After the beginning of summer, it is important to nourish the yang and "nourish the heart"

Health Tips

Lixia is one of the 24 solar terms in the lunar calendar, the first solar term in summer, marking the official start of midsummer. It is the solar term when the sun reaches 45 degrees of the ecliptic longitude. So, in this gradually hot Lixia season, how can we do a good job of health preservation?

Traditional Chinese medicine points out that at the beginning of summer, the weather is dry, with more wind and less rain, and the human body's water is more easily lost through breathing, sweating, etc., especially when summer comes, people tend to be irritable and anxious.

1. Take your lunch break seriously

After entering the Beginning of Summer, the days become longer and the nights shorter. At this time, in accordance with the change of the yang being strong and the yin being weak in nature, we should sleep relatively late and wake up early to absorb the clear and bright energy of heaven and earth. We should pay special attention to taking a good "midnight nap".

In summer, the heart yang is at its most vigorous and powerful. When the temperature rises, people tend to get irritable and lose their temper. This is because the high temperature exacerbates people's nervousness and excessive heart fire.

At this time, people not only have mood swings, but their body's immune function is also relatively low. If there is any problem with their daily life and diet, various diseases will occur.

"Nourishing Yang in spring and summer" focuses on "nourishing the heart". Therefore, after the beginning of summer, you may want to take a lunch break.

Taking a nap to adjust and compensate for lack of sleep at night can allow the brain and various body systems to relax and rest, which is more conducive to work or study in the afternoon and evening.

How to take a nap more healthily?

First of all, don't eat greasy food or eat too much before going to bed, because greasy food will increase blood viscosity, aggravate coronary artery disease, increase the burden of gastric digestion, and affect the quality of lunch break.

Secondly, a healthy nap is most appropriate for 15 to 30 minutes. If it exceeds 30 minutes, the body will enter a deep sleep that is difficult to wake up. It is better to extend it to 1 to 1.5 hours to complete a whole sleep cycle.

2. Eat a light diet

At the beginning of summer, the Qian hexagram is in effect. The changes in nature are that the Yang Qi gradually grows and the Yin Qi gradually weakens. In terms of the human body's internal organs, the liver Qi gradually weakens and the heart Qi gradually strengthens. People will feel irritable and have a decreased appetite.

The dietary principle at this time is "nourishing yang in spring and summer". Nourishing yang focuses on nourishing the heart. To nourish the heart, you can drink more milk, eat more soy products, chicken, lean meat, etc., which can not only supplement nutrition, but also strengthen the heart.

It is advisable to adopt the principle of "increasing sourness and reducing bitterness, nourishing the kidney and liver, and regulating stomach qi". The diet should be light, mainly composed of easily digestible foods rich in vitamins, and eat more fruits and vegetables, and coarse grains.

Eat less meat, fish, animal offal, greasy and spicy food; also eat less salty food, such as salted fish and pickles.

It is especially recommended to add mung beans, lotus seeds, lotus leaves, reed roots, lentils, etc. to japonica rice and cook them into porridge, and then eat it after cooling. It can strengthen the stomach and dispel heat.

Eating more vegetables, fruits and whole grains on a regular basis can increase the supply of fiber, vitamin B and vitamin C, which can help prevent arteriosclerosis.

3. Pay attention to "rest"

After the beginning of summer, the weather turns hot, and people's minds are easily disturbed, causing restlessness. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that "summer qi and heart qi are connected", so special attention should be paid to "resting quietly".

During the Beginning of Summer, we should strengthen the care of our heart, especially the elderly. We should "refrain from anger and impatience", keep our mind calm, our emotions cheerful, our mood comfortable, our hearts relaxed and happy, and smile often.

Avoid getting too happy or too angry, and don't be too radical. Instead, you should maintain a happy mood, be at ease and enjoy yourself, and stay clear-headed and in a good mood.

In daily life, you can do more quiet cultural and sports activities, such as painting, fishing, calligraphy, playing chess, planting flowers, listening to light music, etc.

4. Avoid greed for coolness

The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine says: "In autumn and winter, nourish yin, and in spring and summer, nourish yang." During the Beginning of Summer, the key to maintaining health is to follow the yin and yang and allow the yang to grow more vigorously.

As the climate gets warmer, the summer heat opens the body's pores. If you stay in front of a fan for a long time or stay in an air-conditioned room for a long time, the cold will enter the body directly, making you feel dizzy, tired, and mentally sleepy, making you more likely to catch a cold. In severe cases, it can cause bronchitis, pneumonia, arthritis, etc.

You should eat less cold drinks to avoid damaging the spleen and stomach's function of transportation and transformation, which may lead to long-term symptoms such as loss of appetite, abdominal pain, and abnormal bowel movements. It will also affect the growth and development of children.

Therefore, even in summer, we should pay attention to protecting the body's yang energy, that is, use less air conditioning and stay away from cold drinks. The key to nourishing yang is "don't be greedy for coolness."

5. Exercise properly

Summer belongs to the element of fire, and the climate is hot. It is the season when all things grow vigorously. It is also the period when the human body's yang energy is at its peak and metabolism is vigorous.

After the beginning of summer, the temperature gradually rises and it is easy to sweat. Many people are afraid of heat and sweating, so they hide in air-conditioned rooms all day long, which makes them prone to varying degrees of qi stagnation and blood stasis symptoms.

In fact, proper sweating can lower body temperature and also detoxify.

When exercising in the summer, you should choose slow-paced aerobic exercises such as walking, jogging, and Tai Chi, and drink warm water after exercise to replenish body fluids.

The intensity of the activity should be such that you do not feel tired, and the duration should not exceed 1 hour to reduce the load on your heart.

Many people think that the best time to exercise is in the morning, and the earlier the better. In fact, before dawn, the air is not fresh, which is not conducive to fitness.

Studies have shown that before 6 a.m. in summer, pollutants in the air are least likely to spread, which is the peak period of pollution. Therefore, it is advisable to choose to exercise between 7 and 8 a.m. or 4 and 5 p.m.