Staying Healthy with the Seasons: Summer

By Eyton Shalom

Rachel P. from Rancho Penasquitos writes, “My massage therapist, who is studying Chinese medicine, told me that I am a ‘fire’ type and that I should be careful to maintain my balance during the summer months. What does this mean?”

In Chinese medicine, the element fire, which corresponds to heat, joy, laughter, the bitter taste, the color red, the sense of speech, the blood vessels, and the heart and small intestine, predominates in summer. Fire types are dominated by the heart organ/energy and they tend towards creativity and activity. The wood element/liver energy plans and commands, the fire element/heart energy carries plans into action, the earth carries plans into action, the earth element/spleen energy, sustains action long enough to become physical manifestation. In the summer the earth manifests Yang. Energies are at their peak and are moving upward and outward, brightly and lightly. This is a good time to take advantage of the cosmic forces and engage in lots of activity and exercise, to soak up the solar qi. But heart types, who are already very active, must guard against extremes. They are already circulating inside as if it were summer year round. If not grounded by the yin of the water element/kidney energy, they can suffer from symptoms of the “heart and kidneys are not communicating.” Their nervous system becomes overactive and they develop symptoms like insomnia, restlessness, absentmindedness, depression, fatigue, mouth sores, and constipation. Their pulse becomes thready and rapid and their tongue looks red and often have a red tip.

Summer is a natural time to play and have fun. Other signs of imbalance in summer or of the heart/fire complex can be an inability to play or be playful, excessive seriousness or shyness, and faintheartedness. Heart imbalance can manifest as deficiency (not enough heart qi) with symptoms of insomnia, palpitations, bleeding uterus, and nightmares, accompanied by fatigue, a pale tongue, and a weak pulse. It can manifest an excess (too much qi or blood in the heart leading to stagnation of heart energy) with symptoms of irritability, chest pain, increased temperature, and volatile emotions, accompanied by a dark purplish tongue, and a choppy or tight pulse. Both patterns are readily treatable with a combination of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, but the best medicine is prevention. So summer is the time to expand, grow, travel, learn something new, and strengthen the changes in lifestyle that you began in spring.

In the area of diet there are some very specific mistakes made in summer that are guaranteed to lead to trouble in autumn and winter. It is said that if you take care in summer you will not be sick in winter or sneezing in fall. I have found this to be absolutely correct in my clinical practice. Summer is a time for the yang qi to expand and move upwards with the sweat through the pores. This has a cleansing effect and rids the body of accumulated toxins. Many of us get overheated and sweat too much, leading to fatigue and exhaustion. We remedy the situation with excessive air conditioning and copious amounts of iced beverages. Coldness causes contraction, holding in the sweat and heat and interfering with digestive functions. Too many iced beverages and ice cream will definitely weaken a spleen function, which in turn will lead to excessive dampness and phlegm accumulating in the lungs. The result will be an increased tendency towards autumn allergies and winter colds.

What’s a mother to do? Remember that phrase “cool as a cucumber?” Try cooling your body rather than refrigerating it. Salads, sprouts, fruits, tofu, lemonade, flower and mint teas, young coconut, and mung bean soup are all very cooling without being freezing.

People with weak immune systems, allergies, and frequent colds in the winter or who want to treat their asthma holistically, should begin treatment no later than August. I have definitely seen patient’s winter colds, allergies, and asthma disappear or be reduced sharply when beginning treatment in the summer. Healing is a process, not a pill. If you want to cure yourself holistically, you must invest your time and energy before the fact, not after.

 ***Happy Summer!***