During summer, high temperatures often lead to decreased appetite, loss of interest in food, physical fatigue, low energy levels, reduced work efficiency, and weight loss. This condition is known as "summer malaise."Though far less recognized than heatstroke, summer fatigue can be quite debilitating. The oppressive heat often dampens appetite, leading to reduced digestive function—a state described as "three parts weakness without illness." This can manifest as mental fatigue, chest and abdominal bloating, and weight loss.
Why Gastrointestinal Disorders Surge in Summer
Statistics indicate that among summer gastrointestinal patients, one-third suffer from bloating, one-third experience diarrhea, and the remaining third primarily exhibit gastrointestinal pain and constipation. Key factors contributing to these conditions include:
First, rising temperatures accelerate bacterial growth in food, increasing spoilage and decay.Consuming unclean or spoiled food can easily trigger acute gastritis, manifesting as stomach pain, bloating, and vomiting.
Second, to dissipate internal heat, the body dilates skin blood vessels, increasing blood flow to the extremities. This reduces blood supply to the gastrointestinal tract, lowering its resistance. Profuse sweating causes loss of electrolytes, trace elements, and vitamins. Excessive water intake dilutes digestive fluids in the gastrointestinal tract, impairing digestion and absorption. This leads to symptoms like loss of appetite, weight loss, and malnutrition.
Finally, consuming cold beverages or overly spicy foods, along with excessive air conditioning, are also significant contributors to gastrointestinal discomfort.
Three Dietary Principles for Summer
Summer marks the period when the spleen and stomach are weakest. Yet hot weather often tempts people to seek coolness, stay up late, and rest poorly—further depleting yang energy and damaging the spleen and stomach, thus triggering the so-called summer malaise.Huang Qihui emphasizes three dietary considerations during summer fatigue:
1. Replenish potassium
Heavy sweating in summer depletes potassium ions, leading to hypokalemia. This deficiency causes fatigue, dizziness, headaches, loss of appetite, and heatstroke.The most effective way to prevent potassium deficiency in hot weather is to consume potassium-rich foods. Fresh fruits and vegetables (such as celery, edamame, and bananas) contain significant amounts of potassium. Tea also contains considerable potassium, so drinking more tea during hot weather can both relieve summer heat and replenish potassium—a win-win solution.
2. Limit cold beverages
Summer heat weakens digestive function, so prioritize foods that clear heat and drain dampness—such as watermelon, bitter melon, black plum, strawberries, tomatoes, mung beans, cucumbers, and asparagus.Simultaneously, focus on nourishing yang energy and promoting fluid production to replenish yin. Foods like schisandra berries, solomon's seal root, jujube seeds, pigeon meat, black beans, wood ear mushrooms, and pine nuts can be used for therapeutic purposes. Avoid excessive consumption of cold beverages and chilled foods during summer to prevent damaging yang energy.
3. Opt for Mild Tonification
Bitter melon consumed in summer clears heat and stimulates appetite. However, it should be blanched in hot water and combined with garlic—a pairing that aligns with traditional Chinese medicine's principle of "pungent opens, bitter descends." This combination of spicy and bitter flavors promotes qi circulation, expels turbidity, and enhances appetite.
For those with weak spleen and stomach, dietary principles should focus on "light nourishment"—tonifying qi and nourishing yin, strengthening the spleen and stomach, clearing summer heat, and transforming dampness."Gentle tonification" involves consuming sweet, cool, and moisturizing foods to replenish depleted qi and yin. This approach avoids the drying nature of qi-tonifying herbs and the stomach-damaging bitterness of heat-clearing herbs, achieving tonification without dryness and clearing without coldness. It dispels summer heat while strengthening the constitution.
Common herbs for gentle tonification include American ginseng, dendrobium, and ophiopogon, which can be used to make tea or soups.For those experiencing more pronounced heat symptoms—such as dark urine and significant dry mouth—adding bamboo leaves, lotus leaves, or watermelon rind to boiled water as a tea substitute can enhance heat-clearing effects. Additionally, foods like Chinese yam, red dates, sea cucumber, eggs, milk, honey, lotus root, wood ear fungus, soft-shelled turtle, soy milk, lily bulb congee, and chrysanthemum congee are all excellent choices for summer nourishment.