🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Twentieth Section: Heatstroke
Heatstroke is a disease caused by the body being affected by summer heat. Summer heat is the first illness of summer; the word "zhong" (to hit) in heatstroke describes how summer heat invades the body with great force, like an arrow or stone striking the body. When environmental temperature exceeds 32°C, heatstroke may occur. The onset of this condition is related not only to high temperature, high humidity, and poor ventilation but also closely tied to individual physical health. The following are commonly used clinical remedies for heatstroke:
[Formula One]
10 grams of wild chrysanthemum, 10 grams of lotus flower, 3 grams of jasmine flower. Wash the three flowers, pour boiling water over them, cover and let cool slightly before drinking as tea.
This formula clears summer heat, cools the body, and opens the orifices, relieving chest and heart irritability.
[Formula Two]
100 grams of mung beans, 30 grams each of yellow beans and white hyacinth beans. Boil the three beans until soft, extract the thick juice, add sugar or other seasonings for consumption.
This formula prevents heatstroke, clears heat, detoxifies, and harmonizes the stomach and strengthens the spleen.
[Formula Three]
10 grams of honeysuckle, 20 grams of poria, 30 grams of fresh broad bean. Boil with water until the beans are cooked, drink the juice and eat the beans.
This formula cools the body, strengthens health, clears heat, and detoxifies, especially suitable for those prone to heat rash in summer.
[Formula Four]
50 grams each of fresh watermelon rind, winter melon rind, and loofah rind. Boil the three rinds for 15 minutes, extract the juice, add sugar appropriately, warm and drink as tea.
This formula clears heat, dispels summer heat, and promotes urination.
[Formula Five]
10 grams each of agastache leaf, perilla leaf, and mint leaf. Cover the herbs with water, boil until just opened, keeping the lid on during boiling.
This formula dispels summer heat, refreshes the mind, strengthens the spleen, and clears the brain—especially suitable for those already suffering from heatstroke.
[Formula Six]
10 grams each of mung beans, red beans, and black beans.
Add the three beans to 600 ml of water, simmer over low heat until reduced to 200 ml, consume both beans and liquid.
This formula strengthens the spleen, dispels summer heat, and prevents heat rash.
[Formula Seven]
50 grams of peach leaves, 500 ml of water. Place peach leaves in water, boil until volume is halved, consume in small amounts as tea. This formula works because tannin in peach leaves constricts blood vessels reddened by heat rash, thus providing detoxifying, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and anti-pruritic effects.
[Formula Eight]
30 grams of mung beans, 100 grams of glutinous rice. Soak cleaned mung beans in warm water for 2 hours, then boil with washed glutinous rice in a clay pot, adding 1000 ml of water to make a thin porridge. Consume 2–3 times daily, also suitable as a beverage.
This formula dispels summer heat, relieves irritability, generates body fluids, quenches thirst, detoxifies, and promotes diuresis.
[Formula Nine]
15 grams of agastache, 50 grams of glutinous rice. Add 150–200 ml of water to agastache, boil for 2–3 minutes, filter out residue. Wash glutinous rice, cook into porridge, add agastache juice when nearly done, boil for another 2–3 minutes. Consume twice daily, warm.
This formula resolves exterior pathogenic factors and transforms interior dampness, offering good preventive and therapeutic effects for heatstroke with high fever, indigestion, cold-chest tightness, vomiting, and diarrhea.
[Formula Ten]
30 grams of honeysuckle, 50 grams of glutinous rice. Decoct honeysuckle, remove residue, extract about 150 ml of concentrated juice. Add 300 ml of water and glutinous rice to cook into thin porridge. Consume twice daily, warm, especially suitable in summer and autumn.
This formula clears heat, dispels summer heat, relieves irritability, and prevents heatstroke, wind-heat cold, headache, and red eyes.
[Formula Eleven]
15 grams each of fresh lotus leaf, fresh honeysuckle, fresh broad bean flower, loofah rind, bamboo leaf, and agaric, 200 grams of sugar, 20 grams of silver ear fungus. Wash all herbs, boil in a pot to extract juice, clarify and remove sediment. Clean the pot, add the juice, dissolve agaric, silver ear fungus, and sugar, refrigerate until solidified into a block, cut into pieces for consumption. Take twice daily, before meals.
This formula is refreshing and cooling, clears heat, dispels summer heat, nourishes yin, and moistens lungs, suitable for symptoms such as fever and thirst, dizziness, slight head fullness due to summer heat damaging qi and yin.
[Formula Twelve]
250 grams each of honeysuckle and chrysanthemum, 100 grams of hawthorn, 500 grams of sugar, and appropriate amount of flavoring. Wash and sort honeysuckle and chrysanthemum, place in a pot with sufficient water, bring to boil, simmer over low heat for half an hour, strain the liquid, mix thoroughly with sugar and flavoring, freeze and cut into blocks. Take twice daily, before meals.
This formula clears heat and toxins, disperses wind, clears liver heat, suitable for summer diarrhea, flu, boils, heat rash, and also beneficial for hypertensive patients.
[Formula Thirteen]
Four plums, 20 grams of sugar. Add plums to 1 kg of water, boil for 20 minutes, add sugar, cool before drinking.
This formula generates body fluids, stimulates appetite, and relieves heat and irritability.
[Formula Fourteen]
One large watermelon, four to five large tomatoes, 40 grams of sugar. Cut open the watermelon, scoop out the flesh, squeeze juice through clean gauze. Blanch tomatoes briefly with boiling water to easily remove skin, then core and chop, squeeze juice through gauze. Mix both juices, add sugar for consumption.
This formula clears heat, generates body fluids, strengthens the stomach, treats summer colds with fever, irritability, thirst, dark urine, and loss of appetite.
[Formula Fifteen]
15 grams of dried seaweed (rehydrated), 50 grams of dried shiitake mushrooms (smallly rehydrated), 100 grams of asparagus, appropriate amount of monosodium glutamate and cooking wine. Cut shiitake mushrooms and asparagus into strips, boil with seaweed, add sesame oil, monosodium glutamate, and cooking wine for seasoning. Consume as a main meal, once daily.
This formula clears summer heat, supplements the body, regular consumption helps prevent arteriosclerosis and high blood pressure.
[Formula Sixteen]
250 grams of fresh pork skin, 200 grams of tomato. Cut pork skin into chunks, stew into a rich broth, add sliced tomatoes, sprinkle with scallions and sesame oil.
This formula dispels summer heat, quenches thirst, nourishes yin, and cools blood.
[Formula Seventeen]
100 grams of mung bean flour, a little sea shrimp, 500 grams of carrot, 100 grams of cucumber, a little coriander, appropriate amount of salt, sesame paste, mustard, soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, scallions, dried chili, monosodium glutamate. Wash the bean jelly, drain, cut into about 3 cm wide strips, toss with sesame oil. Wash carrots, peel, cut into strips, blanch briefly. Wash cucumbers, cut into strips. Wash sea shrimp, soak in boiling water to rehydrate. Wash dried chili, remove seeds, cut into segments, fry in sesame oil until crispy. Wash coriander, chop finely. Crush garlic, mince scallions. Dilute sesame paste with cool water. Mix mustard with boiling water to form a thin paste, let sit in warm place to ferment, then dilute with cool water, strain, add sesame paste, salt, rice vinegar, soy sauce, garlic paste, scallion, monosodium glutamate, chili oil to make dressing. Place bean jelly on a plate, arrange carrot strips, cucumber strips, sea shrimp, coriander, then pour dressing over.
This formula clears heat, dispels summer heat, and stimulates appetite. Can assist in treating heatstroke and poor appetite.
[Formula Eighteen]
300 grams of fresh young green beans, appropriate amount of salt, monosodium glutamate, pepper powder, sesame oil, scallions. Wash green beans, remove tough fibers, blanch in water until soft, drain, sprinkle a little salt, cool. Fry scallion in sesame oil, filter out scallions, cool the oil. Mix green beans with pepper powder, monosodium glutamate, salt, and scallion oil.
This formula harmonizes the center, moves qi, clears summer heat, and strengthens the stomach. Can assist in treating vomiting, acute gastritis, and heatstroke.
In addition, Qingxin once published an article titled "Common Summer Medicinal Vegetables" in "Health and Life Magazine." Selected excerpts follow for public reference.
Two Sprouts Tea: 3 grams each of barley sprout and malt. Stir-fry until slightly charred, sieve out impurities, place in a covered teacup, pour boiling water, steep, drink continuously, replace when taste fades.
This tea moistens thirst, stimulates appetite, strengthens the stomach, and promotes digestion.
Artemisia Annua and Eupatorium Tea: 5 grams each of fresh artemisia annua and fresh eupatorium. Place in a teacup, pour boiling water, steep and drink as tea.
This tea clears summer heat and removes deficient heat, ideal for preventing heatstroke.
Agastache Tea: 3 grams of agastache. Place in a teacup, pour boiling water, steep and drink.
This tea detoxifies, dispels summer heat, removes turbidity, and harmonizes dampness—ideal for summer detoxification and heat relief.
Chrysanthemum Dragon Well Tea: 10 grams of chrysanthemum, 5 grams of Longjing tea. Place both in a teacup, pour boiling water, cover and steep for 10 minutes before drinking.
This tea disperses wind-heat, clears liver, and brightens eyesight.
Plantain Seed Tea: 15 grams of plantain seed, 10 grams of prunella. Stir-fry plantain seed until slightly puffed and fragrant, cool, crush. Cut prunella into fine powder. Mix both, pour boiling water, steep for 10 minutes as tea.
This tea clears liver, brightens eyes, and promotes bowel movements.
Loquat Leaf Bamboo Leaf Tea: 20 grams each of loquat leaf, fresh bamboo leaf, and fresh reed root. Wash and coarsely chop the three herbs, place in a sandpot with 500 ml water, boil for 15 minutes, filter out residue, add a little sugar and salt while hot.
This tea clears heat, generates body fluids, stops cough, and relieves asthma—excellent for clearing summer heat.
Rose Tea: 3 grams of wild rose. Place in a cup, pour boiling water, steep and drink as tea.
This tea clears summer heat, reduces fever, and detoxifies—ideal for preventing and treating heatstroke.
Honeysuckle Tea: 2 grams of honeysuckle. Place in a cup, pour boiling water, steep briefly, drink as tea.
This tea nourishes blood, quenches thirst, clears heat, and detoxifies—suitable for all ages.
Mint Tea: 15 grams of fresh mint, or 10 grams of dried mint and 10 grams of ginseng, 30 grams of raw gypsum. Cut herbs finely, decoct to extract juice, add ice sugar.
This tea clears heat and dispels summer heat, ideal as a summer drink for heat relief.
Lotus Leaf Tea: One fresh lotus leaf, cut into five pieces, wash, 100 grams of mung beans, 1000 ml of water. Boil over high heat until aroma develops, reduce to low heat, remove lotus leaf before drinking, add sugar to taste.
This tea clears summer heat, disperses blood stasis, clears heat toxins, promotes urination—suitable for summer dizziness, chest tightness, irritability, thirst, and short red urine.
Mung Bean Sour Plum Tea: 100 grams of mung beans, 50 grams of sour plum, appropriate amount of sugar. Simmer until cooled, drink as tea.
This tea cools down, dispels summer heat, generates body fluids, and quenches thirst.
Bitter Melon Vegetable: Cut fresh bitter melon, remove pulp, fill with tea leaves, hang in ventilated area to dry naturally. Wash and dry the exterior, cut into pieces with tea leaves, mix well. Take 10 grams each time, pour boiling water into a thermos, steep and drink frequently.
This tea clears summer heat, brightens eyes, and detoxifies.
Golden Flower Vitex Tea: 20–30 grams each of golden flower vine and vitex leaf, coarsely crushed, add a little mint. Pour boiling water, steep and drink as tea.
This tea clears heat and dispels summer heat.
Two Seeds Tea: 10 grams of goji berries, 3 grams of schisandra berries. Pour boiling water, steep and drink as tea.
This tea generates body fluids, quenches thirst, strengthens qi, and nourishes yin.
Stemona Tea: 60 grams of stemona. Coarsely crush, decoct and drink as tea frequently.
This tea clears heat and toxins, generates body fluids, and quenches thirst.
<Heatstroke Remedies>