What foods help remove dampness?
Jul 15, 2025
Source: Cainiu Health
Dr. Sun Lianqing
Introduction
In general, there are many types of foods that help remove dampness, such as mung beans, adzuki beans, bitter melon, lotus leaves, and gorgon fruit (Euryale ferox). When consuming these dampness-resolving foods, it is important to choose suitable ingredients according to one's own body constitution and avoid excessive intake of cold-natured foods to prevent damage to the spleen and stomach. At the same time, it is also necessary to combine appropriate exercise, maintain a regular作息 (作息 should be translated as "routine" or "daily schedule"), and avoid damp environments.
Generally, there are many types of foods that help remove dampness, including mung beans, adzuki beans, bitter melon, lotus leaves, and gorgon fruit. Detailed explanations are as follows:
1. Mung Beans
Mung beans are cold in nature and sweet in taste, possessing functions of clearing heat and detoxifying, promoting diuresis, and relieving summer heat. They are rich in protein, dietary fiber, and various minerals, which can promote water metabolism in the body and help expel dampness. They can help alleviate symptoms such as dry mouth and throat, and short, red urination caused by damp-heat. Mung beans can be boiled into a soup for consumption, which also helps relieve summer heat. However, individuals with cold body constitution should avoid excessive consumption.
2. Adzuki Beans
Adzuki beans are neutral in nature, sweet and sour in taste, and have effects of strengthening the spleen to resolve dampness, reducing edema, and detoxifying. They can enhance kidney function to promote urination, reduce fluid retention in the body, and are often used for cooking porridge or soup. Adzuki beans also contain significant dietary fiber, which helps promote intestinal motility, benefiting intestinal health while removing dampness.
3. Bitter Melon
Bitter melon is cold in nature and bitter in taste, possessing effects of clearing heat to relieve summer heat, improving vision, and detoxifying. Its components such as momordicoside can promote metabolism and help expel damp-heat from the body, improving symptoms like acne and bitter taste in the mouth associated with a damp-heat constitution. Bitter melon can be stir-fried or served cold. However, due to its bitterness, seasoning can be added to improve the taste when consumed.
4. Lotus Leaves
Lotus leaves are neutral in nature and slightly bitter in taste, having functions of clearing summer heat and dampness and promoting the rising of clear yang energy. Drinking lotus leaf-infused water can help expel dampness from the body and assist in regulating blood lipid levels. During summer, brewing lotus leaves into tea can both remove dampness and relieve heat, making it suitable for daily consumption by individuals with a damp-heat constitution.
5. Gorgon Fruit (Euryale ferox)
Gorgon fruit is neutral in nature, sweet and astringent in taste, and has effects of strengthening the spleen to stop diarrhea, consolidating kidney function to reduce seminal emission, resolving dampness, and stopping leukorrhea. Traditional Chinese Medicine believes that gorgon fruit can enhance spleen and stomach function, promote the transformation and transportation of dampness, thereby reducing dampness accumulation in the body. Gorgon fruit can be cooked with rice as porridge or combined with other ingredients for soup, making it suitable for individuals with weak spleen and stomach function and excessive dampness.
When consuming these dampness-removing foods, it is important to choose suitable ingredients according to one's own body constitution and avoid excessive intake of cold-natured foods to prevent harming the spleen and stomach. Additionally, combining appropriate exercise, maintaining a regular routine, and avoiding damp environments are necessary for effectively eliminating dampness from the body. If symptoms of excessive dampness are severe, it is recommended to consult a professional physician for proper regulation.
