Editor's note: In hot summer, the weather is sultry and humid. If you are not careful, it will bring too much moisture to your body. If the moisture in the body is not removed in time, the human body will have a series of uncomfortable symptoms, such as easy fatigue, drowsiness, loss of appetite, sticky mouth, and even sticky stool. Yesterday's summer heat, the hottest solar term of the year, also reached its peak, and Shuo Wen Jie Zi said, "Summer heat is also hot". How should we spend it in this hot and humid season?
what is moisture?
dampness is one of the six qi "wind, cold, summer heat, dampness, dryness and fire", which corresponds to dryness and is the condition for the growth of all things. But when the humidity exceeds the range that the human body can adjust, it will lead to the occurrence of diseases, which is called dampness evil in Chinese medicine. Diseases caused by dampness often have hidden onset, long course of disease and slow change, and may recur or persist, such as eczema, arthritis and asthma.
In addition, damp pathogens often attack the human body in combination with other pathogenic factors instead of fighting alone. It can be combined with wind to form rheumatism, cold to form dampness, heat to form damp heat, summer heat to form damp heat, and there may be cases where wind, cold and dampness or wind, dampness and heat are combined. It can be seen that wet evil is really a troublesome guy.
why are modern people so humid?
Many modern urbanites suffer from heavy humidity, mainly because of unhealthy lifestyles. People who drink cold beer and eat barbecue in summer can be seen everywhere. Others eat irregularly, sometimes they are too busy to eat, and sometimes they overeat. Their spleen and stomach transport and transformation functions have been destroyed, and water will be wet for a long time in the body. In addition, blowing or showering on the air conditioner immediately after sweating a lot, emotional depression, mental stress and other factors will make the body fluid transport abnormal, leading to wet disease.
Therefore, the primary task of eliminating dampness is to develop good eating habits, and eat properly and regularly. Don't make up a lot of meat, ginseng, velvet antler, etc. just because you think you are weak. Secondly, proper sports such as Tai Ji Chuan, Baduanjin, walking, ballroom dancing, square dancing, jogging, cycling, mountain climbing, etc., are all helpful to the circulation of qi and blood, and to eliminate phlegm and dampness. At the same time, we should also keep the air circulation and moderate temperature in the residence, ensure adequate sleep and relieve bad emotions in time. Finally, there are some acupoints with good dampness eliminating effect, such as Yinlingquan, Fenglong, Zusanli, Pishu, Sanyinjiao, Sanjiaoshu, Shenshu, Shuishui, etc., which can be combined with acupuncture, warm moxibustion, massage and other methods. However, due to the differences of cold and dampness, damp heat, external dampness and internal dampness, it is recommended to go to the hospital for treatment based on syndrome differentiation.
Three beans should be eaten in summer to eliminate dampness
From the point of view of traditional Chinese medicine, beans are the seeds of plants with strong hygroscopicity, so most beans have the characteristics of invigorating the spleen and eliminating dampness. To get rid of dampness in summer, mung beans, red beans and lentils are the first choice.
1. Mung beans: Mung bean products have the effects of clearing away summer heat, promoting diuresis and eliminating dampness, such as mung bean soup, mung bean cake and mung bean powder. "Seeking Truth from Materia Medica" has a saying: "Mung beans are sweet and cold, and according to the book, they are extremely good. They can thicken the stomach, moisten the skin, and nourish the five internal organs and spleen and stomach." However, as a cold product, it is not suitable for people with spleen and stomach deficiency and easy defecation.
2. red bean: also called red bean, it can be used as red bean soup, red bean porridge or red bean paste. Boiling water alone has a good effect of eliminating dampness. Compendium of Materia Medica calls it "diuretic and detumescence".
3. Lentils: Lentils have the effects of invigorating the spleen, clearing away summer heat and eliminating dampness, and can also treat acute and chronic diarrhea and other diseases. They can be cooked with yam, cooked with bean porridge, lentil tea and eaten after frying. There are many praises for it in many works, such as "Lentils specialize in clearing away summer heat … eliminating water and dampness" in Differentiation of Medicinal Properties, and "stopping diarrhea, relieving summer heat, warming spleen and stomach, and eliminating damp heat" in Compendium of Materia Medica. However, it should be noted that lentils should be cooked when cooking to prevent food poisoning.
five tricks can help to get rid of moisture in the body
1. dietotherapy can help to get rid of dampness
You should eat more foods such as millet, coix seed, corn, adzuki bean, white radish, laver, lentils, kelp, papaya, yam, wax gourd, lotus seeds, gordon euryales, etc. Eat less sweet, greasy, sour and cold products.
1. Coix seed and adzuki bean porridge, take the same amount of Coix seed and adzuki bean, clean them, heat and boil them, then turn to low heat and cook them until the Coix seed and adzuki bean are cooked.
2. It is suggested to buy some fresh lotus leaves for lotus leaf porridge, put them in when the porridge is about to boil, stew for a while and eat them. Take the fresh breath of lotus leaves to take away the moisture in the body.
3. 1g of winter melon porridge and 1g of japonica rice. Cook with slow fire until the melon and rotten rice are cooked into porridge. Wax gourd has the function of diuresis and dampness, and it is also a good summer product. This porridge can reduce weight and promote diuresis, and is suitable for people who are obese and have high humidity. At the same time, wax gourd kernels are attractive, freckle-removing and whitening, and people are fit to lose weight.
2. Medicinal tea can invigorate the spleen, promote diuresis and refresh the mind
1. 1 grams of Huoxiang lotus leaf tea and 6 grams of lotus leaf can be drunk after being brewed in boiling water for half an hour. This tea will feel very refreshing in summer and help to get rid of moisture in the body.
2. Dried tangerine peel and Atractylodes macrocephala tea: 1g of dried tangerine peel and 1g of Atractylodes macrocephala are decocted in water for future generations to drink. This tea can strengthen the spleen and eliminate dampness, and is suitable for those who have moisture in the body, feel tired and weak, and have a heavy head and body.
Third, the living environment should be kept away from dampness
Huangdi Neijing states: "Those who are hurt by dampness will suffer first." It means that dampness hurts people, and it is the easiest to hurt the lower part. This is because the formation of dampness is often related to the evaporation of moisture on the ground, so its injury often starts from the lower part. Therefore, in summer, the bedroom must avoid humidity and try to make the air circulation, refreshing and dry.
IV. Proper exercise
Exercise can invigorate and stimulate the yang in the body. After exercise, the yang in the body can quickly eliminate the moisture in the body just like the summer sun eliminates the moisture on the ground.
5. Meridian recuperation
Press the acupoints of Shuifu and Fenglong with your thumb or middle finger, and do gentle circular rotation, and massage for 2 ~ 3 minutes with the acupoints feeling sore.
The water acupoint is located in the upper abdomen, on the anterior midline, and 1 inch above the umbilicus, which has the functions of resolving phlegm, eliminating dampness and dredging water channels.
Fenglong point is the collateral point of the stomach meridian of the foot Yangming, and the point is selected by hanging the foot, and a line is made between the front edge of the lateral ankle tip and the lateral knee eye, and the midpoint of this line is Fenglong point. Massage this point can enhance the transport ability of spleen and stomach to phlegm and dampness.
five kinds of tea to relieve summer heat and dampness
1. Xuanmai Ganju tea
Materials: 1 grams of Radix Scrophulariae, 1 grams of Ophiopogon japonicus, 6 grams of Platycodon grandiflorum and 6 grams of Glycyrrhiza uralensis
Usage: the above medicines are chopped into coarse powder, and the tea is brewed with boiling water.
this tea has the effects of moistening lung, promoting fluid production, relieving cough and resolving phlegm. Scrophularia has the effects of clearing away heat and cooling blood, nourishing yin and reducing fire, detoxifying and resolving hard mass; Ophiopogon japonicus can produce body fluid to quench thirst, moisten lung and relieve cough; Licorice has the functions of clearing away heat and toxic materials, eliminating phlegm and relieving cough, while platycodon grandiflorum helps to relieve cough, eliminate phlegm, spread lung and expel pus. Suitable for people with itchy throat, dry cough without phlegm, thirst and dry throat.
2. Lotus seed watermelon tea
Material: 1g of watermelon cuiyi and 3~5 lotus plums
Usage: brew with hot water and drink after cooling.
The tea has the effects of clearing away heat, relieving summer heat and relieving vexation. Watermelon green clothes can help relieve summer heat, polydipsia, edema, sore mouth, heatstroke and dry throat and cough caused by dry climate in autumn and winter; Lotus plumule can clear heart, remove heat, stop bleeding, astringent essence and so on. Suitable for patients with body fluid injury and oral ulcer.
3. Chrysanthemum Longjing tea
Material: 1g of chrysanthemum and 1g of Longjing tea.
usage: brew with boiling water for 1 minutes before drinking.
this tea has the effects of soothing wind and dissipating heat, clearing liver and improving eyesight. Chrysanthemum flowers dispel wind and clear heat, calm the liver and improve eyesight, and clear away heat and toxic materials; Longjing has the functions of promoting fluid production to quench thirst, refreshing mind, promoting digestion, relieving boredom, diminishing inflammation and detoxifying. Suitable for patients with early hypertension, headache and conjunctivitis.
4. huoxiang peilan tea
material: 1 grams of huoxiang and 1 grams of peilan respectively.
Usage: Wash with clear water, chop up, and soak in boiling water for 1 minutes.
this tea has the efficacy of detoxifying and removing summer heat and dampness. Both Pogostemon rugosa and Eupatorium odoratum can dispel dampness, invigorate spleen, remove filth, harmonize middle energizer, relieve summer-heat, and publish. Suitable for people with chest distress and summer dampness in summer.
5. ginseng and wolfberry tea
material: 5g of American ginseng and 5g of medlar.
usage: soak in boiling water for 1 minutes.
this tea has the effect of benefiting qi and promoting fluid production. Ginseng can tonify qi, remove stagnation, promote fluid production and soothe the nerves; Lycium barbarum helps to tonify deficiency and replenish essence. Suitable for patients with deficiency of both qi and yin.
Hot water soaking feet can also get rid of moisture.
Hot water soaking feet in winter has become a health-preserving method highly praised by ordinary people, which can warm the body and replenish qi. In fact, in the hot summer, soaking feet with hot water can get rid of moisture and also achieve the effect of health preservation. Yang is the most abundant in the dog days. Soaking feet with hot water can stimulate the six meridians of the foot, such as the stomach meridian of foot Yangming and bladder meridian of foot Taiyang, thus playing the role of strengthening the spleen, removing dampness, dredging meridians and promoting diuresis.
Many important meridians in the human body originate from the foot, and go all the way up and through the whole body. Traditional Chinese medicine pays attention to conforming to nature, nourishing yang in spring and summer and nourishing yin in autumn and winter. The sultry weather in summer often makes people feel tired and sleepy, especially office workers, whose work pressure is very great. Before going to bed, you can soak your feet with warm water appropriately, so that the meridians are unobstructed and the human body functions can be adjusted. It is convenient and simple, and it can also eliminate fatigue, relieve stress and improve sleep.
In summer, when the weather is hot, people like to eat some cold food or stay in an air-conditioned room often, which will lead to the invasion of dampness. At this time, you can choose Chinese medicine to soak your feet to eliminate dampness in your body, so as to achieve the effect of eliminating dampness and health care. You can use 1 grams of Pogostemon Pogostemon, 1 grams of perilla stem, 12 grams of Coicis Semen, 1 grams of Poria cocos, 6 grams of Rhizoma Pinelliae Preparata, 1 grams of Atractylodis Macrocephalae, 1 grams of Polyporus, 1 grams of Zanthoxylum bungeanum and 6 grams of Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. These medicines are soaked in water for half an hour, then boiled over high fire, then boiled over low fire for 15 minutes, and then poured into foot-soaking water together with traditional Chinese medicines to keep the water temperature at about 45 degrees. It's best to soak your feet deeper and have more water, and it's best not to cross your ankles. When the water in the footbath is cold, replenish it in time to keep the water temperature until you sweat slightly.