27 secrets to healthy and long life from the ancients

The ancients passed down the secret to a healthy life: not washing your hair when full, not bathing when hungry; nourishing the body and mind; men eat chives to strengthen their yang and kidneys, women eat lotus root to beautify their skin...

According to Dr. Ly Va Senh, Ho Chi Minh City Traditional Medicine Hospital, the ancients have accumulated and summarized many useful health tips. For example, men should eat chives, women should eat lotus root. According to Oriental medicine books, chives are warm, have the effect of strengthening the kidney, warming the middle, promoting qi, dispersing blood, detoxifying, stopping bleeding, and eliminating phlegm... Lotus root contains glucose, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin C, arginine, tyrosine... Lotus root eaten raw or boiled helps sleep well. Lotus root has the effect of nourishing the middle and opening the appetite, suitable for people with weak bodies such as those who have just recovered from illness or have just given birth...

Lotus shoots are good for women's health. Photo: AN

According to Dr. Senh, 27 things about nutrition, lifestyle and feng shui for good health and longevity passed down from the ancients are as follows:

1. Don't wash your hair when you're full, don't bathe when you're hungry. Wash your face with cold water to stay beautiful and healthy. Don't bathe with cold water while the sweat's still wet. Brush your teeth with warm water to prevent tooth sensitivity.

2. Eat rice with husks and foods containing fiber. Men cannot lack chives, women cannot lack lotus root. White radish, raw is not good but cooked is good. Do not eat too much, do not lie down when full.

3. Nourishing life is movement, nourishing the mind is stillness. If the mind is not pure, worries and delusions easily arise. If the mind is peaceful, illness cannot come. Close your eyes to nourish the spirit, calm the mind and increase wisdom.

4. To nourish the body, do not forget to nourish the mind. Treat money like grass, treat the body like treasure, smoke from burning fire, it is best not to eat. Fried oil, marinated, eaten less is better.

5. Rotten fish and rotten shrimp will take your life. Wear warm clothes, for life is like spring. Don't let cold touch your teeth, don't let heat touch your lips. Only eat cooked food, only drink boiled water.

6. Eat more vegetables and less meat. Eat moderately and get up on time. Keep your head cool and your feet warm. Enjoy yourself and don't seek comfort.

7. Nurturing life is diligence, nurturing the mind is tranquility.

8. When you get old, you must exercise, walk and jog, practice sword dancing; don't be afraid of the cold, sweep the yard clean, paint to make it more fun, and open your heart.

9. When you hear the rooster crow, don't try to lie down longer. Plant flowers and raise birds, read books and recite poems; play chess or sing plays. Don't be greedy for the bedroom. Don't remember personal matters and don't take advantage of others.

10. Don't be greedy with food, eat less for dinner, don't talk while eating, don't smoke; eat less salt and sugar, don't eat too salty, eat less fat, don't eat too much rice.

11. Three meals a day, suitable food, green vegetables and fruits, eat a lot without fear; go to bed on time, get up on time, lie down and get up gently, not in a hurry.

12. Drink alcohol in moderation, do not be greedy for fame and fortune, do not get angry about common things, and have a broad heart.

13. A healthy mind should be prevented in advance. A healthy mind and body mean a balanced mind and understanding. A stable emotion means less illness.

14. Exercise the body, movement and stillness, a harmonious life for a healthy mind; must eat well, be eight parts full, the internal organs will be light and open naturally.

15. An angry person ages easily, confession is suitable to make everyone happy; enjoy calligraphy and painting, fish by the stream, choose hobbies freely.

16. Use your mind, don't get tired, worry less about nurturing your mind, be less busy; have rules, good health, daily life must be harmonious.

17. Hand movement is good for the brain and prevents colds and flu.

18. Do not sleep on rocks in summer, nor on a bed in autumn. Do not expose your navel in spring, nor cover your head in winter. Active during the day, sleep with little dreams at night.

19. Washing your feet at night is better than taking tonics. Opening the door at night, you sleep soundly. It is strange to be cold without a blanket and not sick.

20. Go to bed early and wake up early, the spirit is refreshed, love sleep and love pleasure, add illness and shorten life. Arguing at night, the intestines feel like salt is rubbed in them.

21. Eating a pig's head a day is not as good as lying in bed snoring.

22. Eating a goat every three days is not as good as washing your feet before going to bed.

23. Choosing the wrong pillow will make you more tired the more you sleep. The mind sleeps first, then the person sleeps. Sleeping like this will make you a beauty.

24. Head toward the wind, warm and comfortable; feet toward the wind, call a physician.

25. Do not sleep in alleys, especially when there is a draft.

26. Go to bed without turning on the lights, wake up without dizziness.

27. If you want to sleep to feel light, your feet should not face west and your head should not face east.

According to VnExpress