What foods help remove dampness from the body?

Generally, there are many types of foods that help remove dampness from the body, including Job's tears (coix seed), red beans, winter melon, Chinese yam, and Poria. Detailed explanations are as follows:

1. Job's Tears (Coix Seed)

Job's tears is cool in nature, with a sweet and bland taste. It helps drain water, reduce swelling, strengthen the spleen, and eliminate dampness. It contains abundant dietary fiber that promotes intestinal motility, assisting in the removal of excess water and toxins from the body, thereby alleviating symptoms such as bodily heaviness and edema caused by dampness. Job's tears can be cooked into porridge or used in soups. However, due to its cooling nature, individuals with a cold constitution should avoid excessive consumption.

2. Red Beans

Red beans are neutral in nature, with a sweet and sour taste. They help strengthen the spleen, remove dampness, nourish the blood, and improve complexion. Red beans promote urination and reduce fluid retention in the body. They are often combined with Job's tears to make a classic dampness-removing beverage known as red bean and Job's tears water. Rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals, red beans also provide essential nutrients while removing dampness.

3. Winter Melon

Winter melon is bland and sweet in taste, with a cooling nature. It clears heat, promotes urination, reduces swelling, and detoxifies. It contains propionic acid, which inhibits the conversion of carbohydrates into fat. Winter melon itself contains no fat, has low calories, and high water content, which increases urine output and helps eliminate dampness and excess water from the body. It can improve symptoms such as edema and acne caused by a damp-heat constitution. Winter melon can be stir-fried or made into soup, offering effective heat-clearing and dampness-removing properties.

4. Chinese Yam

Chinese yam is neutral in nature, with a sweet taste. It strengthens the spleen and stomach, nourishes the lungs, generates body fluids, and benefits the kidneys. In traditional Chinese medicine, excessive dampness is often associated with weak spleen and stomach function. Chinese yam helps strengthen the spleen and enhance the body's ability to process and eliminate dampness, thereby reducing internal dampness accumulation at its root.

5. Poria

Poria is a food and herb used in both medicinal and dietary contexts. It is neutral in nature, with a sweet and bland taste. It promotes urination to remove dampness, strengthens the spleen, and calms the mind. Poria helps eliminate excess fluids from the body, regulates spleen and stomach functions, and improves symptoms such as poor appetite, abdominal distension, and loose stools caused by excessive dampness. It can be used to cook porridge, prepare soups, or made into Poria biscuits, offering a mild yet lasting dampness-removing effect.

When consuming these dampness-removing foods, it is important to choose suitable ingredients according to your own body constitution and avoid excessive consumption of cold-natured foods to prevent harming the spleen and stomach. Additionally, combining appropriate exercise, maintaining regular作息 (作息 means作息 in Chinese, but the exact English translation depends on context; here it likely refers to "作息" as "rest and activity patterns"), and avoiding damp environments will help eliminate internal dampness more effectively. If symptoms of excessive dampness are severe, it is recommended to consult a professional physician for proper regulation.