A person’s health is influenced by the diet they have. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about changes in people’s diets — ie whether it has been eating out in restaurants, subscribing to packaged meal services, utilizing GrubHub or UberEats for restaurant delivery, learning to cook if one has never cooked before — in general, for a lot of people their diet and meal patterns may have been/are still being affected. But regardless of how a person is handling their meal needs on a daily basis — it is extremely important to do the best possible to be sure food is helping a person to keep healthy. Processed, packaged foods are generally filled with many preservatives that allow them to be on a shelf for an extended amount of time —-but generally speaking, the preservatives in foods make for a diet that is less healthy than fresh foods.
Traditional Chinese Medicine Tends To Favor ‘Warm Foods’
Traditional Chinese Medicine tends to favor people eating ‘warm foods’ most of the time. This means foods with ‘warm properties’, as well as being actually warm in temperature.
‘Warm foods’ are thought to ease a person’s digestive process by causing their system to relax and more easily break down the food.
‘Cold foods’, in contrast, cause contraction and stagnation. This means a person’s body has to work a lot harder to digest these ‘cold foods’. Digestion issues may be the result of eating too many ‘cold foods’. Or if a person’s digestive system is already having issues, then ‘cold foods’ can end up magnifying the digestive problems and making them seem worse at times.
Summer, however, is the one time of year when it can okay to cool things down in your diet. But eat ‘cool foods’ in moderation – even in the summer. Saying that it is ok to eat ‘cool foods’ does not mean it is a license to drink loads of ice water all day long, or to eat raw salad at every meal. But it does mean that ‘cooler foods’ are better tolerated in summer by most people – in moderation.
Examples Of ‘Cool Foods’
Some of the foods that are considered ‘cool foods’ include – apple, banana, grapefruit, lemon, orange, asparagus, eggplant, strawberry, green leafy vegetables, various melons, cucumber, tofu and mushroom.
Stay Healthy This Summer — And Year-Round
Try to stay healthy this summer – and year round. Eat healthy, stay hydrated, avoid long hours in the hot sun, and consider Acupuncture to help keep your immune system strong and adjust to the hot weather – as well as to build a strong immune system that can withstand the various virus and ‘bugs’ that we encounter.