Summer Health Care and Dietary Nourishment

Many people emphasize winter tonification, but they do not realize that Chinese health practitioners have always stressed summer tonification, with the saying "tonify during the three fu periods." From late July to mid-August is the hottest time of the year. At this time, the heat is intense, scorching the body. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, summer heat easily injures body fluids and depletes qi. Due to excessive sweating, qi escapes with body fluids, leading to qi and fluid deficiency. The principle of summer tonification primarily focuses on clearing heat, removing dampness, and detoxifying. For those with excessive sweating and qi-fluid deficiency, ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) is especially suitable, as it excels in nourishing qi and enriching yin. For those with yin-blood deficiency, use herbs like dang gui (Angelica sinensis), shi hu (Dendrobium), shou wu (Polygonum multiflorum), and shu di (Rehmannia glutinosa).Summer dietary tonification should include: lotus seeds, frogs, buckwheat, mung beans, lychee, jujube, pig stomach, pork, beef, chicken, pigeon meat, turtle, softshell turtle, bee milk, honey, milk, soy milk, tofu, sugarcane, pear, etc.Herbal tonification should include: American ginseng, Prince Ginseng, astragalus, poria, stone斛, di gu pi, and polygonatum.Common herbal preparations for summer tonification include: Shen Ling Bai Zhu San, Fu Fang Feng Ru, Shen Qi Chong Ji, Ren Shen Yin Er Jing, Shuang Bao Su, and Ren Shen Yang Rong Wan.Summer diet strictly avoids excessive consumption of raw and cold foods: Ancient physician Sun Simiao wrote in "She Yang Zhen Fang": "If you don’t feel ill immediately, you may develop sudden diarrhea in autumn, all due to excessive cooling and poor diet during summer. Some people mistakenly believe that illness began at the time of onset, unaware that the root cause developed gradually."