Summer common sense: A complete guide to keeping healthy during the dog days of summer

The dog days of summer have always attracted people's attention, especially those who pay attention to their health. For a long time, people have been cooling down during the dog days to prevent heatstroke and maintaining health and curing diseases according to the solar terms. However, there are three principles to keep in mind during the dog days: first, treat winter diseases in summer; second, replenish the body in summer; and third, eat scientifically.

Popular Science Knowledge about the “Dog Days”

The first or first fu is the period from the third Geng day after the summer solstice to the day before the fourth Geng day. The third Geng day is the beginning of fu and is the first day of the first fu.

The middle or second fu is the period from the fourth Geng day after the summer solstice to the first Geng day three days after the beginning of autumn. The fourth Geng day is the first day of the middle fu. If the beginning of autumn is before the seventh lunar month, the middle fu is 10 days, and if the beginning of autumn is after the seventh lunar month, the middle fu is 20 days.

The last or final dog days is the period from the first Geng day after the beginning of autumn to the day before the second Geng day. The second Geng day is designated as the end of the dog days.

About “Treating Winter Diseases in Summer”

As the saying goes, "In winter, you can take supplements to nourish your body, while in summer, you can get treatment with acupuncture during the dog days of summer." Treating winter diseases in summer is a long tradition. There are many ways to treat winter diseases in summer. In addition to the Sanfu plaster, there is also acupuncture, cupping, acupoint injection, ginger moxibustion, moxibustion, etc. Doctors choose one or two of these methods to use depending on the patient's condition.

Many chronic diseases can be treated in winter and summer. Including asthma, allergic rhinitis, chronic pharyngitis, tonsillitis, bronchitis, children's colds, etc., as well as some cold diseases such as stomach pain, arthritis, and low back pain caused by kidney deficiency.

Experts recommend two currently popular methods of treating winter diseases in summer, Sanfu plaster and Sanfu cupping. The reason why these two methods are introduced is that they have four major advantages: high efficiency, safety, economy and few side effects. The treatment course for winter diseases in summer is generally 30 days, and usually takes 3 consecutive years, or 3 courses of treatment. To consolidate the therapeutic effect, patients should go to the hospital for a follow-up visit on the Winter Solstice.

Is it good to “train in the hottest days of summer”?

As the saying goes, "Train in the coldest days of winter and the hottest days of summer." This is a summary of the experience of long-term health-preserving practices in ancient times.

Modern medicine has proven that in hot weather, the human body will produce an emergency protein that can resist the damage to the body during summer. This shows that the human body has the ability to adapt to different environments. Exercising during the coldest and hottest periods can improve the body's ability to adapt to different environments. Therefore, the ancients believed that people who practiced health preservation could "not avoid cold and heat, and are immune to all poisons."

However, when exercising in the dog days of summer, you should avoid high temperature periods to prevent heatstroke. Doctors remind that this exercise method is not suitable for ordinary people, especially the elderly and frail people, or those who live in a suitable temperature environment for a long time and children. Their ability to adapt to different environments is low, so it is subtle for these people to avoid the heat in the dog days of summer.

Of course, you can’t stay at home with air conditioning and not go out, because that will further reduce your body’s ability to adapt. You should go out of the house appropriately and do some appropriate exercise. Activities such as swimming, practicing Tai Chi or traveling to summer resorts will make your summer life fulfilling and improve your physical fitness.

Be careful about taking supplements and taking care of your body during the dog days

Summer heat consumes energy and damages body fluids, so some people believe that we should take more tonic food during the dog days. Chinese medicine experts believe that this concept is unscientific and that one should be cautious in taking supplements and focus on taking good care of oneself during the dog days of summer.

The dog days are characterized by high temperature, high humidity and long daylight hours. In this environment, people tend to go to bed late and get up early, with less rest time; they tend to sweat easily, which causes a large consumption of various nutrients in the human body, especially inorganic salts; they love to drink cool drinks and have a poor appetite; they become less active and cannot persist in exercising. The overall physical condition of the person is at a relatively low level, with reduced intake and increased consumption, so many people lose weight in summer.

But even so, it is not suitable to take large amounts of supplements. Because people eat more thin food and drink in summer, the gastric digestive juice is diluted and the digestive function is reduced. It is difficult to digest the tonic at this time and it is easy to cause indigestion and gastrointestinal discomfort. Moreover, most of the tonic medicines commonly used by the people are warm in nature, and eating them in summer can cause getting a sore throat. In summer, we sweat more, our metabolism speeds up, and most of the nutrients we take for supplements are wasted.

Traditional Chinese medicine advocates "using unblocking as a function and unblocking as a supplement", which can dredge the six internal organs, promote the flow of Qi, raise the clear and lower the turbid. Therefore, it is not advisable to over-supplement before the summer solstice or the beginning of autumn. During the dog days, diet should be the main focus. Doctors recommend that summer diet should focus on clearing the mind, preventing heatstroke, and nourishing yin and promoting body fluid.

In addition, appetite decreases in summer and the spleen and stomach functions are relatively sluggish. If you eat too much fatty, greasy and nourishing food, it will damage the stomach and spleen, affect the digestion and absorption of nutrients, and be harmful to your health. Therefore, mung beans, coix seeds, vegetables, fruits, lilies, polygonatum, lean meat, eels, duck meat, etc. are the best foods in summer.

Diet for health preservation in the dog days

As the saying goes, "The heat is in the dog days." The sun is scorching hot outside, and the air conditioner is blowing coldly inside. In this alternating hot and cold environment, even healthy people will inevitably feel dizzy, irritable, have a loss of appetite, and have gastrointestinal dysfunction. So, what should we pay special attention to in our diet during the dog days?

1. Replenish water and maintain health

Traditional Chinese medicine theory emphasizes "Yin and Yang and the Five Elements" and "the unity of man and nature". Winter is Yin and summer is Yang. Summer is the season when Yang is strong and Yin is weak. It is also the time when the Yang energy of the human body is strong. The Yang energy of the human body tends to rise in summer, and the cold energy in the body is in a state that is easy to dissolve. During the dog days of summer, people will sweat profusely after a little work or exercise, and then feel very thirsty. Therefore, hydrating and maintaining health becomes the top priority during the dog days of summer.

2. More acid and more sweet

Ancient scholars believed that "summer is hot and humid, so it is suitable to clear and replenish the body." In the hot summer, people like cold drinks and drink a lot of water, which causes moisture to invade the human body. The external moisture enters the inside, causing the spleen to solidify and the spleen and stomach to rise and fall, which causes digestive function disorders, water accumulation, and loss of appetite.

According to the view of Chinese medicine, summer heat and dampness are very harmful to the spleen, and bitter foods have the function of purging dryness and should not be eaten too much. Therefore, it is appropriate to eat more sweet and cool or sweet and cold foods in daily diet. Moreover, summer is the season of the heart, which likes coolness and responds to sour foods, so you should eat more sour foods in summer. Such as: pineapple, watermelon, etc.

3. Replenish Qi and Remove Heat

The hot summer not only brings us physical discomfort, but also easily causes more and more people to become angry, showing symptoms of irritability, anxiety, irritability, insomnia, etc. These symptoms are medically called "summer affective disorders."

Therefore, "removing heat" is also a necessary task for summer food supplements. The best choices for foods that can remove heat in the summer are: bitter melon, tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables that are cool in nature and can clear away heat. At the same time, milk is slightly cold in nature and can replenish water, nourish yin, and relieve heat and toxins, making it a good product for "removing heat". Duck meat is a good tonic for summer.

4. Fresh and clean

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the stomach is the foundation of acquired constitution. In summer, people often feel a loss of appetite and their spleen and stomach functions are relatively sluggish. At this time, you may wish to eat some fresh fruits and vegetables. The nutrient composition of fresh fruits and vegetables is generally half fiber and half sugar. Not only can they effectively replenish the energy and water necessary for the human body, their refreshing characteristics will also make people eat them for a long time without getting tired of them.

Carrots, lemons and amaranth are the first choice; eating more seasonal wild vegetables and fruits is even more beneficial. But be careful not to overeat raw, cold or unclean food to avoid contracting dysentery, diarrhea, etc.