Here are some ideas of foods and recipes to add to your diet that can help you
stay hydrated and cool during the hot summer months.
If you like it simple........
Eat some chilled watermelon!
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine Theory, watermelon has a sweet
flavor - and empty sweet to be more specific. Empty sweets are cooling and
cleansing. Now who doesn't want to be cooled off and cleansed of heat just be
eating watermelon in the summer time?
Sweet foods enter the spleen and stomach meridians so it helps to
strengthen these organs and in turn help the body receive and process your food
optimally.
Sweet foods build up the body fluids and tissues in the body. Making them ideal
for thin and weak individuals who have dry skin, hair, and nails.
If you have time to throw it in a blender and drink it.....
This purple tofu smoothie contains ingredients that nourish the spleen, heart,
stomach, and large intestine organs. It has the nature and flavors of sweet,
cooling, and warming. In addition it is tonifies your qi
(increases your energy resources), and besides, it just tastes yummy!
You will need:
2 medium bananas
3 tablespoons of sunflower seeds
200gm or 7 oz. of blueberries
400gm or 14 oz of soft tofu
1.5 liters or 3 pints of rice or oat milk
Blend all the ingredients in a blender until smooth and drink it up!
If you want to store for later, make sure to cover it so you don't spoil the
bananas.
Note - This recipe was taken from a great book called "The Food Doctor"
by Edgson and Marber. It is designed as a breakfast smoothie that is great
for the heart and circulation. It provides a good ratio of protein to
carbohydrate to fats. Blueberries are abundant in flavanoids, known for their
artery-and blood-cleansing properties, while bananas are a rich source of
potassium and magnesium, both of which are important for regular heart function.
Sunflower seeds contain essential fatty acids to protect the artery membranes,
reduce accumulating cholesterol and are a good source of fiber. Tofu has
phyto-oestrogenic properties that regulate any excess circulating oestrogens,
which may play a part in the build-up of arterial plaque.
So, Western nutrition and Chinese Medicine agree that this is a great breakfast
treat for the heart, spleen, stomach, body fluids, and energy!
Got a little more time this evening?
How about trying some Apple Tea?
You will need:
2 or 3 cooking apples, peels intact, cored and sliced
3 cups of cold purified water
2 cups of boiling water
1 teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon of honey
Place the apples and cold water in to a heatproof jar and cover. Set the jar
in a saucepan and pour in the boiling water. Simmer for 2 hours. Remove from
heat and strain. Add lemon juice and honey and drink hot.
Apples are sweet and sour in flavor. You learned above that sweet cools and
cleanses the body as well as building body fluids and tissues. Sour flavors
have a cooling and astringing action. Astringing is a bit like taking a dry
sponge and placing it into a small puddle of water. You see the fluids move
towards the sponge and become absorbed. Sour flavors act like this and tend
to prevent the leakage of fluids and energy out of the body. This in turn will
help keep your skin and body feeling deeply hydrated!
Some other foods to add to your diet that are cooling:
Pear, cantaloupe, all citrus, lettuce, cucumber, broccoli, soy milk, mung beans
and their sprouts, millet, all seaweeds, yogurt, and wheat and barley grass.
Herbs to add to food or drink as tea that are cooling in nature:
Peppermint, dandelion greens, nettles, honeysuckle flowers, lemon balm,
cilantro, marjoram, red clover blossom.
Remember!
Just as flourishing flowers, longer days and lush green views show us, in
summertime everything is prospering. It is a time when the body has relaxed
muscles and a craving for keeping the heart cool, so the diet should be heavy
with cooling foods that provide hydration.
The most important thing to remember that achieving balance within the seasons
is essential. So, don't over do it with warm or cool foods and you will stay
hydrated and happy throughout the warm summer months!!
Resources:
Pitchford, Paul. Healing with Whole Foods, Berkeley, US. 2002.
Dahan-Trust, Bonnie. Wise Concoctions , San Francisco, Chronicle Books. 1999.
Jilin, Peck eds., Chinese Dietary Therapy, Churchill Livingston. 1998.
Edgson, Marber, The Food Doctor, New York,NY. Collins and Brown. 1999.
