fact, children eat snacks because of spleen and stomach deficiency, which causes a bland taste in the mouth, hence the need for flavorful foods. Once the body is adjusted, they naturally lose interest in snacks.

In my previous cases, there were children who gradually lost interest in spicy strips, milk tea, snacks, and greasy foods after taking medicine. This is a sign of the body improving and the spleen and stomach recovering.

When your cravings deepen, it’s a sign that your body is out of balance. This is when you need to pay attention.

Conclusion

Children’s problems stem from “deficiency” and “phlegm.” Surgery can only solve temporary issues; health depends on daily life. Control diet, clothing, living, and behavior, especially dietary restrictions, to keep children healthy and parents worry-free. Start learning these small adjustments today; a healthy lifestyle is the plan for today!