How to balance your body after labour with chicken
Many women come to the clinic with symptoms of period pain, leg pain, lower back pain, period problems and pregnancy problems including frequent miscarriage. These symptoms are associated with the imbalance of the body; especially those who have given birth and their body has not returned to its normal condition.
Labour is a very complicated and physically draining activity, where in Traditional Chinese Medicine considers that;
1) During labour, the body is using large amount of Qi and Energy. Due to this the body is loosing lots of Qi and blood – One month after birth, it is essential to restore the energy and blood to build up a new balance. So how do we return the body’s energy and Qi? A suitable diet is very important and not only helps the body acquire nutrition but also the recovery of the uterus and ovaries.
2) During this time, eating foods rich in warmth,and avoiding icy cold things. Keep stomach area and lower back area warm especially in colder days and months – which will help improving circulation and help in the removal of stagnant blood which is left in the lower stomach and uterus area. This will help to prevent lower back, stomach, and period pain.
Because of the physical changes to the woman’s body after labour traditional chinese medical culture suggest that one month after labour, it is a cruital time for the body to be returned to its normal condition.
Boiling foul soup (Old chicken) is one of the very popular Traditional culture’s to eat as a means of helping to recover after labour. You can find this type of chicken in Chinese markets, egg farms or at an organic market.
How to eat the chicken?
1) After labour the body needs to tonify Qi and blood. This is a natural way the food diet can replenish and tonify the body. Older chicken has a tonifying Qi and yang characteristic which is required for the body in recovery.
Chicken which has laid eggs for 1 or 2 years has a higher content of nutrients which are helpful in the replenishing of the Qi and blood. Cooking this chicken is best to be boiled whole, and once boiled, simmered for 5 hours. Once this is done remove the fat, skin and bone, leaving the meat as a soup. You can drink the soup straight away or you can use the soup as a stock and other vegetables to enrich the soup. We suggest that every lunch or dinner, that you drink one or two cups of the soup before your meal. This chicken soup not only tonifies the qi and blood, but can also increase and quality and quantity of the breast milk.
2) After labour the bodies yang and qi is deficient, so the body can easily get cold. Within 1 month after labour it is important to keep the body warm not only keeping the body warm but also eating warm foods. Because chinese culture believes that after labour the bodies joints are loose, and if the body is not warm, cold can enter these areas causing pain and cold stagnation in the joints. Especially in the joints of the knees, ankle, lower back, shoulder, fingers and wrists. We suggest to avoid touching icy cold water.
3) After labour, the uterus needs to recover to its normal size, including the muscle of the uterus and lower stomach – consists of stagnant old blood, the body needs to take a couple of weeks to clear the old blood from the uterus and to return the circulation back to normal. As the uterus and the ovaries are located in the lower abdomen area, keeping this area warm helps the circulation to flow to these organs and help in the recovery after pregnancy which helps to regulate the period later on.
Precautions
Because the older chicken is rich in warmth and heat, so if your body has the following conditions it is best to avoid.
Fever, infection, your body is heat constitution, constipation, red face, perspiration, high blood pressure problems. It is best to avoid or eat less of this type of chicken. Or you can use the normal meat chicken, has a less amount of warmth and heat effects.
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