The Dog Days of Summer: A Guide to Staying Healthy Through 40 Days of Heat

The Dog Days of Summer: A Guide to Staying Healthy Through 40 Days of HeatAs the old saying goes, "Hot in the dog days, cold in the nine yangs," and with the dog days of summer right around the corner, are you already starting to worry about how to survive the scorching heat? You might feel constantly sweaty, sticky, and struggling to eat and sleep well. It can be a real struggle

The Dog Days of Summer: A Guide to Staying Healthy Through 40 Days of Heat

As the old saying goes, "Hot in the dog days, cold in the nine yangs," and with the dog days of summer right around the corner, are you already starting to worry about how to survive the scorching heat? You might feel constantly sweaty, sticky, and struggling to eat and sleep well. It can be a real struggle.

But don't worry! The ancients said, "Nourish yourself in the nine yangs in winter, and nourish yourself in the dog days in summer." Even though the dog days are hot, they are also the most important time of the year for health care. By mastering the right methods, you can comfortably get through these 40 days of blazing heat, even using this opportunity to adjust your body and lay a foundation for next year.

Here's the schedule for the dog days of 2024:

• First Dog Day: July 15 - July 24, 2024 (10 days)

• Middle Dog Day: July 25 - August 13, 2024 (20 days)

• Last Dog Day: August 14 - August 23, 2024 (10 days)

Today, let's delve into how to scientifically nourish yourself during the dog days, ensuring you can relax and enjoy these hottest 40 days!

Five Key Points for Healthy Living During the Dog Days

1. Don't Overdo the Coolness

The dog days bring unbearable heat, and most people choose to hide in air-conditioned rooms or sleep with the AC on. However, excessive coolness can lead to chills and various health problems, making it a losing proposition. During the dog days, try to avoid the following:

• Staying in air-conditioned rooms for long periods: Air-conditioned rooms are excessively cold, which causes blood vessels to constrict, affecting blood circulation and even leading to colds, joint pain, and other issues. Set the air conditioner to around 26C and ventilate the room regularly.

• Taking a cold shower after sweating profusely: When you sweat profusely, your pores are open. If you immediately wash with cold water, it's easy for cold air to enter your body, causing chills and leading to colds, stomach aches, diarrhea, and other symptoms. It's recommended to first wash with warm water, then use cold water for a few minutes, and finally rinse with warm water.

• Overly cold drinks: Cold drinks can relieve heat, but excessively cold beverages irritate the gastrointestinal tract, causing digestive problems like stomach aches, diarrhea, and indigestion. Allow cold drinks to warm up a bit before slowly swallowing.

• Avoid sleeping in chilly environments: Your body relaxes when sleeping, making it more susceptible to cold air. Turn off the air conditioner before bed or use a hot water bottle to warm the bed to avoid getting chilled.

2. Sleep Well During the "Zi" and "Wu" Hours

The dog days are the hottest time of year, so prioritize sleeping during the "Zi" and "Wu" hours for yin and yang nourishment and body function regulation.

• Zi Hour: This is from 11pm to 1am, the time when yin energy is most abundant and yang energy is weakest, representing the liver meridian's circulation. Sleeping during the Zi hour best nourishes yin, resulting in the most effective sleep.

• Wu Hour: This is from 11am to 1pm, the time when yang energy is most abundant and yin energy is weakest, the time for blood to flow through the heart meridian. Sleeping during the Wu hour helps nourish yang.

It's important to note that summer favors going to bed later and waking up earlier. This doesn't mean staying up late; try to go to bed by 11pm so that your liver can "detoxify" overnight. Waking up early to breathe in fresh air welcomes the start of the day.

3. Appetite-Inducing Diet

High summer temperatures can lead to loss of appetite and indigestion. Therefore, focus on light, easily digestible foods during the dog days, while prioritizing replenishment to enhance your body's resistance.

• Eat bitter foods: Bitter melon, dandelion greens, buckwheat, and other bitter foods have heat-clearing and cooling effects, stimulate appetite, and aid digestion.

• Replenish with Qi-enforcing and yin-nourishing foods: Sweating excessively in summer can easily deplete Qi and injure yin. Foods like yam, red dates, lotus root, and wood ear have Qi-enforcing and yin-nourishing effects, benefiting kidney yin, and helping your body recover Qi.

• Moderate protein intake: Chicken, duck, and lean pork, which are neutral or cool in nature, nourish yin and stomach, strengthen the spleen, and replenish energy for your body.

4. Moderate Exercise

Even though it's hot during the dog days, proper exercise is beneficial. Choose less intense activities like Tai Chi, yoga, or walking to help your body sweat, promote blood circulation, and improve your overall health.

• Practice Tai Chi in the morning: Tai Chi's gentle movements can help expel lingering cold in the body, enhance your immune system.

• Soak your feet in hot water before bed: Soaking your feet in hot water can relax muscles and tendons, improve blood circulation, relieve fatigue, and enhance sleep quality.

5. Eliminate Summer Dampness

Summer dampness is heavy during the dog days, which can cause fatigue, loss of appetite, and lethargy. Therefore, it's important to focus on getting rid of dampness.

• Massage the Zu San Li (ST 36) acupoint: Zu San Li is a crucial acupoint in the body that strengthens the spleen and stomach, regulates Qi and blood, and helps eliminate dampness.

• Soak your feet in warm water: Soaking your feet in 40C warm water before bed can also eliminate dampness and improve sleep quality.

• Sweat intentionally: Appropriate exercise that makes you sweat can help eliminate dampness through perspiration.

• Use dog day plasters: Dog day plasters are a traditional Chinese medicine therapy that helps eliminate dampness and enhance immunity.

• Dietary dampness elimination: Red bean, mung bean, and lotus leaf porridge; (Agastache rugosa), (Eupatorium fortunei), and (Atractylodes macrocephala) tea; ginger slices boiled in water all have dampness-eliminating effects.

Dog Days Health-Nourishing Recipes

In addition to the above points, you can also adjust your body and enhance your resistance by consuming health-nourishing recipes during the dog days. Here are three delicious and healthy recommendations:

1. Duck Meat for the Dog Days: Nourishing and Superior to Beef and Lamb

Wang Mengying, a Qing Dynasty medical expert, said duck meat can "nourish the five visceral yin, clear heat from internal emptiness, replenish blood, eliminate water, nurture the stomach, and generate fluids," making it beneficial for the body in this season. The heat-clearing and Qi-boosting effect of winter melon paired with the spleen-strengthening, stomach-regulating, and Qi-tonifying qualities of water duck make this a prime choice for a refreshing and nourishing soup during the hot summer.

Winter Melon Water Duck Soup

• Ingredients: 1 kg mature winter melon (including rind and seeds), 1/4 fresh lotus leaf, 50 g lotus seeds, 50 g lily bulbs, 1 water duck, 100 g lean pork, 3 slices of ginger.

• Instructions: Wash and cut the mature winter melon into pieces. Soak the lotus seeds and lily bulbs in water for 15 minutes. Clean and chop the water duck. Wash the lean pork. Combine all ingredients in a clay pot, add appropriate amount of water, bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat for 2 hours. Season with salt to taste.

• Benefits: Clears heat and eliminates summer heat, while also removing dampness.

2. Lotus Seeds for the Dog Days: Coolness and Heart Nourishment

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that lotus seeds are sweet and neutral, with the ability to tonify the spleen, stop diarrhea, benefit the kidneys, consolidate essence, and nourish the heart and calm the spirit. If you have heart palpitations, insomnia, and other symptoms caused by heart-kidney disharmony, then lotus seeds are an excellent choice.

Lotus Seeds, Lily Bulb, and Lean Pork Soup

• Ingredients: 20 g lotus seeds (remove the hearts), 20 g lily bulbs, 100 g lean pork

• Instructions: Combine with water and simmer together. Season with salt after the meat is cooked through. Consume once a day.

• Benefits: Suitable for those with dry cough, insomnia, heart restlessness, palpitation, and other symptoms after staying up late.

3. Poria for the Dog Days: Eliminate Dampness Without Harming the Spleen

There's a saying, "Nine out of ten herbs are Poria," meaning Poria is a frequent ingredient in herbal formulas. Poria has a neutral nature and excels at

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