By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Chuseok, or Korean Thanksgiving Day, is just around the corner. For those who follow the five-day workweek, the holiday period comes to five days, during which, many people will spend hours on the road due to traffic jams on highways. They will also eat lots of holiday food.
Sometimes holidays are stressful. Deciding on which presents to buy, meeting relatives and doing house chores can be both interesting and nerve wracking. Eating too much can stress the body and at the end of the day, you will feel more tired than having worked at the office.
Here are a few tips to help maintain good health.
Your legs can get swollen easily if you are stuck in the driving seat for too long. At worse, this can result in the onset of thrombosis where blood coagulates inside the veins. Get out off the car at least once every hour. Breathe some fresh air and do some stretching.
Many people eat too much on the holidays. They get indigestion or diarrhea. Eating some persimmons or boiled garlic is good for diarrhea. Have five to six cloves of garlic boiled and drink its water with some honey. Mandarin skin tea is also effective for indigestion.
Some women get stressed by having to cook, clean and take care of the whole household for the holiday. Anxiety can be reduced by pressing the flesh between the thumb and index finger. Of course the best way to deal with this is for husbands to encourage and appreciate their wives for all the hard work they have performed.
The holiday is when you visit beloved ones not seen in a long time and many people tend to drink too much alcohol. The next day, drink some arrowroot tea in the morning to get over the hangover. Also eating some mung bean gruel will help calm the angry stomach.
Milk vetch is good for stamina. Have some milk vetch and you will find your energy levels rising.
If you feel stuffed up inside, the best way to calm your body is to skip meals for a day. Usually, it gets better. However, if it still makes you feel uncomfortable, drink a few glasses of salty water and put your finger down your throat to induce vomiting. After vomiting, try to eat soft foods such as gruel and drink a sports drink.