Soups for Localized Fat Reduction and Muscle Relaxation: Papaya, Apple, and Job's Tears Soup and Hawthorn Fat Reduction Formula for Localized Obesity

When a part of the body lacks activity, such as the abdomen, waist, buttocks, thighs, and calves, localized obesity can easily develop. Localized obesity is common in people who lack exercise in specific areas, such as office workers, accountants, drivers, computer operators, and cashiers. Because of prolonged periods in the same posture, blood and energy flow stagnates in these areas, making it easier for fat to accumulate.

For localized obesity, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) believes the approach should be to replenish Qi and invigorate blood circulation, dispersing stagnation. Only when Qi and blood flow smoothly can accumulated fat be mobilized and burned. Besides increasing physical activity during work breaks, using dietary therapy soups to unblock meridians and promote fat metabolism is also a very effective method.

Localized obesity and corresponding herbal decoctions:

(1) Papaya, Apple, and Job's Tears Soup. Serves: 4. Ingredients: 1 pound papaya, 3 apples (cored), 1 ounce each of raw and cooked Job's tears, 1 piece of pork. Cooking method: Simmer in 12 bowls of water for 2 hours. Efficacy: Nourishes Yin and clears heat, lowers lipids and aids weight loss.

Papaya has a sweet taste and neutral properties. It is believed to have benefits such as harmonizing the stomach and removing dampness, relaxing muscles and tendons, promoting urination and defecation, nourishing yin and beautifying the skin, and reducing fat and weight. It has a pleasant flavor and is a common ingredient in soups. Papaya is also known as the "breast melon," meaning it is believed to have breast-enhancing and breast-building effects. Those who want a beautiful appearance and figure should eat more papaya. Unripe papayas are green, while ripe ones are yellow. For better-tasting soups, ripe papayas are recommended. The protease in papaya can promote fat breakdown, making it especially suitable for abdominal obesity caused by prolonged sitting and indigestion.

Apples are considered a healthy fruit. Eating more is beneficial. As the saying goes, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Apples are sweet and sour, and neutral in nature. They have the effects of benefiting the heart, regulating the intestines and stomach, quenching thirst, and promoting the production of body fluids. Studies have shown that apples contain malic acid, which can promote fat breakdown and prevent obesity. There are even reports that apples can eliminate age spots and beautify the skin. The fiber in apples can also increase satiety and help control appetite.

Job's tears, also known as coix seed, has a sweet and bland taste and is neutral in nature. It has the effects of promoting diuresis and removing dampness, relieving numbness and promoting blood circulation, clearing the lungs and draining pus, and strengthening the spleen and stopping diarrhea. It is commonly used for urinary problems, edema, beriberi, rheumatic pain, lung abscess, and diarrhea due to spleen deficiency. Studies have indicated that Job's tears can be used for anti-cancer and weight loss, thus gaining widespread popularity. Job's tears are available in raw and cooked forms. Raw Job's tears are slightly cooling and excessive consumption can easily damage the kidneys; cooked Job's tears are warming and have a better spleen-strengthening effect. Raw and cooked Job's tears are often used together to promote diuresis without harming the stomach.

(2) Hawthorn, Poria, and Alisma Soup. Servings: 2. Ingredients: 1 tael of hawthorn, 5 mace of poria, 5 mace of alisma, a small amount of honey (to be taken with water). Preparation: Boil in 4 bowls of water for half an hour. Add honey, stir well, and drink. Efficacy: Promotes diuresis and removes dampness, reduces fat and slims the body.

Hawthorn, also known as "red fruit," "mountain red," and "rouge fruit," is a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine. It has a sour and sweet taste and is neutral in nature. It has the effects of promoting digestion, resolving food stagnation, and dispersing blood stasis. It is commonly used for indigestion and food accumulation, especially for meat-based foods. Hawthorn also has the effect of dispersing blood stasis and promoting circulation. It can be used for injuries from falls and blows, and postpartum abdominal pain due to blood stasis. Studies have shown that it has a good lipid-lowering effect and can also be used for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and arteriosclerosis.

Polyporus umbellatus (Zhu Ling) is sweet and bland in taste, and neutral in nature. It has diuretic and dampness-draining effects. It can be used for urinary difficulty, edema, diarrhea, urinary tract infections, and leukorrhea. Long-term use can also have a slimming effect. The *Shennong Bencao Jing* states, "Long-term use leads to a lighter body and longer lifespan." Polyporus umbellatus and Alisma plantago-aquatica (Ze Xie) are often used together to enhance their effects. Alisma plantago-aquatica (Ze Xie) is sweet in taste and cold in nature. It has diuretic, dampness-draining, and heat-clearing effects. Clinically, it is commonly used for urinary difficulty, edema, diarrhea, urinary tract infections, leukorrhea, and phlegm retention. Most diuretics have the disadvantage of damaging Yin. However, the ancients believed that "Alisma plantago-aquatica promotes urination without damaging Yin."

Honey, also known as nectarine, is a common food. It has a sweet taste and neutral properties. It is believed to have effects such as tonifying the spleen and stomach, moistening the intestines and relieving constipation, and clearing heat and detoxifying. The Compendium of Materia Medica states that honey "soothes deficiencies in the five internal organs, tonifies qi and strengthens the middle jiao, relieves pain and detoxifies, cures various diseases, harmonizes medicines, and with prolonged use, lightens the body and strengthens the will." However, honey can be raw or cooked. Raw honey is more effective at clearing heat and detoxifying, while cooked honey is better at tonifying the middle jiao and strengthening qi. Adding honey to a recipe not only improves the taste but also moistens the intestines and relieves constipation, helping to eliminate metabolic waste from the body.