5 principles to improve your health in summer

The arrival of hot summer also brings a test to our physical health. Our traditional health care emphasizes "following the four seasons and adapting to the cold and heat". For us, if we can follow the seasons and do a good job in summer health care, we can not only spend the summer smoothly, but also improve our health and prolong our life. The following five principles involve daily life, diet, health care, and disease prevention. This summer, we should pay more attention to these five principles!

1. Work and rest

Go to bed late and get up early. In the summer, the daylight hours are longer, and the days are longer and the nights are shorter. At this time, we should adapt to the changes in nature where yang is stronger and yin is weaker, and sleep relatively late and get up early. It is recommended to go to bed before 10 pm and get up around 6 am. Master the principle of "midnight nap" which means taking a deep sleep at midnight and a short nap at noon. However, the nap time should not be too long, generally half an hour is appropriate. Don't get up immediately to work or study after waking up from a nap, because the brain is not supplied with enough blood at this time, which will cause temporary brain dysfunction and make people feel dizzy. It is best to lie down quietly for 10 minutes before getting up. Once this schedule is determined after the beginning of summer, you must exercise self-discipline to prevent your biological clock from being disrupted.

2. Diet

Increase sourness and reduce spiciness. In summer, the liver qi of the human body gradually weakens, while the heart qi gradually strengthens. In terms of diet, you can eat some sour foods to nourish the kidneys and liver, and regulate the stomach qi, such as tomatoes, lemons, strawberries, grapes, pineapples, mangoes, etc. Their sour taste can reduce sweat and dampness, promote fluid production and quench thirst, and strengthen the stomach and digest food. Try to eat less spicy food, because the yang energy rises in summer, and foods that easily cause inflammation will cause heat both inside and outside the body, resulting in symptoms such as acne, oral ulcers, and constipation.

3. Emotions

Calm your mind and nourish your energy. Elderly people tend to feel irritable and restless in summer, so the key to maintaining good health during the Beginning of Summer is to “nourish the heart”. The first is to "avoid irritability and anger". The elderly should try their best to keep their minds calm and their mood happy. When the temperature is too high, it is best to reduce going out and avoid medium to high intensity exercise. Second, eat less high-fat and greasy foods, and eat more soy products, chicken, lean meat, etc., which can not only supplement nutrition but also play a role in strengthening the heart.

4. Health care

Strengthen the spleen and remove dampness. It is hot and humid in summer, and it is easy to suffer from spleen deficiency. It is recommended to eat red bean and pork ribs soup, red bean and coix seed porridge, yam and lotus seed soup, etc. once or twice a week. It can improve mental fatigue, loss of appetite, loose stools, etc. caused by spleen deficiency. In addition, do not overeat cold foods such as watermelon and bitter gourd, otherwise it will damage the spleen and stomach, promote "internal dampness", which is not good for health. Do not stay in the air-conditioned room for a long time, do not sit or lie on wet stools or grass; after bathing, wait for your hair to dry naturally or blow dry completely before going to bed.

5. Disease prevention

Treat winter diseases in summer. During the dog days of summer, the sunshine hours are long and the Yang energy in nature is at its most vigorous. At this time, Chinese medicine acupoint plastering treatment can achieve significant therapeutic effects to strengthen the body and prevent and treat "winter diseases". Common diseases suitable for "treating winter diseases in summer" include colds, bronchitis, bronchial asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary emphysema, allergic rhinitis, rheumatism and rheumatoid arthritis, and spleen and stomach deficiency and cold diseases. In addition, summer is also a good season for external use of Chinese medicine. For example, bathing with decoction of Chinese medicine can prevent and treat a variety of skin diseases.