Great Heat, known as "Da Shu" in Chinese, is the hottest solar term of the year. Its climatic characteristics are described as: "When the Dipper points to Bing, it is Great Heat. The weather at this time is much more severe than that of Lesser Heat, hence the name." Great Heat occurs around the "mid-summer"伏 (fú) period. In many parts of China, temperatures often reach 40°C. In this sweltering season, heatstroke prevention and cooling measures should not be ignored.
Great Heat is the period when warm-loving crops grow the fastest and also the season when crickets are most numerous in the countryside. In some regions of China, people have the custom of cricket fighting for entertainment after meals. Great Heat is also the season with the most thunderstorms. There is a proverb that says: "A flash in the east brings not a drop, a flash in the west comes before you can run." This means that in the summer afternoon, if lightning appears in the east, the rain will not reach here, but if it is in the west, the rain will arrive very quickly, and there is no time to seek shelter.
People often refer to summer afternoon thunderstorms as "northwest rain" and describe it with sayings like "Northwest rain, gone without a road," "Summer rain separates the field ridges," and "Summer rain separates the ox's back." These vividly illustrate that thunderstorms often mean rain on one side and sunshine on the other, just as the Tang dynasty poet Liu Yuxi wrote: "Sunny in the east, rainy in the west, is it sunny or not?"
The summer climate is hot, with scorching heat and heavy rain. The pathogenic factors of summer-heat and dampness can easily take advantage of a weakened body, and the oppressive heat can deplete the heart's qi. Especially for the elderly, children, and those with weak constitutions, it is often difficult to maintain health, leading to summer heat retention (疰夏) or heatstroke. If you experience symptoms such as significant fatigue all over, dizziness, palpitations, chest tightness, difficulty concentrating, excessive sweating, numbness in the limbs, thirst, or nausea, it is often a precursor to heatstroke.
Once the above symptoms appear, the patient should be immediately moved to a ventilated place to rest. Give the patient some light salt water, mung bean soup, watermelon juice, or sour plum juice. Methods to prevent heatstroke in the summer: arrange work reasonably and pay attention to a balance between work and rest; avoid prolonged exposure to the hot sun; pay attention to indoor cooling; ensure adequate sleep; pay attention to food hygiene. If possible, after entering the summer, it is advisable to regularly take some formulas that aromatically transform turbidity and clear summer-heat and dampness, such as 10 grams each of fresh Agastache rugosa leaves and Eupatorium fortunei leaves, 30 grams each of Talcum and fried malt, and 3 grams of Licorice, decocted in water to be taken as tea. You can also take some Ren Dan or Shi Di Shui during the hot summer season.
Great Heat is the time of the highest temperature and the most abundant yang energy of the year. In health preservation, there is a saying, "treat winter diseases in the summer." Therefore, for those with chronic diseases that flare up every winter, such as chronic bronchitis, pulmonary emphysema, bronchial asthma, diarrhea, and rheumatism with yang deficiency, it is the best time for treatment. Friends with the aforementioned chronic diseases should be especially meticulous in their summer health care, focusing on prevention and treatment.
Taking chronic bronchitis as an example, both oral and external treatments can be used. The specific method is: orally take Jin Gui Shen Qi Wan or Zuo Gui Wan, which are formulas that warm the kidneys and strengthen yang, twice daily, one pill each time, for one consecutive month. For the external application, you can choose 20 grams of white mustard seeds, 15 grams of Corydalis, 12 grams of细心 (Xixin, Asarum), and 10 grams of Kansui (Euphorbia kansui). Grind these into a fine powder, mix with ginger juice to form a paste, and divide it into six portions. Each time, take one portion and spread it on an oiled paper or plastic film with a diameter of about 5 cm, and apply it to the acupoints Feishu (BL13), Xinshu (BL15), and Geshu (BL17) on the back, or on Feishu (BL13), Bailao (EX-HN15), and Gaohuang (BL43) on both sides. Secure with adhesive tape. Generally, apply for 4-6 hours. If there is a burning sensation, remove it early. If there is slight itching or a comfortable warm feeling, it can be applied for a few more hours. It should be noted that apply once during each of the three summer伏 (fú) days, three times a year, for three consecutive years, to enhance the body's non-specific immunity and reduce its allergic state. This combined internal and external treatment can effectively eradicate or alleviate symptoms.
During the summer days, using the nutritional value of food for health preservation and longevity is an effective way to reduce disease and prevent aging. The dietary conditioning of summer is based on the climatic characteristics of the season. Due to the hot summer weather, which easily consumes fluids and qi, medicinal porridge is often chosen to nourish the body. The *Huangdi Neijing* (Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon) states: "Medicine is used to eliminate the disease, and food is used to support it," and "Grains, meat, fruits, and vegetables are used to complete the nourishment."
The famous medical practitioner Li Shizhen especially recommended medicinal porridge for health preservation. He said: "Every day, eat a large bowl of porridge on an empty stomach. The qi of the grains is then produced, and the nourishment is not trivial. It is also extremely soft and smooth, compatible with the stomach and intestines, and is the most wonderful thing to eat." Medicinal porridge is suitable for the elderly, children, and those with weak spleen and stomach function. Therefore, the ancients called it "the number one thing in the world that nourishes people," and "eating two *he* of rice a day is better than a large bag of Ginseng and Astragalus." The *Medical Six Books* praised it: "Jasmine rice porridge is a life-giving, nurturing elixir, and glutinous rice porridge is a wonderful product for warming and nourishing the stomach's qi."
This shows the importance of porridge nourishment. Although medicinal porridge is beneficial to the body, it is not universally applicable. Appropriate medicinal ingredients must be selected and prepared into porridge according to each person's different constitution and condition to achieve satisfactory results.
For summer health preservation, water is also a very important and indispensable substance for fitness and longevity. As the saying goes, "A person is made of water," which is not without reason. Water accounts for about 70% of the human body's weight. Traditional health preservation methods highly recommend drinking cold boiled water. Experimental results also show that a glass of ordinary water is boiled, covered, and cooled to room temperature.
In this process of being boiled and then cooled, the chlorine in this cold boiled water is reduced by half compared to ordinary natural water. The physical and chemical properties of the water, such as surface tension, density, viscosity, and conductivity, also change, making it very similar to the water in biologically active cells. Therefore, it can easily pass through cells and has wonderful biological activity. According to folk experience and experimental results, drinking a glass of fresh cool boiled water every morning can produce magical health benefits after several years.
Japanese medical scientists once conducted a survey on 460 people over 65 years old. Among those who insisted on drinking a glass of cool boiled water every morning for five years, 82% of them had a ruddy complexion, were full of spirit, had firm teeth, could walk 10 kilometers daily, and never had any serious illnesses. This shows that the importance of water to the human body is absolutely true.
In addition to water, wine, soups, and juices can all be considered beverages. Reasonable selection of these can play a very good role in strengthening the body.
In the height of summer, the yang heat descends, and the damp qi rises, filling the environment. Therefore, in this season, more people are affected by pathogenic dampness. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, dampness is a yin pathogen that tends to move downward, is heavy, turbid, and sticky, and can easily obstruct the flow of qi and damage yang qi. Therefore, dietary therapy should focus on clearing heat and resolving summer-heat.
Here are a few delicacies suitable for the Great Heat solar term. Cold Dressed Eggplant:
Ingredients: 500g tender eggplant, 15g cilantro, garlic, rice vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce, MSG, salt, Sichuan peppercorn as needed.
Method: Wash and peel the eggplant, cut it into small pieces, place in a bowl, sprinkle with a little salt, then soak in cold water to remove the brown color, remove and steam until cooked, then let it cool. Mash the garlic. Heat a wok, add sesame oil, and stir-fry the Sichuan peppercorn until fragrant, then pour the oil into a small bowl. Add soy sauce, sugar, rice vinegar, salt, MSG, and garlic to make a sauce, and pour it over the eggplant. Wash and chop the cilantro, sprinkle over the eggplant, and it is ready.
Effect: Clears heat, opens the orifices, reduces swelling and promotes urination, strengthens the spleen and harmonizes the stomach. Stir-fried Assorted Vegetables:
Ingredients: 1 block of tofu, 50g tender green beans, 50g tomatoes, 15g wood ear fungus, sesame oil, vegetable oil, salt, MSG, chopped green onion as needed.
Method: Cut the tofu, green beans, tomatoes, and wood ear fungus into small cubes. Bring water to a boil in a pot and blanch the tofu, green beans, tomatoes, and wood ear fungus separately (the tomatoes only need a quick blanch), then drain and place on a plate. Heat a wok, add vegetable oil, stir-fry the Sichuan peppercorn until fragrant, then add the chopped green onion, salt, tomatoes, and MSG, stir-fry until well mixed, and pour over the blanched tofu, green beans, and wood ear fungus. Drizzle with sesame oil and mix well.
Effect: Promotes the production of fluids to quench thirst, strengthens the spleen and clears summer-heat, detoxifies and transforms dampness.
Note: Green beans contain a toxic protein called hemagglutinin A. The toxicity is greatly weakened after heating. Therefore, green beans must be blanched thoroughly to prevent poisoning. Mung Bean and Pumpkin Soup:
Ingredients: 50g mung beans, 500g old pumpkin, a little salt.
Method: Wash the mung beans in clean water. While still moist, add a small amount of salt (about 3g), mix well, let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse clean. Peel and wash the pumpkin, remove the seeds, and cut into 2cm cubes. Add 500ml of water to a pot, bring to a boil, add the mung beans and boil for 2 minutes, then add a little cold water and bring back to a boil. Add the pumpkin, cover the pot, and simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes until the mung beans split open. Add a little salt to taste.
Effect: Mung beans are sweet and cool, clearing summer-heat, detoxifying, and promoting urination; paired with pumpkin, they promote the production of fluids and benefit qi. It is the best dietary choice for preventing heatstroke in the summer. Bitter Melon and Chrysanthemum Porridge:
Ingredients: 100g bitter melon, 50g chrysanthemums, 60g japonica rice, 100g rock sugar.
Method: Wash the bitter melon, remove the seeds, and cut into small pieces. Wash the japonica rice and rinse the chrysanthemums. Place both in a pot with an appropriate amount of water and bring to a boil over high heat. When the water boils, add the bitter melon and rock sugar, then reduce the heat and simmer until the rice is soft and cooked.
Effect: Clears summer-heat, stops dysentery, and detoxifies. Suitable for summer heatstroke with thirst, dysentery, and other conditions.
Note: When drinking this porridge, avoid all warm, dry, spicy, greasy, and rich foods.