Summer Health Tips
1. In summer, the body loses a lot of water, so you should drink more water
Drink more water, and warm water is better. You should drink seven or eight glasses of plain water daily. The body should always maintain and replenish its water supply. Water plays a vital role in the human body, maintaining normal physiological functions. Water is an indispensable part of the human body; organs, muscles, blood, hair, bones, and teeth all contain water. The body loses more water in summer, and if not replenished in time, it will seriously affect health, easily causing dry skin, increased wrinkles, and accelerated aging. In addition, mineral water, iced tea, milk, and apple juice are ideal thirst-quenching beverages.
2. Maintain a regular daily routine
In summer, it is advisable to sleep late and wake up early, and try to take a nap at noon. Remember not to sit, lie down, or sleep for long periods in cool places like corridors, under eaves, or near ventilation openings. It is also not advisable to use an electric fan for too long. Because the summer heat is intense, the body sweats profusely, pores are wide open, and it is easy to be attacked by wind and cold. Prolonged blowing may cause headaches, lumbar muscle strain, facial numbness, or muscle aches.
3. Health preservation should focus on "nourishing yang"
The "Huangdi Neijing · Suwen · Siqi Tiaoshen Dalun" says: "For the three months of summer, it is called flourishing growth. The qi of heaven and earth intersects, and all things are in bloom and fruit. Go to bed late and rise early. Do not dislike the long days. Keep your will free from anger, allow the vital energy to flourish, and let the qi flow out, as if your love is turned towards the outside. This is the response to the summer qi and the way of health preservation." In the hot summer, many people suffer from "air-conditioning disease." People use air conditioners both day and night, and the temperature difference between indoors and outdoors can be over ten degrees. Coupled with consuming a large amount of iced products and cold drinks, it is bound to damage yang energy. Therefore, pay attention to the living environment not being too humid, do not eat too many frozen and cold foods, do not set the air conditioner temperature too low at night (it is best to keep it above 26°C), and do not stay overnight in open or cold places.
4. Diet should be light and nourishing, eat more "bitter" foods
In terms of dietary nourishment, the principle for hot weather is to lightly nourish, strengthen the spleen, and eliminate summer heat and dampness. Fatty, rich, and heating foods should not be eaten; instead, choose foods with the effects of being light, refreshing, and nourishing yin.
Foods that are sweet, cool, and moistening: wheat, sorghum, highland barley, tofu, white hyacinth beans, black sesame, potato, cabbage, lettuce, asparagus, spinach, winter melon, watermelon, etc. Foods that strengthen the spleen and stomach, and nourish yin and qi: spinach, lotus root, water bamboo, tomato, carrot, egg, apple, milk, grape, lotus seed, mulberry, clam, goose meat, black carp, crucian carp, silver carp, barley flour, etc. Foods that eliminate summer heat, promote urination to drain dampness, and clear heat and detoxify: mung bean, broad bean, red bean, soybean, raw radish, eggplant, cabbage, celery, water chestnut, coix seed, vegetable melon, watermelon, winter melon, loofah, cucumber, muskmelon, bitter melon, chrysanthemum, lotus leaf, tea, etc.
The alkaloids contained in bitter foods have pharmacological effects such as relieving summer heat and clearing heat, promoting blood circulation, and dilating blood vessels. Eating some bitter foods appropriately in hot weather can not only clear the mind and relieve irritability, but also refresh the mind, increase appetite, and strengthen the spleen and benefit the stomach. Bitter melon: Use its unripe young fruit as a vegetable. The ripe pulp can be eaten raw. It can be served cold as a salad or stir-fried with meat or cooked with fish. It is fresh, tender, crisp, and has a unique flavor. Bitter melon has the effects of increasing appetite, aiding digestion, removing pathogenic heat, relieving fatigue, and clearing the mind and brightening the eyes. In addition, bitter vegetables, tea, coffee, and other bitter foods can also be used as appropriate. It should be noted that consuming too much bitter food may cause symptoms such as nausea and vomiting.
5. Supplement salt, potassium, and vitamins
In hot weather, sweating is profuse, and a significant amount of potassium ions is lost with sweat. This can lead to hypokalemia, causing symptoms like fatigue, dizziness, headaches, and loss of appetite. The most effective way to prevent potassium deficiency in hot weather is to eat more potassium-rich foods. Fresh vegetables and fruits contain relatively high levels of potassium, so you can eat more strawberries, apricots, lychees, peaches, plums, etc. Vegetables like scallions, celery, and edamame are also rich in potassium. Tea also contains a relatively high amount of potassium. Drinking more tea in hot weather can both relieve summer heat and replenish potassium, killing two birds with one stone.
In summer, the body loses a lot of sodium chloride through sweating, so salt should be replenished along with water. You can drink some salt water daily to maintain the body's acid-base balance and relatively stable osmotic pressure. Nutritionists also recommend that during high-temperature seasons, it is best for each person to supplement 2 mg of vitamin B1, 2 mg of vitamin B2, and 1 gram of calcium daily. This can reduce the consumption of carbohydrates and tissue proteins in the body and is beneficial to human health. Therefore, in summer, you should eat more foods rich in the above-mentioned nutrients, such as watermelon, cucumber, tomato, beans and their products, animal liver, dried small shrimp, etc. You can also drink some fruit juices.
6. Try to wear light-colored clothes
Dark clothes absorb sunlight, which can raise body temperature and make you feel hot and stuffy. At the same time, mosquitoes have a habit of being attracted to dark colors, and dark colors, especially black, can easily attract mosquitoes.
7. Precautions for itchy skin
When traveling in summer and experiencing skin itching or dry pain from sun exposure, you can apply a small amount of ointment like Fusongqing. Do not wash with hot water or use strongly alkaline soap, as this may irritate the skin and worsen the symptoms.
8. Do some heart-nourishing exercises
In summer, the amount of exercise should not be too intense or strenuous. Slight sweating after exercise is appropriate to avoid damaging the heart yin from excessive exercise and sweating. For those who still insist on exercising in summer, Tai Chi is a good choice. Tai Chi combines stillness with movement, hardness with softness, and has appropriate openings and closings with graceful rises and falls. The posture is upright and balanced. Righteous qi is stored within, so pathogenic wind cannot invade, and it aligns with the natural cycle of yin and yang. It can be considered one of the best heart-nourishing exercises for summer.