The summer of March refers to the fourth month of the lunar calendar after the start of summer, the fifth month after the grain rain, and the sixth month after the minor heat. Before the summer solstice, the yang energy is at its peak, which is commonly known as "bitter summer"; after the summer solstice, the yin energy begins to rise and the yang energy begins to decline, entering the "long summer" stage. Long summer and bitter summer are two different stages, with different emphasis on health care, and naturally require different health methods.
1. "Bitter Summer" Health Care Focuses on "Caring for the Heart" First
From the beginning of summer to the end of the summer solstice, this period is characterized by gradually shorter nights and increasingly hot weather, with flourishing growth of all things. Due to the weather, people are prone to loss of appetite and lack of interest in food. They may also experience restlessness, irritability, dizziness, fatigue, and lack of energy, which are the hardships of summer. In terms of the correspondence between the season and the five organs in Traditional Chinese Medicine, the "bitter summer" season corresponds to the "heart" in the five organs. In traditional Chinese medicine, the diet for "bitter summer" should be "clearing the heart and reducing heat, and cooling due to heat".
Here, the "heart" does not only refer to the "heart", but includes the whole nervous system and even mental and psychological factors. In the midst of bitter summer, the first thing to do is to make self-adjustments, maintain a calm and pleasant mindset, handle things calmly, maintain psychological balance, and always maintain a good mental state, which is what we often refer to as "a calm mind naturally feels cool".
To maintain a good state of "a calm mind naturally feels cool", it is advisable to eat some bitter-tasting foods when bitter summer comes. Traditional Chinese medicine in our country points out the relationship between bitterness and the five organs, stating that bitterness enters the heart, which means that bitter foods can enter the heart meridian and reduce heart fire. Therefore, bitter gourd, bitter vegetables, chrysanthemum, and tea can be chosen in summer, which can be considered as "embracing bitterness" in bitter summer.
In terms of diet, it is also important to eat more foods that clear the heart and reduce heat, and avoid consuming large amounts of raw, cold, greasy, spicy, and dry-hot foods. At this time, it is suitable to consume mung bean soup or porridge, adzuki bean soup, sour plum soup, chrysanthemum tea, honeysuckle dew, reed root water, watermelon juice, lotus leaf porridge, flat bean porridge, coix seed porridge, etc. Among the seasonal fruits and vegetables, various melons and beans have good effects in clearing heat and promoting diuresis.
2. "Long Summer" Health Care Focuses on "Strengthening the Spleen"
After the summer solstice, it enters the second stage, which is the lunar June where the minor heat and major heat are located. This stage is also called "long summer", as recorded in the book "Su Wen · Six Sections on the Correspondence of Organs and Seasons": "Long summer refers to June." In the long summer season, the temperature further rises, the temperature difference between day and night decreases, but due to the rise of yin energy, there is heavy and concentrated rainfall, and the weather is extremely hot and humid, with the characteristic of heat and dampness. "Long summer" corresponds to the "spleen" in the five organs. Because of the heat and heavy rainfall in the long summer, the dampness is relatively heavy, and the spleen can not only transform water and grains, but also transform water and dampness. Therefore, if the spleen is functioning well and can transform water and dampness normally, the damp pathogen will not easily harm the body. On the contrary, if the yang of the spleen is weak and the damp pathogen is excessive, it will harm the body, and the spleen and stomach will be the first to be affected. Therefore, in the long summer season, the diet should focus on clearing heat, dispelling dampness, strengthening the spleen, and harmonizing the middle burner.
According to Chinese medicine, when dampness stagnates in the spleen, its function of clearing heat and eliminating turbidity is weakened, and eating greasy or overly sweet things can easily cause vomiting. Therefore, it is especially important to control the diet to avoid excessive consumption of raw and cold fruits and melons to prevent internal dampness. At the same time, the diet should be light, easily digestible, and avoid fatty, sweet, thick, and greasy foods as well as overeating. In daily life, in addition to consuming heat-clearing foods such as winter melon, mung bean sprouts, baby bok choy, and bitter gourd, it is also beneficial to eat some foods that strengthen the spleen and eliminate dampness, such as coix seeds, lotus seeds, adzuki beans, lotus seeds, and white kidney beans. Cooking these foods into porridge can better nourish the spleen and stomach.
