Summer Health Preservation Through Dietary Nourishment
Many people emphasize winter tonics, but traditional Chinese health practitioners have long stressed summer tonification, with the saying “tonify during the Dog Days.” From late July to mid-August, it is the hottest period of the year. At this time, oppressive heat prevails, burning the body. According to TCM, summer heat easily injures body fluids and depletes qi. Excessive sweating leads to qi following fluid loss, resulting in qi and fluid deficiency. The principle of summer tonification is primarily to clear heat, promote diuresis, eliminate summer heat, and detoxify. For those with excessive sweating and qi-fluid deficiency, ginseng (Panax ginseng) is especially suitable due to its excellent ability to nourish qi and moisten yin. For those with yin-blood deficiency, use herbs like angelica root, dendrobium, prepared rehmannia, and cooked polygonum multiflorum.
Recommended foods for summer tonification: lotus seeds, frogs, buckwheat, mung beans, lychee, red dates, pig stomach, pork, beef, chicken, pigeon meat, turtle, soft-shelled turtle, bee milk, honey, milk, soy milk, tofu, sugarcane, pear.
Recommended medicinal supplements: American ginseng,太子参 (Prince’s ginseng), astragalus, poria, dendrobium, lycium root bark, polygonatum.
Commonly used TCM preparations for summer tonification: Shen Ling Bai Zhu San (Ginseng and Poria Powder), Fu Fang Feng Ru, Shen Qi Chong Ji (Ginseng and Goji Berry Granules), Ren Shen Yin Er Jing (Ginseng and Silver Ear Crystal), Shuang Bao Su, Ren Shen Yang Rong Wan (Ginseng Nourishing Prosperity Pill).
Summer diet strictly avoids excessive raw and cold foods: Ancient physician Sun Simiao stated in The Pillow Formula for Health Preservation: “At the time, one may not feel ill, but in autumn, many sudden diarrhea episodes occur due to excessive cold exposure and poor dietary discipline during summer. Some mistakenly believe illness began at onset, unaware it developed gradually.”