Food Therapy to Reduce the Stress of Summer Climate Changes

Abstract

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM) recognize that weather changes such as Wind, Heat, Damp, Dry, or Cold, alone or in combination, can be a source of seasonal stress which can lead to imbalance and disease in the body. In TCM and TCVM, food may be characterized as warming, cooling, neutral, hot, or cold. Changing the diet when the seasons or weather change can help prevent and treat imbalances in the body. Summer brings forth Heat (Yang) that is combined with either Dampness (temperate zones, tropics and subtropics) or Dryness (desert and drought areas). During the summer, dry commercial dog foods (Yang), dehydrated foods (Yang) and foods that produce Heat in the body such as soybean and safflower oils, shrimp, eel, lamb, chicken, chicken liver, beef marrow bone, turmeric, garlic, ginger, rosemary and basil should be avoided. In general during hot summers, foods should be lighter in fat, non-processed, and meat fed raw (especially in dry climates) but at room temperature. Fish, eggs, and tofu are good may be fed as occasional substitutes for meat or added to the meat during dry summer weather. The energetic and therapeutic effects of various foods are reviewed so the TCVM practitioner can design a diet to prevent and treat various imbalances within the body during the onset of Summer Heat. Besides treating imbalances in the body with acupuncture and herbs, a diet change is often an important part of the therapy.