The Classic of Medical Problems states: “During the three summer months, this is the season of flourishing. Heaven and earth are in communication, and all things are blossoming and bearing fruit. Sleep late and rise early, do not tire of the sun. Keep your mind from anger, let your beauty flourish, allow your energy to be released, as if what you love is external. This corresponds with the summer qi, the principle of nourishment and growth.”
Summer is the season when yang qi is most abundant, and the human body enters a phase of rapid metabolism. With yang qi outside and yin qi within, one often feels irritable, has a poor appetite, feels weak, and sweats profusely.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) advocates living in harmony with the seasons. During this period, the human body should adapt to nature, and in this season of rising yang qi, enhance one's own yang qi to lay the foundation for health in the coming year.
According to TCM, heat is the main qi of summer, while dampness is the main qi of late summer. From Grains in Ear, Grain in Ear, Summer Solstice, to Minor Heat, these four solar terms mark the dominance of heat. From Major Heat, Start of Autumn, End of Heat, to White Dew, these four solar terms signify the dominance of dampness.
As the south is located in a damp area, the entire summer is surrounded by heat and dampness. Due to the influence of heat and dampness, people experience a series of discomforts. To survive the summer, one must carefully study heat and dampness and do well in avoiding heat and dampness.
Drinking tea in summer can not only relieve heat and clear heart fire but also strengthen the spleen and stomach and dispel dampness. When paired with different Chinese herbs, tea can alleviate various discomforts caused by summer heat and dampness. Herbs like mint, mulberry leaves, chrysanthemum, and buckwheat can also alleviate headaches, throat pain, and assist in lowering blood pressure, cholesterol, and sugar levels.
Below, we will recommend several teas suitable for summer!
Relieving Heat
The summer climate is hot, and there is much sweating. Heat invades internally, depleting body fluids, which can lead to fatigue, thirst, and skin rashes.
At this time, drinking tea can help clear heat and quench thirst. Green tea and white tea are preferred over dark tea and black tea, which are fermented teas, as they have better effects in cooling and dispelling heat.
PS: For those prone to rashes, add a small amount of honeysuckle to Longjing tea to make Silver Flower Longjing (specific method: 3g honeysuckle, 3g Longjing tea, pour boiling water).
Efficacy: Honeysuckle has a sweet, cold nature and enters the lung, heart, and stomach meridians. It clears heat and detoxifies, cools and disperses wind heat. It is commonly used for carbuncles, sore throat, erysipelas, febrile diseases, and other conditions. When combined with green tea, it can better dispel the heat and is effective for itching and rashes in summer. Those who do not enjoy drinking tea can increase the amount of honeysuckle to 9-15g, brew it into a decoction for bathing, which can provide some cooling and itch-relieving effects.
Clearing Heart Fire
Heat is connected to the heart, and intense heat often leads to irritability, restlessness, and dizziness. “It can clear the heart” is the most important characteristic of tea, an inscription that ancients carved on tea utensils, imbued with special meaning.
Caffeine in tea can invigorate the mind and dispel summer drowsiness; theanine in tea can calm and soothe the mind, alleviating internal agitation.
Choose green tea, white tea, or oolong tea, which are unfermented or lightly fermented. For those experiencing severe irritability, bamboo leaf tea can be selected (specific method: 3g light bamboo leaf, 1g green tea, prepared similarly to green tea).
Efficacy: Light bamboo leaf has a sweet and bland taste, a cold nature, and enters the heart, lung, gallbladder, and stomach meridians. It clears heat, removes agitation, generates body fluids, and promotes urination. It is commonly used for feverish thirst, convulsions in children, cough, vomiting, red face, short and yellow urine, and mouth ulcers. Combined with green tea, it can further clear the heart and remove agitation. One cup quenches thirst, and two cups bring peace.
If agitation affects sleep, 1-3g lotus seed core can be used as a tea, which has a certain calming effect to aid sleep. However, those with weak spleen and stomach and prone to diarrhea should not drink the above teas.
Strengthening the Spleen and Stomach
Image
The scorching weather often affects appetite, and during late summer, many people experience poor appetite and lack of desire to eat. Dark tea, a post-Fermented tea, has a mild and rich nature, which can strengthen the spleen and stomach, eliminate turbidity, and reduce greasiness. When properly paired, the effects are doubled.
Here is a recipe for Shenqu tea: 3-6g Shenqu, 3g dark tea, pour boiling water.
Efficacy: Shenqu is made by mixing Polygonum cuspidatum, Artemisia carvifolia, apricot kernels, and other herbs with flour or bran and fermenting them. It is an essential herb for digestion and tonifying the spleen and stomach, eliminating food stagnation, and regulating digestion. It is best to use raw Shenqu for tea brewing. If unavailable, use roasted Shenqu instead, which has a slightly bitter taste and a less pleasant flavor.
Dispelling Dampness
During late summer, dampness prevails. High temperatures and humidity often cause fatigue, heavy limbs, dizziness, chest tightness, abdominal distension, and loose stools. At this time, the focus of health preservation should be on dispelling dampness.
Choose dark tea, which can lower lipids and dispel turbidity, and can be combined with herbs like Eupatorium, cardamom, tangerine Peel, reed root, and lablab flower. Specific method: 3g dark tea, 3g cardamom, 3g Eupatorium, boil 1-2 liters of water for 3 minutes.
Efficacy: Cardamom and Eupatorium have fragrant aromas and can dispel surface heat and harmonize the middle. Combined with dark tea, the aroma and taste are both excellent, capable of dispelling dampness and relieving heat, regulating qi, and widening the chest. They can alleviate symptoms like heaviness in the head and body, fatigue, and abdominal distension caused by heat and dampness.
The Tang Dynasty poet Lu Tong wrote: “After seven bowls, I cannot bear it, only feeling a gentle breeze blowing from my armpits.”
Please drink more tea!
END
Wang Tao
Zhejiang Hospital TCM Internal Medicine Attending TCM Physician, Master of Traditional Chinese Medicine, graduated from Zhejiang Chinese Medical University. Clinically follows the methods of