The End of Heat Solar Term: Preventing Summer Heat and Dryness is More Important
The End of Heat (solar term, August 23rd in the Gregorian calendar, the 30th day of the sixth lunar month) has passed. The temperature difference between day and night will gradually increase, but daytime temperatures will remain high. Health experts point out that the focus of health preservation after the End of Heat is to prevent "autumn dryness." "Autumn dryness syndrome" mainly manifests as dry and rough skin, dry and painful nasal passages, a dry mouth and throat, and constipation, requiring timely preventive measures to avoid developing into illness. However, experts also remind that the weather is still muggy and hot after the End of Heat, so preventing summer heat and removing dampness is still very important.
Autumn Dryness Easily Damages Fluids and Yin
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), autumn is considered a problematic season. The climate is in a transitional stage of "yang declining and yin growing." From the Beginning of Autumn to the End of Heat, the autumn sun is rampant, temperatures are high, and there are often continuous autumn rains, leading to heavy dampness. The weather is characterized by both heat and dampness, hence the saying "autumn tiger." After the White Dew solar term, autumn rains gradually decrease, the weather starts to become dry, with hot days and cool nights. The climate alternates between cold and heat, and a moment of carelessness can easily lead to catching a cold, and various old illnesses may also relapse.
Every early autumn, the number of patients in TCM clinics increases, many of whom have a "qi deficiency and cold constitution." Symptoms mainly include cough, fatigue, excessive sweating, susceptibility to colds, rhinitis, pharyngitis, stomach pain, and irregular bowel movements. After autumn, rainfall decreases significantly, and the humidity in the air gradually drops, making "autumn dryness" most likely to cause coughs. Doctors explain that many people cough incessantly as soon as autumn arrives. Many patients think it's due to throat inflammation and use antibiotics with little effect. "This situation is often caused by external dryness, which is due to external pathogenic dryness and often comes with symptoms like colds and coughs." Experts further analyze that early autumn is often warm dryness, which typically manifests as headache and fever, a dry cough with no phlegm, shortness of breath, vexation and thirst, and a dry tongue with no coating.
Experts suggest that one should drink more water to replenish fluids. But some people drink plenty of water during the day and still have obvious dry symptoms like chapped lips. What should they do? Experts recommend: in addition to drinking more water, light tea, soy milk, and other beverages to replenish fluids, maintaining the humidity of the living environment is also an important part of moisturizing. The simplest way is to grow some flowers or keep fish at home. If not, sprinkle some water on the floor in the morning and evening, or mop with a wet mop. Many families now have the air conditioner on for several hours a day. "Autumn dryness" comes uninvited, and if you stay in a dry, air-conditioned room for too long, the body's fluids will naturally be more damaged, causing symptoms such as dry skin, a red tongue with little moisture, dry hair, constipation, dryness in the mouth, nose, and throat, chest pain, a dry cough, and little phlegm. Families with the means can use an air humidifier to increase the humidity of the air. Once the air is moist, the skin's sensation and breathing will be more comfortable.
Nourishing the Spleen and Stomach to Remove Dampness is Key
Although the End of Heat marks the beginning of autumn, the temperature has not truly entered autumn yet. Sauna-like days and thunderstorms are still common, and the weather is muggy and hot. Therefore, it is still important to prevent summer heat and remove dampness, and to nourish the spleen and stomach. Do not indulge in the cold at night or eat too many cold drinks to prevent gastrointestinal diseases. Because the stomach prefers dampness over cold.
After a summer of "hardship," many people have relatively weak spleen and stomach function and a poor appetite. Therefore, avoid eating foods that are too strongly flavored, do not overeat, and eat fewer cold and hard-to-digest foods. It is still very hot and damp, making it suitable to eat foods that strengthen the spleen, remove dampness, and nourish the stomach, such as red beans, Job's tears, lotus seeds, lentils, and winter melon. You can also eat Poria, such as Poria cookies.
Many people who had a poor appetite in the summer find their appetite gradually improving, so they unconsciously start to eat better—according to Chinese custom, this means eating meat. Some middle-aged and elderly people also follow the practice of "building up flesh in autumn." However, TCM health experts remind people not to rush into "building up flesh." Because at this time, a person's gastrointestinal function is still weak and has not yet recovered.
During this period, the diet should still be mainly plant-based. Eat more vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, tubers, and edible fungi. Eat less high-calorie, hard-to-digest meat. Otherwise, eating too much meat and other high-protein, high-fat (especially high-unsaturated fat) foods will increase the burden on the digestive system and affect gastrointestinal function. At the same time, excessive calories can easily lead to weight gain, and even increase the risk of hypertension and heart disease.
Appropriate Exercise to Preserve Yin Energy
Autumn health preservation cannot be separated from the principle of "gathering and nourishing." The primary task is to preserve the body's yin energy. Exercise should also follow this principle, meaning the amount of exercise should not be too large, and one should choose relaxed and gentle activities. This is especially true for the elderly, children, and those with a weak constitution to prevent excessive sweating and the depletion of yang energy.
Experts suggest that hiking is a good choice for outdoor exercise in autumn. Hiking can enhance the body's respiratory and blood circulation functions, increase a person's vital capacity and heart contractility, and can also play an auxiliary therapeutic role in diseases like asthma, and can lower blood sugar, increasing the hemoglobin and red blood cell count of anemia patients. The temperature change during hiking is more obvious, which keeps the body's temperature regulation mechanism in a state of tension, thereby improving the body's ability to adapt to environmental changes. In addition, hiking in the suburbs after the End of Heat allows people to absorb more negative oxygen ions in the air, which has a good nutritional and regulatory effect on the human nervous system.
It should be noted that hiking is a weight-bearing exercise where the knee joints bear the weight of the entire body. Especially when climbing a step before the joint is fully straightened and then continuing to the next step, the knee joint remains in a semi-flexed state, which places a great burden on the joint. Patients with osteoarthritis are not suitable for this exercise. For the elderly and weak, one should not overemphasize the health benefits of hiking. Patients with hypertension, coronary heart disease, and others should act according to their ability to prevent accidents.
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High-incidence diseases may come after the End of Heat, so everyone can strengthen self-care to prevent illness.
Back Tapping Method to Nourish Lung Qi
Many lung diseases are easily contracted in winter, such as chronic bronchitis, asthma, and recurrent colds, which are often related to lung yin damage in autumn. Therefore, nourishing the lungs should be the main focus in autumn. Here are a few simple and easy methods that can help nourish lung qi.
1. Back Tapping: Sit upright with the waist and back naturally straight. Close the eyes slightly and relax. Form empty fists with both hands and tap the center and both sides of the back 30 times each. When tapping, move from bottom to top, then from top to bottom. First tap the center of the back, then the left and right sides. This method can help circulate the qi in the chest, unblock the meridians of the back, and at the same time has the effect of strengthening and nourishing the lungs.
2. Throat Rubbing: Keep the upper body upright, tilt the head back, and straighten the neck. Use your hands to massage down from the throat to the chest. During the massage, separate the thumb from the other four fingers, place the tiger mouth against the throat, and press and rub down with appropriate force. This method has the effect of relieving cough and reducing phlegm.
Massage Both Sides of the Trachea to Prevent Asthma
After the End of Heat, the air starts to become dry, and there are more allergens, which can easily affect people with allergies, often triggering asthma. People with a history of asthma are extremely sensitive to changes in atmospheric temperature and humidity and have a weak ability to adapt, making them very susceptible to triggering bronchial asthma due to upper respiratory tract infections. People with a history of asthma should try to identify the possible allergens that cause asthma and avoid contact with them. Secondly, they should add clothing and quilts in a timely manner with the changing temperature, adjust the air conditioner temperature, and prevent catching a cold. They should also pay attention to strengthening nutrition and emphasizing physical exercise.
The self-care method is as follows: Place the four fingers together and opposite the thumb on both sides of the trachea in the neck. Perform rhythmic pinching and lifting with a light and slow force. Move from top to bottom, from the Lianquan acupoint to the Tiantu acupoint, and repeat for 1-2 minutes.