Red Date Dietary Remedy: Porridge Cooked with Lamb Bone Marrow Nourishes the Spleen and Kidneys

The best red dates are vividly red, thick-fleshed, plump, lightly pitted or pitless, and sweet. Folk sayings pass down the praise with flair — "Eat red dates every day and stay forever young," "Ten dates a day keeps aging at bay," "Grains plus red dates beat the lingzhi mushroom," and "For lovely skin, add red dates to your porridge." A touch of exaggeration, perhaps, but it speaks to a simple truth: eating red dates regularly does the body good. What follows are some traditional wellness recipes built around this humble fruit.

For middle-aged and older adults with a weak spleen and stomach — poor appetite, indigestion, fatigue, or loose stools — try 10 red dates, 10 g Chinese yam, 10 g lotus seeds, and 100 g rice. This combination tonifies qi, strengthens the spleen, and gently rebuilds overall vitality.

How to prepare: Wash the red dates, Chinese yam, and lotus seeds. Cook together with rice into porridge, and eat morning and evening.

For those recovering from hepatitis or pulmonary tuberculosis who still feel weak and spent, a paste made from 500 g red date flesh and a modest amount of white sugar helps tonify qi and restore depleted strength.

How to prepare: Wash the dates and remove the pits. Boil down to a paste-like consistency, transfer to a container for storage, and take one tablespoon morning, noon, and night.

As a complementary approach for allergic conditions — allergic rhinitis, asthma, purpura, hives, and the like — eating 50–100 g of fresh dates or 20–50 dried dates daily can tonify qi, strengthen the body, and help counter allergic responses.

How to prepare: Wash the dates and eat them freely throughout the day, continuing until symptoms resolve.

Helpful Tips

1. When decocting red dates, split each one into 3–5 pieces first. This helps draw out the active compounds and can increase the therapeutic effect two- to threefold.
2. Red dates are sweet and warming in nature. Eating too many can promote dampness, phlegm, and internal heat. Those with damp-heat or phlegm-heat conditions should avoid them.
3. Overindulging in fresh dates may cause diarrhea.
4. Rinse your mouth soon after eating dates — otherwise the sugars can stain teeth yellow or encourage cavities.

For people with chronic illness or those recovering from a major illness who feel weak and depleted, a stew of 30 g red dates, 30 g peanuts, 100 g mutton, and a touch of seasoning tonifies qi, addresses deficiency, strengthens the spleen, and nourishes the blood.

How to prepare: Wash the mutton and cut into small pieces. Add the peanuts, red dates, and seasonings, pour in water, and simmer gently for 2 hours. Eat the meat and drink the broth.

For middle-aged and older adults with insufficient liver and kidney — soreness and weakness in the lower back and knees, dizziness, ringing in the ears, hearing loss, or premature graying — a porridge of 30 red dates, 10 g prepared fo-ti root, 10 g mulberries, 100 g rice, and a little brown sugar nourishes the liver and kidneys, enriches essence and blood, and helps restore natural hair color.

How to prepare: First decoct the prepared fo-ti root for 40 minutes. Then add the red dates, mulberries, and rice to the decoction and cook into porridge. Add a touch of brown sugar before eating. Take morning and evening.

For those experiencing hysterical symptoms — mental fog, unprovoked bouts of laughing or crying, agitation, insomnia, or sharp mood swings — a decoction of 15 red dates, 50 g floating wheat, and 10 g licorice tonifies qi, nourishes the heart, calms the spirit, and steadies the mind.

How to prepare: Wash all three ingredients and decoct for 1 hour. Remove the licorice, then consume the rest.

For middle-aged and older adults with low blood pressure, a porridge of 20 red dates, 10 g prince ginseng, 30 g Chinese yam, 20 g coix seed, 10 g lotus seeds, and 50 g rice tonifies the middle jiao, boosts qi, strengthens the spleen, and helps raise blood pressure.

How to prepare: Wash all ingredients and cook with the rice into porridge. Eat morning and evening.

For those with neurasthenia — insomnia, vivid dreams, palpitations, forgetfulness, fatigue, or general listlessness — a combination of 20 red dates, 10 g dried longan flesh, 50 g lotus seeds, and a little white sugar strengthens the spleen, nourishes the blood, tonifies qi, and calms the heart.

How to prepare: Wash the red dates, longan, and lotus seeds. Add water and cook until thoroughly tender. Sweeten with white sugar and eat morning and evening.

As a complement for hypertension, high cholesterol, and coronary heart disease, a simple decoction of 200 g celery and 30 red dates strengthens the spleen, nourishes the heart, and helps lower blood pressure and blood lipids.

How to prepare: Wash the celery and red dates, add water, and decoct for 30 minutes. Eat the celery and dates, and drink the broth.

For middle-aged and older adults with depletion of the lungs and kidneys — fatigue, cough or wheezing, poor appetite, or weakness and soreness in the back and knees — a stew of 20 red dates, 10 g apricot kernels, 10 g ginkgo nuts, 10 g walnuts, 200 g chicken, and a little seasoning tonifies the lungs and kidneys, eases cough and asthma, and enriches essence and blood.

How to prepare: Wash the chicken and cut into small pieces. Simmer everything gently for 1 hour. Divide the chicken, nuts, and dates into three portions for morning, noon, and evening, drinking the broth with each.

For those feeling weak after illness — pale complexion, fatigue, palpitations, shortness of breath, insomnia, poor memory, or dizziness — a simple pair of 10 g codonopsis and 20 red dates tonifies qi, strengthens the spleen, and nourishes the heart to calm the mind.

How to prepare: Decoct the two ingredients twice, 40 minutes each time. Combine the two decoctions and drink as a tea throughout the day.

For people who overwork their minds — palpitations, insomnia, excessive dreaming, forgetfulness, poor appetite, or a heavy, bloated feeling in the stomach and abdomen — a paste of 200 g red date flesh, 200 g dried longan flesh, 100 g walnuts, 10 g American ginseng slices, and 50 g honey tonifies qi, nourishes the blood, and strengthens the spleen and heart.

How to prepare: Wash the dates, longan, walnuts, and American ginseng. Add water and simmer gently until everything is soft and well cooked. Mash into a paste, stir in the honey, bring back to a gentle boil, then let cool and bottle. Take one tablespoon morning, noon, and night.

For middle-aged and older adults with insufficient spleen and kidney — thinness, fatigue, weakness and soreness in the lower back and knees, or dizziness — a porridge of 30 red dates, 10 g lamb bone marrow (from the tibia), 10 g prepared fo-ti root, and 100 g rice deeply nourishes the spleen and kidneys and replenishes essence and marrow.

How to prepare: Decoct the prepared fo-ti root for 40 minutes. Add the washed red dates, bone marrow, and rice to the decoction, and cook into porridge. Eat morning and evening.

For middle-aged and older adults with declining sexual function — soreness and weakness in the back and knees, lowered libido, nocturnal emission, or impotence — a porridge of 20 red dates, 50 g whole shrimp (head and shell on), 10 g Chinese chives, and 100 g rice tonifies qi, strengthens yang, and supports sexual vitality.

How to prepare: Wash the whole shrimp and cut into sections. Split and pit the dates, wash the chives and cut into small pieces. Cook everything with the rice into porridge, and eat morning and evening.

For elderly people with deficient heart qi — palpitations, shortness of breath, mental fog, insomnia, vivid dreams, or fading memory — a medicinal wine of 100 g red dates, 50 g sweet flag rhizome, 10 g ginseng, and 500 g low-alcohol baijiu tonifies qi, sharpens the mind, calms the spirit, and supports cognitive function.

How to prepare: Wash the sweet flag and ginseng and slice them. Split and pit the red dates. Place everything in the baijiu and steep for two weeks. Drink 20–30 ml each morning and evening.