The hot summer days come, the temperature is 30 – 40 degrees, the sultry feeling is a force to everyone, in summer its easily appears head heaviness, chest tightness, sweating, shortness of breath, dry mouth, dry stool, bad breath, mouth sores, rashes, irritability, poor sleep at night. People with poor physical performance will have obvious symptoms. Lethargy and weakness, the spleen is the master of the limbs, weakness is precisely the tiredness of the limbs, spleen wet limbs heavy. Like wearing wet clothes, like a wet towel wrapped around the head, drowsy head, heavy body, always want to sleep, this is the performance of dampness sticky heavy stagnation.
Many people choose to hide in the air-conditioned room, but the air in the air-conditioned room is dry and not fresh, and some symptoms may be aggravated. This is when the choice of recipes and dietary therapy can play a role. Of course, looking for experienced Chinese herbalists to regulate the effect will be better.
When washing up – look at the tongue
Before brushing our teeth we might as well take a few seconds to look at our tongue in the mirror. “The tongue is the seedling of the heart and the outer spleen”, the tongue can be a sensitive reflection of our body condition. A healthy tongue is light red and moist, with a layer of moss on the surface of the tongue that is thin, white and clear, moderately dry and moist, not slippery and not dry. If the tongue does not meet these indicators, it means that the body has problems with its functions. If the tongue is white and thick, smooth and moist, it means that there is cold in the body; if the tongue is rough or thick, yellow and greasy, it means that there is damp heat in the body; if the tongue is red and without moss, it means that there is heat in the body to a certain extent and it hurts Yin.
We focus on the issue of food therapy, many people’s eating habits are only based on their taste preferences to choose food, and when the food tastes good they tend to eat a lot, and on the other hand, when the food taste bland they simply don’t touch it at all. Even all year round is the same habit. This is not in line with the principles of health care in Chinese medicine. Chinese medicine health has strong believes that food selection should be based on the characteristics of each person’s physique, season, climate, local environmental characteristics, the characteristics of the small environment in which each person lives and works, etc. to decide.
In summer, nature’s yang energy is at its peak, and the human body follows the laws of nature, yang energy rises and flourishes. As long as you eat the wrong food, you will soon react, that is, the above-mentioned dry mouth and sweating, etc. Chinese medicine believes that greasy, fatty protein, baked and fried foods can lead to these occurrences if in excess.
So once these symptoms appear, how do we start with food therapy? We can eat mixed grain porridge, nutritious rice flour, nutritious porridge for breakfast. Lunch and dinner reduce some fatty protein food, add more vegetables. If the symptoms are more serious, you can consider three meals with nutritional grains, therapeutic grains, vegetables and fruits instead of three meals, so that the summer discomfort will be reduced.
Many places have the custom of “summer eggs” on the day of summer, and this egg refers to duck eggs. Duck eggs are not only delicious, but they can also help us recover our strength and replenish the nutrients our bodies need, so they are perfect for eating around the beginning of summer.
Summer is hot and easy to get body heat, so we need to eat more bitter food like bitter melon, which has a good effect of defeating body heat.
We must eat more mung beans in summer, making mung bean cakes and boiling mung bean soup are good choices, which are very effective in clearing toxins and relieving summer heat.
Summer is a season of strenuous work, and lotus seeds have the effect of nourishing the heart, so it is very suitable for summer consumption. We can make more soup with lotus seeds to drink, which is delicious and nutritious.
As the saying goes: eat radish in winter and ginger in summer, eating ginger in summer has many benefits and can cure some winter diseases. But remember, ginger is best eaten in the morning, not at night.
In summer, you should also eat more aerobic food, such as lettuce. And lettuce tastes delicious, crisp and tender, summer eating is also very refreshing and appetizing.
Fava beans are soft and crispy in the mouth, glutinous in the sand, mushy, tasty and nutritious. (Those with fava bean allergies should not eat them)]
Sijunzi soup to strengthen the spleen and tonify the qi.
With constant rains in summer, the humidity in the air is heavy and susceptible to dampness. The spleen likes dryness but hates dampness. Once the spleen yang is suppressed by dampness, spleen diseases such as loss of appetite, loose stools, distention and fullness of the abdomen and limbs will arise. Therefore, it is advisable to have a light diet, less greasy and less cold.
The “Four Gentlemen’s Soup”, known as the first formula for strengthening the spleen and nourishing the qi, consists of :
9 grams of ginseng
9 grams of atractylodes
9 grams of poria
6 grams of roasted licorice with ginseng
Ginseng is the main ingredient to nourish the qi and strengthen the spleen and stomach; with atractylodes to strengthen the spleen and dry dampness, and also strengthen the power of ginseng to nourish the qi. Adding Poria, which has the effect of strengthening the spleen and permeating dampness, makes the effect of nourishing the spleen more obvious; with roasted licorice, it can coordinate them to work together.
At the beginning of summer, use “Si Jun Zi Tang” and japonica rice to make porridge to reduce the consumption of the body in the coming heat.
This porridge can be drunk by men to fight fatigue and be energetic; by women to be rosy and energetic; by the elderly to replenish their qi and strengthen their spleen and maintain health.
Three yellow soup
Method: boil 50 grams of soybeans until half cooked, into 1 strip of cucumber boiled, into 30 grams of honey slightly hot, eat beans and melon, drink soup.
Benefits: Clearing heat and relieving summer heat, can prevent heat stroke, treating dry throat.
Three beans soup
Method: 100 grams of green beans, 50 grams of red beans, white lentils 30 grams, add water to boil and drink the thick juice.
Benefits: Clearing heat and relieving summer heat, promoting water circulation and strengthening the spleen. It is suitable for summer dampness and vomiting and diarrhea.
Three White Drink
Method: 50 grams of white fungus root, 15 grams of white fungus, 10 grams of white sugar, decocted in water as a tea.
Eff: Nourishing Yin and generating fluid, diuretic and relieving summer heat. It is used for those who have difficulty in urinating and defecating in the summer heat.
Cinnamon congee
Method: 25 grams of cinnamon, 100 grams of round-grained rice and a little sugar. Put cinnamon and round-grained rice into a pot, add an appropriate amount of water, boil into a porridge, then mix in sugar.
Efficacy: nourish the heart and spleen, nourish blood and calm the mind. It is especially suitable for strain on the heart and spleen, overthinking, weakness, forgetfulness, menstrual disorders, etc.
Author: Danyi Sun
Publish date :08/01/2022
