10 Traditional Chinese Health Habits My Mom Taught Me (What Science Says)

That's why I have these. Very comfortable to wear inside the house. No cold salad because it's very hot for your stomach. Almost every vegetable that I ate was boiled or fried. What about ice cream? Ice cream used to be my favorite all the time. I would never give up on that. My mom used to get so mad at me for drinking ice water. You are going to ruin your body, she said. I was like, Mom, it's just water. I'm in America now. Everyone drink it cold. Fast forward, now I'm in grad school, and I look at my hand right now. They are so cold. Almost always cold, even during the summer. Turns out that my mom was right. Growing up in Vietnam, both my mom and my grandmas have very specific rules. No cold water. Always wear a sleeper, even if you are inside the house. That's why I have these. Very comfortable to wear inside the house. No cold salad because it's very hot for your stomach. Almost every vegetable that I ate was boiled or fried. What about ice cream? Ice cream used to be my favorite all the time. I would never give up on that. But the rule is I can only have ice cream every Friday. At that moment, I thought it was just olfaction, superstition. I didn't question it. I was just following it because that's what you did as an Asian child. Then a few years ago, I did my lab test and found out that I have thalassemia. It's a genetic blood condition. Basically, my body doesn't make hemoglobin the normal way. So my body always runs very low on And I get anemic more easily than most people. That is a real doctor confirmed diagnosis. It is not something that a hot tea or a hot soup gonna fix. I just want to be very clear about that. But here is the thing that stuck with me. My mom, she is actually a doctor. She was trained in medical school for western medicine, practicing in Vietnam. So growing up, I just assumed that her rules which is olfaction, superstitions that she got passed down from my grandma. What I realized later is that she wasn't choosing between the western medicines or the traditional medicines. She just knew the science behind it. She was also believed that the cultural habits was worth keeping. When I got diagnosed with thalassemia, she wasn't shocked at all. She probably been watching for signs of anemia long before I even got tested. She always tell me that keep your body warm, don't over exercise. That's what made me really want to understand and go back. How does she blend those two worlds so naturally? What is this whole keep your body warm framework that she grew up with? And why does she still choose to live by it even though that she had a medical degree now? So this is where traditional Chinese medicines come in. I want to say up front, this is a belief system that has been there for thousands of years and it's meaningful as culture. It is not the same with modern medical science. I am personally not a TCM practitioner. I am just someone who grew up in this framework and want to bring my knowledge and explain it in an honest way. In TCM, everything in your body is described through two forces, yin and yang. Yin is cooling, fluid and restful. Yang, on the other hand, is more warming, active and moving energy. The idea is that your body needs both to balance. If there's too little yang, then it's not enough warm and you might feel cold hands and cold feet, low energy, fatigue. If you have too little yin, then you might feel restless, dry, overheated. A lot of what my mom did was basically trying to protect my yang. She wants me to keep the warmth in, don't let the cold get into my body. Now, I have to say that there's no blood test for yin and yang. It is not something that western medicine measures. But as a cultural lens for daily habits, sleep, food temperatures and rest, it is actually not that different from things that modern medicine rediscovers years later. It's just like the importance of circadian rhythm or the gut-friendly foot breath. And honestly, my mom is a proof that this isn't between the science and ignorance. She has a medical degree herself. She could totally rely on western medicines alone, but she decided to choose both. Okay, so rule number one is there is no cold food, especially for breakfast. Growing up, as far as I can remember, there's always something warm for breakfast like corn cheese, rice porridge or soup with noodles. My mom always said that cold food makes your stomach work harder to digest. Now that I actually prioritize this myself, corn cheese is always my to-go. It is super simple. It's just rice cooked down in a lot of water until it's soft and creamy. In order for it to be a balanced meal with more protein in it, I would usually add more shredded chicken or a soft boiled egg, scallions, a little ginger on the side too. It's warm, it's filling and it's surprisingly very gentle for your stomach, especially first thing in the morning. Bone broth or soup base is the same idea. It's always warm liquid with proteins and minerals. It's very easy for your stomach to digest and it's really hard for you to overeat it because it's very filling. And there are the two habits that are also related to eating that I did not grow up with but I have added as an adult. I always cook most of my meals at home because I actually know what is going into my food. And the other thing is I always try to incorporate fermented foods like kimchi and pickles regularly because that's actually one of the few things in this list. Second rule in my house is that I always have to wear sleepers inside the house. My mom would constantly remind me that don't walk barefoot on the cold floor. As a kid, I thought that she was just being overprotective but now growing up, I actually understand where that advice came from. I have growing up always had cold hands and feet because I have talasmia. I tend to run lower on iron so my body isn't always delivering oxygen to my hands and my feet efficiently. My mom would check on my hands all the time and if they felt freezing, she would immediately tell me to put on gloves, socks or sleepers. Now the question is do I think that cold floor gonna make you sick? Not really but I do think that if you have cold feet then your whole body gonna feel very uncomfortable. Wearing sleepers inside the house just keep my feet very warm especially in Minnesota winters. Honestly, it's just one of the small habits that make your home feel more cozy and I also noticed that when my feet are warm, I'm less distracted by feeling cold and more focused and feel relaxing. It doesn't seem like a huge thing for me but those little comforts really add up throughout the day. One science note that I have did my research on is that cold floors themselves doesn't directly cause illness. However, cold hands and cold feet can often happen because of anemia, poor circulations, thyroid conditions or simply you're just being very sensitive to the cold. Wearing sleepers alone doesn't treat those conditions but it can improve comfort and help with heat loss from your feet. If your hands and your feet are constantly cold along with fatigue, dizziness or hair loss, I think it's worth to talk with your healthcare provider rather than just assuming that it's just poor circulation. The third habit that I have is I drink tea every single day. In the morning, I usually have a cup of green tea instead of coffee. It still has caffeine and it just gives me a little boost but I don't get that jittery feeling that coffee gives me sometimes. Plus, I actually enjoy my tea in the morning. I will try to wake up a little earlier before I rush to work. Later in the afternoon or the evening, I will switch from green tea to some kind of herbal tea. One of my favorites is that I usually add some goji berries or red dates, some ginger with lemon and honey. Growing up, my family has always believed that this combo is very nourishing for your body especially when I feel I have low energy, I feel tired or just during cold months. I personally don't drink it expecting some miracle gonna happen to my health. Honestly, I just think like it turned into this comfort, a little sweet drink that I actually don't use sugar. It becomes more like a daily ritual than a health treatment. There's also something very calming about making tea, just boiling water, waiting for it to steep, sitting down for a few minutes. You can drink your tea and reading book at the same time. It forced me to slow down in a way that my phone would never be able to do. Habits number four and this is probably the hardest one to learn. Growing up, my parents keep telling me that I should stop eating when I feel 80% full and not feel so stuffed. The goal is to stop eating when you feel completely satisfied. At first, I was like how am I supposed to know what 80% of fullness feel like? Stop eating before you actually feel completely full. One thing that really helped me is to eat slower, listen to my intuitions. I usually use a chopstick and I would put my chopstick down between bites, actually chew my food and try not to eat whenever my eyes are glued to my phone on my laptop. When I rush through a meal, I almost always end up eating more than I actually need. But one secret tip that I have to tell you is that this secret habit actually helped me a lot with weight management more than any other strict diets. I still can be able to enjoy the food that I like. I just pay more attention to my brain and when my body is trying to tell me that hey I'm full or hey I have enough. Honestly, you might still feel hungry after 20 minutes or 30 minutes after and I still have a little more time. The point isn't about to leave yourself starving. It's just giving your body a chance to catch up before actually reaching for another serving. Your stomach and your brain doesn't communicate instantly. Satiety hormones take about 15 to 20 minutes to show signals of fullness. So when you eat slowly, it gives your body more time to recognize that you have had enough food. Research constantly links slow eating with lower calories intake. It gives you better appetite regulation. Although the exact idea of 80% fullness isn't something that science can measure because everyone's body is different. The fifth habit is actually about movement. Nowadays, I would walk everywhere and I would incorporate in some low impact movement. This habit actually completely changed the way I think about exercise. A few years ago, I thought that exercise that would only help me to lose weight. Whenever I leave that workout, I have to feel exhausted. Heavy lifting, intense cardio, sweating as much as I can. I thought that if I wasn't suffering, then the workout is not effective. And honestly, I burned myself out. I was constantly sore, always tired, and working out started to feel like a punishment instead of something that I actually enjoy for my health. Now my mindset is completely different. I still exercise, but I focus on a lot more on movement throughout the day. I walk whenever I can. Instead of driving, I would bike to work. I would do yoga, pilates, and strength training a few times a week. Instead of asking what is the hardest workout that I can do that burn the most calories, I would ask myself what is some movement that I can realistically do for years without burning myself out. Ironically, that is when I start feeling healthier. I have more energy, my mood is better, and I actually look forward to moving my body instead of dreading it. I think usually people would underestimate walking because it's too simple. But walking after a meal, taking the stairs, and going for a 30-minute walk every single day is so much more effective than going all in for one week and then quitting. Regular walking is actually one of the most well-researched movements or exercises with benefits for cardiovascular health, blood sugar control, mood, and longevity. But on the other hand, intense exercise or intense cardio isn't necessarily bad. Consistently training without recovery can actually increase fatigue and temporarily raise stress hormones. I personally think that the healthiest exercise is something that you can do for long terms, you can enjoy it, you can recover from it. Habit number six is I always try to incorporate some healthy fats into my diet. This one is completely against what I was growing up hearing online. For years, I was terrified of fat. I would buy low fat on everything. I would avoid egg yolks, and I would think that fat automatically makes you gain a lot of weight. But in my family, we never really ate that way. Eggs, chicken thighs, pork belly, or salmon. Those are all the normal foods I grew up with. Once I started to learn more about nutrition, I realized that healthy fat is not something for you to fear. Fat actually helps to keep you full for longer. It makes food taste so much better, and it's necessary for you to absorb vitamins like vitamin A, vitamin E, and vitamin D. Your body actually also uses cholesterol as building blocks for your hormones, including estrogens or progesterone, especially important for women. Hear me out, that doesn't necessarily mean that I would eat unlimited amount of fatty foods. I still try to balance my meal with protein, vegetable, and fibers. And if you don't know, there's a lot of calories in fat, so control yourself. But I stopped obsessing from removing every single gram of fat from my diet. Honestly, eating became much less stressful. Nowadays, I would rather just eat one satisfied meal than two low-fat meals that make me feel hungry two hours later. Just a sign by Bay behind this is that dietary fat doesn't automatically make you gain weight. Overall calories intake and long-term eating pattern actually matter so much more. Healthy fats can help you with increasing satiety, support your hormone production, and allow your body to absorb a lot of vitamins. Current nutrition research actually encourage people to eat more unsaturated fats. So fat is not the enemy. Fat is your friend. Your body actually needs it. The goal is not to completely remove 100% of fat from your diet. It is actually for you to listen to your body, focus more on a balanced diet, and to eat whole food. So habit 7 is oil bowling and tongue scraping. Every morning, I would wake up whenever I brush my teeth. I would either scrape my tongue or oil bowling with coconut oil for a few minutes. Growing up, my family would always believe that doing oil bowling would actually pull away the toxins from your body. Honestly, oil bowling is incredibly make my teeth feel so clean. It's just become a part of my morning routine now. It's just like you're brushing your teeth or washing your face. I don't expect it to detox my liver or magically improve my health. I just enjoy how fresh my mouth feels afterward. If I have to only choose one, I would actually recommend tongue scraping. It is very quick. It actually physically removes the coating on your tongue that builds up overnight. And of course, after doing tongue scraping, I would notice that my breath feels immediately. Oil bowling is more of something optional for me. If I have time, then I would do it. But if I don't have time, then I would not stress about it. I think this is also a very good reminder to tell you that not all wellness habits can be life-changing. Sometimes it's okay for you to just do something simple to just make your body feel different, to feel good. Number 8 is all about sweating, but it might not be the reason that you are thinking about. I love to go into sauna or going to heated yoga class once or twice a week. It just feels like hitting a reset button after sitting on my desk all day long. My muscles just feel relaxed, my mind to slow down, and I always live feeling so much lighter. Not because I detox, but I finally let myself unwind. I feel like growing up, I have always heard people around me said that sweating actually helps you to remove toxins, but I don't think that's how body actually works. I think sweat is mostly there to pull you down. I think actually your liver and your kidney are doing most of the detox work every single day. Just saying that, but that doesn't mean that sauna is not worth it. Research has shown that sauna can actually help with relaxation, it improves your circulation, and it might even help with heart health when you use it regularly. For me though, I think the biggest benefit is it's helping me to relieve the stress. It's one of the few places where I don't have to check my phone for every five minutes. Another thing that my mom told me is to never go to bed with wet hair. I always dry my hair fully dry before I go to sleep, not because I'm worried that I'll catch a cold, but because sleeping on wet hair just feels so uncomfortable for me. It takes forever to dry, and honestly if you go to bed when your hair is still wet, your hair will look terrible in the morning. So maybe she was right, but she's for a different reason. Habit number nine is I always try to get in or walking barefoot on the grass. Every morning if I can, I'll try to walk outside during the first hour of waking up. Even just for 10 or 15 minutes make me feel so much more awake. I usually leave my phone inside, I'll walk outside the yard, and if the grass is dry then I would allow myself to walk on the grass with barefoot. It sounds like such a tiny habit, but it helped me start my day feeling so calm instead of wake up and immediately scrolling. One thing that actually backed by science is the sunlight, not because it gives you energy directly, but because it tells your brain that hey it's daytime. That actually helps to regulate your circadian rhythm, which can improve your sleep later that night, your alertness during the day, and it improves your mood. As for walking barefoot on the grass, I mainly do it because it feels relaxing and it helps me to calm down. Some people would call it grounding or earthing, and you'll probably hear claims that it helps to reduce inflammation or it just balances your body energy in general. Personally, I just enjoy the feeling of being outside, enjoy a mindful moment before the day gets so busy. Alright, and the last habit that I have for today is actually to do with my evening routine. The first one is washa. I don't know if I pronounced it right. Washa. I usually spend five minutes after doing my skincare routine or just when I'm watching YouTube. I don't expect it to magically sculpt my face forever, but it's definitely helped me to relax. It temporarily reduces puffiness, especially early in the morning when you first wake up or after a long day. Then I love to soak my feet in warm water before bed. Sometime I would add some epsom salt, some ginger, some mugwort, or just keep it plain. I don't know if it's because of the warm water or it forced me to just sit still for 15 minutes, but I always feel so much more relaxed afterward. So the question is, after trying all these habits again as an adult, where do I actually stand? I don't think Chinese medicine gonna ever curb my talisman because it did not. Modern medicine, my doctor, blood tests, and evidence-based treatments are the reason why I'm so healthy today. At the same time, I don't think every single thing that my mom taught me were superstition. As I got older and started studying health, nutrition, and healthcare, something actually surprised me a lot. A lot of these habits can start making a lot of sense when you understand the science behind them. Walking every single day can actually be one of the healthiest habits, and it's so easy for you to do it. Eating slowly can help you to recognize when you're full, and fermented foods can actually support a lot with your gut microbiome. And even the habits that I have mentioned earlier that don't have a strong scientific evidence, like oil bullying or wuxia, can still be enjoyable ritual that you can incorporate into your life. Do it whenever you want to because it helps you to slow down, and you're actually doing something to take care of yourself, as long as you don't expect them to do things that magically they can't. I think that's what my mom was trying to teach me all along. Not every habit has to be a miracle cure. Sometimes good health is all about consistency, something that you constantly do every single day. Now that I'm studying healthcare, I don't force myself to choose between western medicine or eastern medicine anymore. I think western medicine is incredible when you need a diagnosis, surgery, treatment, or medication. Traditional habits, on the other hand, can actually help you to build consistent habits and make your day feel a lot calmer. You can eat better, you move more, and you can connect with your culture. Listen to your body, be intuitive. For me, they never compete, but they actually complement each other. So if you're ever growing up and hearing advice from your parents or your grandparents and think that, oh my god, that is so old-fashioned, maybe just slow down for a bit and don't dismiss it right away. Maybe spending some time looking into it. Some of it can be a myth, some of it might actually be backed by science, and some of it can actually be a very meaningful ritual that you can start doing every single day that can help you a little bit healthier, and you can feel a little bit happier. Well, if you have watched this far, I hope that you take some notes with you, and thank you for watching. My name is Flora, and I will see you in the next one. Bye!