🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Many people emphasize winter tonification, but few realize that Chinese health practitioners have long stressed summer tonification, with the saying "tonify during the Dog Days." From late July to mid-August is the hottest period of the year. At this time, intense heat prevails, and according to TCM, summer heat easily depletes body fluids and qi. Excessive sweating leads to qi loss with fluids, resulting in qi and fluid deficiency. The principle of summer tonification primarily focuses on clearing heat, removing dampness, and detoxifying. For those suffering from excessive sweating and qi-fluid deficiency, ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) is particularly suitable due to its excellent ability to nourish qi and moisten yin. For those with yin-blood deficiency, herbs such as angelica root, dendrobium, prepared rehmannia, and polygonum multiflorum are recommended.
Recommended foods for summer tonification include: 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, and pears.
Recommended herbal tonics: American ginseng,太子参 (Prince’s Ginseng), astragalus, poria, dendrobium, lycium root bark, and polygonatum.
Common TCM preparations for summer tonification include: Shen Ling Bai Zhu San (Ginseng and Poria Powder), Fufang Feng Ru, Shen Qi Chong Ji (Ginseng and Goji Berry Granules), Ren Shen Yin Er Jing (Ginseng and Silver Ear Crystal), Shuang Bao Su, and Ren Shen Yang Rong Wan (Ginseng Nourishing Pill).
Summer diet strictly avoids excessive consumption of raw and cold foods. Ancient physician Sun Simiao noted in She Yang Zhen Fang (Prescriptions for Health Preservation): "Though no illness appears immediately, many sudden diarrhea cases arise in autumn, all due to excessive cold intake during summer and poor dietary discipline. Some mistakenly believe the onset of illness marks the beginning of disease, unaware that the root cause developed gradually."