A stomach cramp is a spasm of the stomach muscles, mostly neurogenic in nature. It is a condition itself rather than a specific disease and is often acute. The main symptoms include severe upper abdominal pain, vomiting, and so on. The reason stomach cramps are more common in the summer is largely due to people's excessive indulgence in coolness, which causes the stomach to be stimulated by cold.
Case 1: A young man gets stomach cramps from a fan all night
Xiao Qin, born in the 90s, is 1.8 meters tall and quite sturdy. He has always been particularly sensitive to heat, sweating profusely from even a little activity. The night before yesterday, the weather was muggy and hot. Xiao Qin slept bare-chested with an electric fan on all night. The next morning, he woke up with a stomachache but still went to work. Half an hour later, his face turned deathly pale, beads of sweat poured down, and he was in so much pain he could barely roll on the floor. Colleagues helped him to the Nanjing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, where he was diagnosed with stomach cramps.
Expert Analysis: Every summer, there are many cases of stomach cramps caused by electric fans, air conditioners, or cold showers, mostly affecting young and middle-aged people. This is mainly due to stomach discomfort caused by cold stagnation and qi stagnation. Pain can generally be relieved by using warming methods to dispel cold and acupuncture therapy.
Case 2: Ice cream after intense exercise leads to intestinal cramps
10-year-old Hu Zi was playing with his friends. When he got home, he immediately turned on the air conditioner and took his favorite ice cream out of the fridge. Unexpectedly, half an hour later, he suddenly felt abdominal pain and diarrhea, while breaking out in a cold sweat and experiencing nausea, vomiting, and a paper-pale face. His family rushed him to the hospital for treatment. The doctor used moxibustion, applying moxa sticks to several of Hu Zi's acupoints while also using an infrared physiotherapy device. An hour later, Hu Zi's abdominal pain was mostly gone.
Expert Analysis: After the weather gets hot, hospitals admit many children like Hu Zi. This is mainly due to the large temperature difference between indoors and outdoors, combined with eating cold food, which puts the abdomen in a state of being attacked by both internal and external cold and heat. This leads to increased gastrointestinal motility, manifesting as acute cramps with symptoms like severe abdominal pain and nausea.
Case 3: Drinking chilled mung bean soup leads to stomach cramps
Recently, the weather has been very hot. Wang Youyou, who lives near Mingren Street, cooks a pot of mung bean soup every day and puts it in the refrigerator. He drinks a bowl after getting up the next morning. This morning, he drank a bowl of chilled mung bean soup as usual, but shortly after arriving at work, his stomach hurt so badly he had to take leave and see a doctor. After a preliminary examination, the doctor determined that the chilled mung bean soup had caused a strong stimulation to Wang Youyou's stomach, leading to cramps.
Expert Analysis: Usually, the occurrence of stomach cramps is due to acute stimulation to the stomach. Experts remind that mung beans are not only a food but also a traditional Chinese medicine. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, mung beans are considered cool-natured and sweet in flavor, with effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, relieving summer heat and烦, quenching thirst, and strengthening the stomach. From a dietary therapy perspective, the natural properties of food, such as being warming or cooling, should align with the constitution of the consumer for it to have a health-preserving effect. Therefore, there are three types of people who should not consume mung beans long-term: those with a cold constitution; the elderly, children, and those with a weak constitution; and those taking various medications.
Special Reminder: Eating cold foods in the summer can be refreshing and heat-relieving, but people's digestive function is weaker in the summer. Eating too many raw and cold foods can, in the short term, trigger intestinal cramps, causing abdominal pain and diarrhea, and in the long term, lead to illnesses in the autumn as a form of "revenge." People with a cold constitution should be especially vigilant against cold foods like mustard and watermelon. Actually, preventing summer stomach cramps and maintaining gastrointestinal health isn't that difficult. Just follow the "five no's and three mores": don't overwork, don't exercise strenuously, don't overeat, don't indulge in cold drinks, and don't eat unclean food. You should eat more cooked food, more soups, and more vegetables.