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Mandarin oranges, red dates, and Chinese herbs for CNY health tips

Insights · General Health

Chinese New Year health tips

Reunion dinners stack greasy snacks, sugar, and late nights. Match the tip to how you feel after visits so festive eating stays enjoyable.

Match the tip Book Appointment

By PULSE Clinical Content

Clinically reviewed Dr Sim Beng Joo TCMPB T1303003A

In brief

Match the tip to how you feel after Singapore CNY visits. Bloating and undigested stools: hawthorn green tea plus Si Feng, Xia Wan, and ST36. Queasiness: ginger tea and Nei Guan. Heaty bak kwa or tarts: mung bean soup with Tai Chong, He Gu, and Shao Chong; honey-lemon for a scratchy throat. Sugary stack: mulberry leaf tea plain. After drinks: Ge Hua 3g. Deepen steamboat broth with two or three kitchen herbs, and wait 1–2 hours before exercise.

01 · Festive season

Match the tip to how you feel

Singapore · reunion · house visits

Lunar New Year in Singapore stacks reunion dinners, bak kwa trays, pineapple tarts, late nights, and steamboat. The tips below follow how the body usually answers that load: fullness after the feast, heaty or sugary stack, then drinks and the pot.

  • After the feast: bloating, nausea, and a one- to two-hour wait before exercise.
  • Heaty and sugar load: bak kwa and tarts, cooling soup, throat drink, mulberry leaf tea.
  • Drinks and pot: Ge Hua after alcohol, and kitchen herbs in steamboat broth.
CNY symptom to kitchen or press habit
How it feels Kitchen or press habit Open
Bloating, undigested stools Hawthorn green tea; Si Feng, Xia Wan, ST36 Hawthorn tea · Press set
Queasiness after a heavy plate Ginger tea; Nei Guan (PC6) Ginger tea · Nei Guan
Sore throat, yellow urine, craving cold Mung bean soup; Tai Chong, He Gu, Shao Chong Mung bean soup
Sugary tart and snack stack Limit sweets first; mulberry leaf tea plain Mulberry leaf tea
Heavy head after festive drinks Ge Hua 3g steep; do not drive on a cup Ge Hua tea
Eager to walk or train after eating Wait 1–2 hours before a stroll or harder session Timing habit below

02 · After the feast

When reunion dinner sits heavy

Food accumulation · 山楂 · Si Feng

Variety makes it easy to overeat. Bloating is the usual first sign. Vomiting, abdominal pain, undigested food in stools, and pungent stools often travel with it.

  • Hawthorn (山楂) moves stuck food after greasy meals.
  • Green tea cools mild heat that often sits with that heaviness.
  • Skip or ease hawthorn in pregnancy, diabetes, or acid reflux.
Dried hawthorn slices and a green tea bag for hawthorn green tea

Tea · greasy meal

Hawthorn green tea

One green tea bag and 2–3 dried hawthorn slices in 250 ml boiling water. Cover and steep five minutes after a greasy meal.

If there's any chance of pregnancy, don't use this. Ease off with reflux or close glucose monitoring.

Make hawthorn green tea
Fingers massaging a finger crease for Si Feng acupressure

Acupoint · overeating

Press Si Feng, Xia Wan, and ST36

Si Feng on the finger creases, Xia Wan above the navel, and Zu San Li below the outer knee support food accumulation after a heavy meal.

Soft circles only; skip strong belly pressure over pain.

Press the festive indigestion set

Nausea

When fullness turns to queasiness

Ginger · Nei Guan PC6

Nausea often rides with indigestion after a heavy festive plate. Warm ginger settles the middle; Nei Guan on the inner forearm is the classic short press.

Fresh ginger root and thin ginger slices for ginger tea

Tea · nausea

Ginger tea

Two to three fresh ginger slices or one ginger-powder sachet in 250 ml boiling water. Steep five minutes. Optional honey or rock sugar.

Ease off if you already feel heaty or restless.

Make ginger tea
Three fingers on the inner forearm locating Nei Guan PC6 between two tendons

Acupoint · nausea

Press Nei Guan (PC6)

On the inner forearm, three finger-widths from the wrist crease between two tendons. Press two to three minutes, rest five seconds, and repeat.

Dull ache is the cue; sharp pain means ease off.

Find Nei Guan

Timing

Wait before you move

1–2 hours · gut blood flow

Do not rush into exercise after a heavy meal. During a workout, blood vessels to skeletal muscle open while vessels to the digestive tract tighten. Less gut blood flow slows breakdown and absorption and can worsen indigestion.

  • Keep a one- to two-hour window after eating before a stroll or harder training.
  • A gentle sit or short chat after dessert is kinder to digestion than an immediate jog.
  • Alcohol plus a late heavy plate makes the wait more important, not less.

03 · Heaty and sugar

Bak kwa and tarts as Yang load

Yin-Yang · cooling soup · LV3 LI4 HT9

TCM balances Yin and Yang. Heaty tracks Yang; cooling tracks Yin. Bak kwa, pineapple tarts, love letters, and sambal prawn rolls are common heaty CNY snacks. Excess can show as sore throat, constipation, yellow urine, or a preference for cold food.

  • Cooling mung bean (green bean) soup is a classic festive counter.
  • Press Tai Chong (LV3) on the foot, He Gu (LI4) in the hand webbing (skip in pregnancy), and Shao Chong (HT9) at the little fingernail for a short heaty set.
  • Heaty versus cooling names the wider food map when throat heat keeps returning.
Bowl of cooling mung bean soup with pandan

Soup · cooling

Cooling mung bean soup

Mung beans (green beans) simmered until soft and lightly cloudy. A fragrant cooling pot when diet heat stacks from spicy or fried festive food.

Stop or avoid long-term use if stools loosen.

Make mung bean soup
Photorealistic left hand with a yellow circle marking Shao Chong HT9

Acupoint · heaty set

Press Shao Chong (HT9)

At the radial base of the little fingernail. Massage 30–60 seconds until a slight soreness. Pair with Tai Chong and He Gu when heaty snacks stack.

If there's any chance of pregnancy, skip He Gu (LI4).

Find Shao Chong

Locate Tai Chong (LV3) and He Gu (LI4) for the rest of the heaty press set. The heaty versus cooling Insight maps food nature when the pattern is unclear.

Throat

When snacks leave the throat scratchy

Lemon · Manuka honey

Dry or scratchy throat is common after heaty festive snacks. Warm lemon with Manuka honey is kitchen support for comfort, not an immunity product or antibiotic substitute.

Lemon slices and a spoon of honey for Manuka honey lemon drink

Drink · throat

Manuka honey lemon drink

One teaspoon Manuka honey and two lemon slices in 250 ml warm or room-temperature water. Steep five minutes and sip warm.

Do not give honey to infants under one year.

Make the honey lemon drink

Sugar load

Pineapple tarts and sweet stack

桑叶 · mulberry leaf

CNY goodies, especially pineapple tarts, carry a high sugar load. A large bak kwa square is about 370 kcal and 35g sugar; one tart is about 82 kcal and 15g sugar. Limit intake first. Mulberry leaf (桑叶) tea is a cool kitchen habit when sugary snacks stack up. It does not replace diabetes medication or glucose monitoring.

  • Steep the leaf tea plain; skip honey when sugar load is the concern.
  • Coin bak kwa and a two-tart ceiling cut the load without banning festive food.
Dried mulberry leaves for mulberry leaf tea

Tea · sugary snacks

Mulberry leaf tea

Three grams of dried mulberry leaves in 250 ml boiling water. Steep five minutes without honey or rock sugar.

Keep prescribed diabetes care unchanged unless your physician says otherwise.

Make mulberry leaf tea

Portion numbers for bak kwa, tarts, and tang yuan sit on the CNY foods calories Insight.

Clinic

Festive load that will not settle?

If bloating, throat heat, or sleep keep returning after visits, a pattern read decides whether dietary therapy, herbs, or acupuncture belong in the plan.

Book Appointment Dietary therapy

04 · Drinks and pot

After festive drinks

葛花 · Ge Hua · kudzu flower

Reunion tables often pair rich food with alcohol. Ge Hua (葛花, kudzu flower / Pueraria lobata) is a classical kitchen steep when drinking leaves the head and stomach heavy. It is traditional food therapy, not a blood-alcohol test or a reason to drive.

Dried Ge Hua kudzu flower buds for Ge Hua tea

Tea · after drinking

Ge Hua tea

Three grams of Ge Hua in 250 ml boiling water. Cover and steep five minutes. Optional honey or rock sugar.

Do not treat the cup as permission to drive or drink more.

Make Ge Hua tea
Dried red dates, goji, scallops, and Chinese herbs for steamboat broth

Steamboat

Herbs in the broth

Hotpot · Qi · Blood · Yin

Steamboat is a festive staple. Instead of plain chicken broth alone, kitchen Chinese herbs can deepen the pot. Amounts below are per litre of broth. Pick two or three herbs that match how you feel rather than emptying the whole list into one pot.

Chinese herbs for steamboat broth (per litre)
Herb Taste Amount Traditional use
Wolfberry (枸杞) Sweet 6 g Nourish Liver and Kidney; support eyesight
Dried scallop (干贝) Sweet, salty 5–8 pieces Nourish Yin of Kidney and Stomach
Solomon’s seal (玉竹) Sweet 6–10 g Nourish Yin of Lungs and Stomach; quench thirst
Red dates (红枣) Sweet 5–8 pieces Nourish Spleen and Stomach; Qi and Blood
Angelica (当归) Sweet, bitter 10 g Support Blood production and circulation
Chinese yam (淮山) Mildly sweet 8–10 g Nourish Spleen, Lungs, and Kidneys; Qi
Codonopsis (党参) Mildly sweet 10 g Nourish Spleen and Lungs; Qi and Blood

Ask a physician before strong Blood-moving herbs if you are pregnant or on blood thinners.

05 · When to book

Home tips are not enough when these show

Kitchen teas and self-press support mild festive load. Book, or seek urgent care, when the picture is new, severe, or lasting.

1. Severe or lasting gut pain

Persistent vomiting, vomiting blood, black stools, or pain that will not settle needs urgent medical care, not another cup of tea.

2. Pregnancy and strong-moving points

Skip hawthorn green tea and He Gu (LI4) if there is any chance of pregnancy unless a physician has agreed home use.

3. Diabetes and self-herb habits

Do not change prescribed glucose care for mulberry leaf or hawthorn. Ask your physician before regular kitchen herbs.

4. Flares that return after every visit

Bloating, throat heat, or sleep that keep returning after CNY weeks belong in a pattern read: dietary therapy, herbs, or acupuncture as needed.

Dr Sim Beng Joo

Clinically reviewed

Reviewed by Sim Beng Joo

Advisor (Science & Strategy) / Consultant Physician · TCMPB T1303003A

MOH-licensed TCM physician and biomedical scientist, with clinical work in digestion, constitution patterns, and how festive diet load shows on pulse and tongue.

View full profile

Educational information based on clinical experience and TCM principles. Not a substitute for personalised consultation, medical care, or urgent attention. Speak with your physician before starting herbs, new self-care, or changing diabetes or pregnancy care.

FAQs

CNY health questions

Common questions before reunion dinners and house visits.

How do I ease indigestion after a Chinese New Year reunion dinner?

Hawthorn green tea (green tea bag plus 2–3 dried hawthorn slices in 250 ml boiling water for five minutes) is a classic kitchen steep after greasy food. Pair with gentle press on Si Feng, Xia Wan, and Zu San Li when bloating, abdominal pain, or undigested stools appear. Ease off hawthorn in pregnancy, diabetes, or acid reflux.

What are heaty CNY foods and how do I cool them?

Bak kwa, pineapple tarts, love letters, and sambal prawn rolls are common heaty festive snacks. Excess can show as sore throat, constipation, yellow urine, or craving cold drinks. Cooling mung bean (green bean) soup and press on Tai Chong, He Gu, and Shao Chong are the kitchen and point habits on this page. Read heaty versus cooling for the wider map.

Does Ge Hua tea help with a hangover?

Ge Hua (葛花, kudzu flower) is a traditional kitchen steep after festive drinking. Use about 3g in 250 ml boiling water for five minutes. It is educational food therapy, not a measured blood-alcohol treatment, and it does not make driving safe.

Can mulberry leaf tea help after pineapple tarts?

Mulberry leaf (桑叶) tea, about 3g steeped five minutes without honey, is a traditional cool kitchen habit when sugary snacks stack up. Limit sugar first. It does not replace diabetes medication or glucose monitoring.

How long should I wait to exercise after a CNY meal?

Wait one to two hours after eating before a stroll or harder exercise. During a workout, muscle blood vessels open while gut vessels tighten, which can worsen indigestion if you rush. Alcohol plus a late heavy plate makes the wait more important, not less.

Who should skip hawthorn green tea?

Skip or ease strong hawthorn use in pregnancy, when you monitor blood glucose closely (including diabetes care), or if acid reflux flares with sour fruit. Ask a physician if indigestion is new, severe, or lasting. Seek urgent care for persistent vomiting, vomiting blood, or black stools.

References

Selected sources

  1. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Traditional Chinese medicine: What you need to know. 2019. https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/traditional-chinese-medicine-what-you-need-to-know/
  2. Ministry of Health Singapore. TCM practitioners (Healthcare Professional Portal). https://hpp.moh.gov.sg/tcm-practitioners/
  3. World Health Organization. Traditional, complementary and integrative medicine. https://www.who.int/health-topics/traditional-complementary-and-integrative-medicine
  4. Original article authors: Physicians Klaryce, Charlotte, and Yuan Ming.

Next step

Want a festive plan that still fits your digestion?

Bring what you usually eat during CNY and how your gut, throat, and sleep sit afterwards. We will name the pattern in plain language and decide whether dietary therapy, herbs, or acupuncture belong in your plan.

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