Staying Cool

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), staying cool in summer relies on eating water-rich, cooling foods to clear internal heat and replenish fluids. In Summer you should use plenty of brightly coloured fruits and vegetables. Bitter Melon helps clear "Heart fire" and reduce internal heat. Cucumbers and Zucchini are hydrating vegetables that cool the body and ease inflammation. Light cooking is in order, steaming and boiling. You may decide to add spice or pungent flavours. Fruits to cool Summer Heat include apples, lemons and limes (Pitchford, 2002). Salads, sprouts and cucumber are suitable for picnics alongside herbal teas. To stay cool while cooking at home during the summer, focus on meals that do not require cooking like watermelon, tomatoes, lettuce and cucumber. Chilled soups, yoghurt, watermelon and salads can also be used.

What to Eat

Watermelon is considered to have many benefits in Chinese Medicine. It is a source of vitamin C and lycopene. Lycopene is an antioxidant. Due to its thick skin, the exposure to pesticides is low.

Strawberries are cooling in nature, making them the perfect summer food. Other cooling foods include kholrabi, cilantro, parsley, asparagus, sprouts, lettuce, corn, cucumber, spinach, and mint.

What to Drink

Green tea, mint tea, Chrysanthemum tea, Coconut water. Mung bean soup is a classic sweet soup used to dispel summer heat and detoxify.

What to Avoid

Sweeteners, spicy foods, fried foods, alcohol or caffeine. These are heating rather than cooling foods and drinks. Avoid Ice. TCM warns against ice-cold drinks because they shock and weaken your digestive fire (Spleen and Stomach). Try for room-temperature or cool items instead.

References

https://jenniferdubowsky.com/summer-fire-joy-and-food/?fbclid=IwAR38tklAc4ZGn52EzXFOGyQOlzdeWaUNqFaH1TkhmsfrvWQFbypmuv8qXZY

Pitchford, 2002, Healing with Whole Foods Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley

https://www.pingminghealth.com/article/581/warming-and-cooling-characteristics-of-common-foods/

Tips for keeping cool

We are in the middle of a heatwave and it can make it difficult to cope during the day and sleep at night. The advice from New Scientist to cool your body is to immerse your hands or feet in cold water. Both contain many nerves and blood vessels so it can cool a large volume of blood relatively quickly. If you exercise regularly you are able to to pump blood around the body more effectively. Also you can take trips to the sauna in advance of heatwaves to build up a tolerance to heat.

Cooling Foods

In Chinese Medicine there are different categories of food. Some are heating, others cooling, some salty or sweet etc. In the Summer especially during a heatwave it helps if we eat cooling foods. The manner of food preparation also matters. Uncooked foods are obviously the most cooling with fried foods being the most heating and boiling and steaming foods being somewhere in between. Fruits are cooling.

Some examples of cooling foods are as follows: mint and chamomile teas. Apples, cucumber, watermelon, limes and lemons are all cooling fruits.

Heavy foods on hot days will cause sluggishness. These include eggs, meat and excesses of seeds nut and grains. Eating less in summer can be a good practice.

Food and Drink Ideas for Summer