The National Health Commission held a press conference on the 5th to introduce the relationship between seasonal solar terms and health.
At the meeting, the reporter asked: With high temperatures persisting in many places, what should be paid attention to in adjusting dietary habits to avoid the harm of summer heat to the body? Do you need to pay attention to some dietary taboos, especially in summer?
Professor Lu Yi from Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine introduced that the Xiaoshu solar term is the fifth solar term of summer. Since entering Xiaoshu, it will soon enter the dog days, and the climate will become very hot, and at the same time, it will become increasingly humid and hot. During this season, people easily feel mentally exhausted, sweat a lot, feel thirsty and sweaty, feel bloated in the abdomen, sometimes feel nauseous, and even experience a series of symptoms such as abdominal fullness, diarrhea, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. The reason for these symptoms is related to the characteristics of heat evil. The first characteristic of heat evil is heat evil, which has the characteristics of heat evil and is prone to consuming qi and damaging fluids, causing fatigue. The second characteristic is the characteristic of dampness, which is heavy, turbid, and sticky in nature, making it easy to trap the spleen and causing problems in spleen and stomach circulation. On the other hand, it is easy to get stuck on the surface, causing a series of symptoms such as headaches, heavy head, and body soreness. Therefore, in terms of diet, the main focus is on the two characteristics of heat and dampness for health preservation.
Firstly, for the evil of summer heat, one can consciously increase the consumption of foods with a cold and refreshing taste. Of course, this is advocated for people with weak spleen and stomach, such as eating mung beans, as well as foods like loofah, cucumber, and winter melon, which have a sweet and mild taste and have a certain effect on clearing heat and dampness. In addition, according to the characteristics of dampness, some foods that can invigorate the spleen and dry dampness or invigorate the spleen and dissolve dampness can also be selected, such as lotus seeds, yam, Job's tears, and tangerine peel, which have corresponding functions. In addition, for those who suffer from dampness and evil, they can choose foods such as Su Ye, Huo Xiang, and Sha Ren, which can dry and relieve dampness, as well as stimulate the spleen and stimulate appetite. They can also alleviate problems such as poor digestion of food and stomach during summer.
In terms of taboos, it is particularly important to note that during high temperatures, people tend to eat excessively cold food to lower their body temperature. However, in the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine health preservation, during the high temperature season in summer, yang qi tends to float more on the surface, while the yang qi inside is often deficient. Therefore, special attention should be paid to nourishing yang in spring and summer, and excessive consumption of cold and cool foods should be avoided to cause spleen stagnation due to cold and dampness.
