Summer Wellness — TCM Seasonal Food Therapy

Seasonal Food Therapy

Seasonal Recipes

• Mung Bean Soup: 100 g mung beans, brown sugar (or rock sugar) to taste. Wash the mung beans and simmer in water until they split open (a little polished rice may be added to protect the spleen and stomach), then sweeten to taste. Traditionally used to clear heat and resolve toxins, relieve summerheat and promote urination, and ease irritability and thirst.
• Bitter Melon, Soybean, and Pork Rib Soup: 2 bitter melons, 30 g soybeans, 300 g pork ribs, 5 slices of ginger. Slice the bitter melon thinly, salt it for half an hour, and rinse away the bitterness; blanch the pork ribs, then simmer them with the soybeans and ginger for 1 hour; add the bitter melon slices and cook just until done, then season. Traditionally used to clear heat, relieve summerheat, clear the liver, and brighten the eyes.
• Winter Melon and Mung Bean Puree: 250 g fresh winter melon flesh, 75 g mung beans, brown sugar to taste. Cook the mung beans in a clay pot with water until they turn to a mush, add the peeled, sliced winter melon and simmer for another 20 minutes, then sweeten with brown sugar. Traditionally used to clear heat, relieve summerheat, and ease irritability and thirst.
• Winter Melon and Coix Seed with Duck: 250 g winter melon (cut into chunks with the skin on), 30 g coix seed (yimi), 250 g duck, 2 slices of ginger. Chop the duck into pieces and blanch them, place all ingredients in a clay pot, boil over high heat for 15 minutes, then reduce to low heat and simmer for about 1 hour, and season. Traditionally used to clear heat, dispel summerheat, promote urination, and drain dampness.
• Sour Plum Drink (Suanmeitang): 3-5 smoked plums (wumei), 15 g hawthorn, 3 g licorice root, half a piece of tangerine peel, sweet osmanthus and rock sugar to taste. Wash the smoked plums, hawthorn, licorice, and tangerine peel and place them in a soup bag; boil in water, then simmer over low heat for 40 minutes; dissolve in the rock sugar, remove the bag, and sprinkle with sweet osmanthus. Traditionally used to generate fluids and quench thirst, strengthen the spleen and stomach, and relieve food stagnation.
• Mung Bean and Kelp Soup: 200 g fresh kelp, 60 g mung beans, 30 g rice, 6 g tangerine peel, 60 g brown sugar. Shred and blanch the kelp, then place it in a clay pot with the rice, mung beans, and tangerine peel; bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to low heat, and simmer until the mung beans split open, then sweeten with brown sugar. Traditionally used to clear internal heat, resolve toxins, and reduce swelling.

Wellness Principles

• Retire late and rise early, and do not tire of the daylight: in summer, go to bed late and rise early, do not shun the sunlight, and take part in moderate outdoor activity and sun exposure to build up yang qi (Huangdi Neijing, "Discourse on the Four Seasons and the Regulation of the Spirit": "In the three months of summer... retire late and rise early, and do not tire of the daylight... this is the response to the qi of summer, the way of nourishing growth").
• Keep the will free of anger, for a calm mind brings natural coolness: restrain irritability and anger, regulate the spirit and calm the mind, keep the mood relaxed, and guard against excessive heart fire (Ji Kang's "Discourse on Nourishing Life": "In the heat of summer, it is better to regulate the breath and quiet the mind, as if ice and snow were always in the heart").
• Allow the qi to be discharged: moderate sweating lets the body's yang-heat dissipate; avoid excessive pursuit of cold and staying long in low-temperature air-conditioned rooms, lest cold pathogen invade and qi and blood congeal.
• Strengthen the spleen and remove dampness: summer heat often carries dampness, and dampness pathogen traps the spleen; it is advisable to regularly take foods that strengthen the spleen and drain dampness (such as lotus seed, coix seed, patchouli, eupatorium, and poria), eat a light diet, and eat fewer raw, cold, and iced fruits ("eat radish in winter and ginger in summer").
• Exercise in moderation: favor moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (jogging, swimming, tai chi, baduanjin), avoid scorching sun exposure and excessive sweating that depletes heart fluids, and replenish water in time.
• Keep a regular routine and take a proper midday nap: avoid staying up late, and a short nap of a dozen or so minutes at midday may supplement heart qi and consolidate heart yang, relieve drowsiness, and help prevent heatstroke.

Understanding the Season

In summer, yang qi is at its fullest and the qi of heaven and earth intermingles, the myriad things flower and bear fruit, the body's yang qi surfaces outward while yin lies hidden within, and qi and blood flow toward the skin and muscles. In TCM, "summer governs the heart": the heart belongs to fire and responds to the qi of summer, and summerheat is a fire-heat pathogen that readily consumes qi and injures fluids; moreover, "sweat is the fluid of the heart," so excessive sweating leaves heart qi and yin depleted, which is why summer may bring symptoms such as irritability, insomnia, and fatigue. At the same time, summerheat often carries dampness; dampness is a yin pathogen, sticky and heavy in nature, and the spleen prefers dryness and dislikes dampness, so when dampness traps spleen earth, the spleen and stomach's transformation and transportation become disordered, giving rise to lassitude, heaviness, epigastric fullness with poor appetite, and loose stools. In addition, with yang qi floating outward, the middle energizer (spleen and stomach) is relatively cold, and carelessness in daily life and diet (craving cold and iced foods and drinks) may easily deplete yang qi and trigger illness. The Huangdi Neijing says "going against it harms the heart," so summer health preservation centers on nourishing the heart, clearing summerheat, and strengthening the spleen to remove dampness.

This content is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.