After the weather warms up, we immediately enter summer. Summer is synonymous with high temperatures, humidity, dizziness, less sleep, excessive sweating, and loss of appetite, etc. How to maintain good physical health during the summer is very important for an individual.
Summer focuses on "nourishing the heart," where the "heart" refers to heart qi, the meridians of the heart, human thought, and normal sweat production, all of which depend on the function of heart qi. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that summer connects with the heart, so nourishing the heart is key. When the temperature reaches above 35 degrees Celsius, people may feel a sense of heaviness in their heads, being lazy to think, inactive, and lethargic as if they can't wake up from sleep. These are all manifestations of excessive heart fire. At this point, it's urgent to nourish the heart, meaning maintaining a good, peaceful state of mind. "A calm heart naturally feels cool" does not mean that the temperature will drop when the heart is calm, but rather refers to maintaining a peaceful mindset, eliminating irritability and depression caused by high temperatures, thereby maintaining normal psychological and physiological activities in the human body.
Sweating in summer is necessary but should not be excessive. Human sweating is a normal physiological condition; sweating can regulate body temperature and expel some toxins from the body. However, sweating too much is also not good. In traditional Chinese medicine, "sweat is the liquid of the heart." Excessive sweating can lead to fatigue, dizziness, sluggishness, even fainting and rapid heartbeat, i.e., heatstroke. Therefore, some people's one-sided belief that excessive sweating in hot summers is harmless is a wrong concept. But, not sweating at all is also incorrect. There was once a young woman who stayed in a low-temperature air-conditioned room at home and work to avoid sweating in the summer, resulting in "anhidrosis." Even on hot streets, she wouldn't sweat, leading to symptoms such as increased body temperature, headache, chest tightness, palpitations, and blurred vision. After returning home from work, her first action was to blow directly into a fan until her body temperature dropped to around 37°C. Despite seeking medical help from various sources, she did not experience fundamental improvement. Therefore, sweating is also necessary in summer. Some people lower the air conditioning temperature too much at night to reduce sweating and add a small fan. Upon waking in the morning, they may feel dizzy, have sore joints, which is due to cold wind evil invading muscles and joints, potentially leading to difficult-to-treat chronic diseases over time.
Do not believe in "June diarrhea is hard to buy even with money." This is a saying in some areas, meaning that diarrhea in June (the sixth month of the lunar calendar) is a good phenomenon because it can expel the "heat toxins" caused by the summer heat. However, deliberately causing diarrhea in summer to "detoxify" can easily lead to malnutrition in mild cases and threaten life in severe cases.
Dietary adjustments in summer should generally focus on light and nutritious foods. Overly greasy food in summer can increase the digestive burden on the spleen and stomach, and may even cause aversion to food and diarrhea. However, emphasizing only vegetarian food is also wrong. Because of less sleep and more sweating in summer, eating only vegetarian food can easily lead to insufficient intake of protein and fat, causing malnutrition. As summer involves more sweating, sodium and potassium elements in the body are lost significantly, so it is appropriate to drink a little salt water, eat bananas, potatoes, beans, etc. Cold drinks can help regulate body temperature, but consuming too much can easily damage the spleen and stomach.
The principle of replenishment in summer is to clear the summer heat, replenish qi, nourish the heart, clear the heart, and strengthen the spleen. Some chronic diseases can be alleviated through summer replenishment, but adjustment must be carried out under the guidance of professional doctors, and self-care should be avoided. Commonly used herbs include Cordyceps sinensis, Codonopsis pilosula, Astragalus membranaceus, Atractylodes macrocephala, Lablab purpureus, Coptis chinensis, Scutellaria baicalensis, Artemisia annua, mung beans, Schisandra chinensis, Ophiopogon japonicus, Lilium brownii, Dendrobium officinale, Lycium barbarum, and American ginseng.
In summary, safely getting through the summer can be simply summarized as: adjusting psychology, having a reasonable diet, resting appropriately, eating less cold drinks, drinking more boiled water, exercising moderately, avoiding excessive cooling, and sweating moderately.