Duck: Duck meat is slightly cool in nature, known for nourishing the five organs' yang, clearing the heat of deficiency and fatigue, nourishing blood and promoting urination, as well as nourishing the stomach and promoting fluid production. It is an excellent tonic food for the summer.
Melon: Both watermelon and winter melon are excellent for relieving summer heat. Winter melon stewed with lean meat or duck meat is not only delicious but also helps to restore deficiency, clear summer heat, and nourish yang. Another beneficial food is watermelon; its flesh is rich in beta-carotene and vitamin C, and its seeds contain large amounts of vitamin E and trace elements like zinc and selenium. Blending the watermelon flesh and seeds into juice yields an excellent antioxidant drink with no additives or preservatives.
Fungi: Yogurt containing lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria, as well as a variety of fungal and algae foods such as Hericium erinaceus, Honey mushrooms, Porcini mushrooms, Shaggy mane mushrooms, Shiitake mushrooms, and Bear's Head mushroom, can help regulate the body's normal flora, supplement vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, and comprehensively enhance the body's resistance.
Tea: Mix 6 mg of salt with 5g of tea, steep with 500ml of boiling water, and drink it cool to dispel heat, relieve summer heat, replenish fluids, quench thirst, and supplement electrolytes. Alternatively, steep 5g of white chrysanthemum with 500ml of boiling water, drink it cool to clear heat and detoxify. Another option is to steep 6g of green tea with two bitter melon vines in 500ml of boiling water, drink it cool to relieve summer heat and reduce internal heat.
Porridge: On a hot summer night, drinking some cooling rice porridges, such as mung bean porridge, lotus seed porridge, bamboo leaf porridge, winter melon porridge, water chestnut porridge, pear porridge, hawthorn porridge, or lotus root porridge, can moisten a dry throat, whet the appetite, and have the effects of clearing heat and relieving summer heat, promoting fluid production and quenching thirst, and stimulating the appetite.
Although these foods are beneficial, proper eating habits are even more important. The following two methods are suitable for adoption in the summer: Small, frequent meals:
Summer heat can be unbearable and reduce appetite. It is advisable to adopt a method of "multiple meals a day, never feeling full, eating when hungry, and eating very little" to supplement nutrition.
Increased fluid intake and urination: Drink plenty of water to replenish the fluids lost through sweat; urinate frequently to expel the large amount of toxins accumulated in the body.