Hot Cold Don't Drink Ginger Soup

Hot colds should not drink.Ginger. Soup.

Whenever I have a cold, the elders at home always tell me to drink ginger sugar soup, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I wonder why drinking ginger sugar water is ineffective when I have a cold?

Answer: Drinking ginger red sugar water is a commonly used method in folk remedies, but note that wind-heat colds should not consume ginger sugar water.

In traditional Chinese medicine, colds are classified into three types: wind-cold colds, wind-heat colds, and summer-dampness colds, which are usually caused by the invasion of wind pathogen resulting in symptoms like chills, fever, headache, nasal congestion, coughing, etc. Apart from treatment based on medical diagnosis for these different types of colds, diet should also be taken into account.

For treating wind-cold colds, ginger red

sugar water can be used. Since ginger and garlic are pungent-warm foods that can induce sweating to relieve symptoms, improve lung function, and unblock the body’s qi flow, they often lead to recovery without the need for medication. However, wind-heat colds should not use ginger, scallions, or red sugar; using them could exacerbate the condition. For summer-dampness colds, one should avoid foods like red sugar and ginger, instead opting for cooling remedies such as peppermint tea to aid recovery.