High temperatures in the summer make the body prefer coolness. This season is suitable for light nourishment. Light nourishment focuses on cooling foods, which include barley, wheat, mung beans, lilies, white sugar, cucumbers, spinach, cabbage, bean sprouts, celery, water radishes, bamboo shoots, eggplants, water chestnuts, rabbit meat, duck meat, sheep liver, cow's milk, eggs, and fresh fruits. These foods should be consumed regularly to achieve the effects of clearing heat, relieving summer heat, strengthening the spleen, and promoting diuresis.
Summer is the season of damp-heat. For elderly individuals with a weak spleen, it is advisable to choose foods that strengthen the spleen and stomach, transform dampness, are gentle in nature, and nourishing without being greasy. Commonly used foods include red beans and Job's tears. Cooking them until soft and adding sugar makes for a good tonic. Soups made from winter melon, lilies, red dates, or mung beans can be frequently consumed to relieve summer heat, quench thirst, promote fluid production, and cool the blood.
In summer, the elderly can select foods with medicinal properties to expel summer heat, strengthen the body, and prevent or treat diseases. For example, an equal amount of water chestnuts and jellyfish, after being soaked and rinsed, can be cooked with rock sugar to make "Xue Yin" (Snow Jelly Drink), which should be taken three times a day. Elderly individuals with high blood pressure or high blood lipids can benefit from consuming this regularly as a treatment. Furthermore, cooking 100 grams of fresh white hyacinth beans into a congee can help treat digestive issues, chronic diarrhea, and summer heat-induced fever; eating white fungus congee regularly can not only clear heat and relieve summer heat but also has anti-aging effects; drinking soy milk regularly can lower cholesterol and promote health and longevity; consuming lily congee can moisten the lungs and nourish the stomach, treating conditions like chronic bronchitis and bronchiectasis in the elderly; eating 1-2 fresh, washed tomatoes on an empty stomach every morning can lower blood pressure, treat fundus hemorrhage, and boost immunity; drinking watermelon juice can treat heatstroke, fever, and nephritic edema; for elderly individuals with toothaches in the summer, consuming cooked pumpkin twice a day in appropriate amounts can provide relief.
Although light nourishment and a cool, light diet are recommended in summer, it is still important not to overconsume raw and cold foods to avoid damaging the spleen and stomach of the elderly. In food selection, it is also advisable to avoid heating foods like lamb and dog meat, and instead choose more light foods with yin-nourishing properties to relieve summer heat, strengthen the body, and improve appetite.