Lesser Fullness of Grain Health Emphasizes Preventing Illness Before It Occurs
Introduction: Summer is the period of maximum Yang energy. Lesser Fullness of Grain, as the second solar term of summer, marks the time to adjust our daily diet and lifestyle to safely navigate the hot season.
The Lesser Fullness of Grain solar term occurs in late May, with a significant rise in temperature. Indulging in cool sleeping environments will inevitably lead to rheumatism, dampness-related skin diseases, and other ailments. In health practices for Lesser Fullness of Grain, we must emphasize the concept of "preventing illness before it occurs." This means taking various preventive measures before any disease manifests to stop it from happening.
In the health practice of preventing illness before it occurs, the holistic concept of "correspondence between heaven and humanity" and the pathological view of "righteous Qi residing within, so pathogenic factors cannot invade" are still stressed. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) views the human body as an organic whole, closely connected to the external environment. It posits that humans must understand the laws of nature, adapt to its changes, and maintain harmony between the internal and external environments to achieve the goal of preventing disease and promoting health. TCM also believes that the occurrence of a disease involves two factors: righteous Qi and pathogenic Qi. Pathogenic Qi is an important condition for disease, but the insufficiency of the body's righteous Qi is the internal cause and basis. However, it does not negate the leading role of external pathogenic factors under special circumstances. Therefore, "preventing disease" should focus on two aspects: strengthening the body's righteous Qi and preventing the invasion of pathogenic factors.
During the Lesser Fullness of Grain solar term, the temperature rises noticeably and rainfall increases. After it rains, the temperature can drop sharply, so it is important to add layers of clothing to avoid catching a cold from exposure. The weather during Lesser Fullness of Grain is hot, humid, and oppressive, making it a peak period for skin diseases. The *Jin Gui Yao Lue* (Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Cabinet), in the "Zhong Feng L Jie" (Wind Stroke and Joint Pain) chapter, states: "When pathogenic factors attack the meridians, the body becomes itchy with urticaria." This refers to the disease known as "wind rash," indicating that ancient physicians were already aware of this condition.
The etiology and pathogenesis of "wind rash" can be summarized in three points:
1. Dampness accumulates in the skin and muscles, and upon being invaded by wind-heat or wind-cold, it combines with the dampness, becoming trapped in the skin, hair, and interstinal spaces, leading to the disease.
2. Due to heat accumulation in the stomach and intestines, combined with an invasion of wind, the body fails to expel the pathogen internally or release it externally, causing it to stagnate in the skin and muscles.
3. It is related to an individual's constitution. Allergies to foods like fish, shrimp, and crab can lead to disharmony in the spleen and stomach, resulting in dampness and heat accumulation in the body, which then manifests in the skin as this disease.
Therefore, during the Lesser Fullness of Grain season, dietary conditioning should focus on light, refreshing, and vegetarian foods. It is advisable to frequently consume foods that clear dampness and heat, such as red adzuki beans, Job's tears, mung beans, winter melon, loofah, cucumber, daylily, water celery, water chestnut, black fungus, lotus root, carrots, tomatoes, watermelon, Chinese yam, snake meat, crucian carp, grass carp, and duck meat. Avoid rich, greasy, sweet, and fatty foods that generate and promote dampness, such as animal fats, salty and fishy seafood, sour and astringent or spicy and pungent foods, as well as warm and heat-promoting items, and deep-fried or smoked foods. This includes raw green onions, raw garlic, raw ginger, mustard, pepper, chili, fennel, cassia bark, chives, eggplant, mushrooms, various seafood triggers (sea fish, shrimp, crab), and meats from cattle, sheep, dogs, and geese.