TCM Kitchen: What to Eat for Major Heat
by Mimi Wang
Eating with the seasonal energetics of foods can greatly improve your digestion and mood. In Chinese Medicine, food cures and diet therapy play a significant role in relieving ailments, preventing illness, and maintaining overall health.
Rather than analyzing food based on their biochemical makeup, foods in TCM are categorized by their energetic properties and their effects on the body’s organs and meridians. As harmony and balance is always the goal, seasonal eating has undoubtedly become a fundamental aspect to dietary therapy.
What is “Major Heat”?
The Traditional Chinese Calendar or Lunisolar Calendar divides each season into 6 sub-sections, each lasting roughly 2 weeks. These are called a “solar term”. On July 22nd, we head into the midpoint – the hottest solar term of the year aptly named “Major Heat - Dà Shǔ”. The sun reaches its zenith and temperatures soar in the Northern Hemisphere.
It is associated with the Fire element, and the body becomes most vulnerable to heat-related illnesses. We enjoy light food this time of year to combat the heat and heaviness of the climate, and to assist our digestion as our metabolism slows.
TCM wisdom not only shows us what to eat, but also when to eat and how to eat in order to balance your body each season. Here are some ancient dietary tips to support your body this summer.
How to adjust your diet for ‘Major Heat’
Add these to your diet to support your body during the hottest season of the year.
1. Embrace the Bitter
In the West, Bitter is not often a fan favourite. However, bitter foods have significant benefits during the summer season. In the summer we tend to enjoy more raw and light foods, shortening or skipping all together the cooking stage that stimulate the cephalic stage of digestion. Bitter foods will increase your stomach acid production. This in turn kickstarts the production of all other digestive juices down the line, such as your gall bladder, pancreas and small intestine.
In TCM, bitter foods drain heat from the body and dries dampness, a sluggish pathogen that accumulates often from stress, dairy & sugar consumption. When you’ve eaten one too many ice cream cones, here are some bitter foods to help your body out:
Dandelion greens
Bitter melon
Turnips
Watercress
Bamboo shoots
Artichokes
Mustard greens
Basil
2. Combat the Heat
Cooling foods naturally become the focus of this season as the climate throws off the balance of our internal heat. When the body is out of balance in this way, we may experience irritability, restlessness, headaches, acid reflux, night sweats, difficulty concentrating, and even emotional lability.
Cooling foods can detoxify and cleanse excess heat from the body, and harmonize our internal yin & yang energies.
Add these cooling foods to your grocery list to help combat the heat:
Watermelon
Mung Bean
Coconut
Kelp
Cucumbers
Wintermelon
Shellfish
Tofu
3. Nourish Yin & Fluids
Yin represents the inward nourishing, grounding and moisturizing aspects of the body. It governs your body’s fluids including blood, mucus, synovial fluid, and moisture in your skin and membranes. Yin is at risk of being consumed especially during this time of year.
This simple yet nourishing floral tea will not only keep you cool, but also nourish your yin and replenish fluids of the body.
Recipe: Summer Floral Tea
*dried flowers - use a handful of each
Chrysanthemum - dried
Roselle - dried
Easter Lily -dried
Rose buds - dried
Mint
Goji Berries – 1/3 cup
Honey
Bring 6-8 cups of water to a boil. Add in goji berries and equal handfuls of dried flowers and turn off the heat. Stir in honey to desired sweetness. Add fresh leaves of mint and transfer to a glass jug to chill.
Additional TCM Tips
In addition to adding the above to your grocery list, you can also apply the following for extra support during this summer.
1 Resist the BBQ
Yes, BBQ & Summer are indeed soulmates, but did you know charred, roasted and baked foods consume your yin? This year, try steaming or a gentle stir fry to help your body replenish its fluids.
2 Eat cooling foods after 12:00 PM
Your body naturally vents stored heat from sunrise until noon. Avoid eating cooling foods during this time so as not to trap the heat in your body. You can even lend a helping hand with a bowl of soup, or warm tea in the morning.
3 Easy on the greasy
Fried, oily foods are incredibly taxing on your digestive system. When consumed, they build heat in the body, consume your qi, and generate pathogenic dampness. Help your gut in the heat by considering lighter meals.
Traditional Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture Vancouver
Our bodies are constantly interacting and responding to environmental changes. Chinese Medicine takes a holistic approach to health. Its modalities, from acupuncture, herbal remedies, to diet therapy all aim to restore your body’s optimal function to make you feel more aligned and balanced.
Meet Mimi
Mimi supports patients struggling with common ailments arising from a demanding urban lifestyle, including sleep imbalance, digestive issues, anxiety and compromised immunity. With a compassionate approach, she meets you where you are to help you uncover the root cause of your concerns and how it connects to your daily routines.
