When Summer's in full swing it’s easy to see why Fire's the element associated with the season according to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). With temperatures coming to a peak, we have to look for ways to cool our skin and bodies down. Aside from the obvious ice, A/C and fans, there are other ways to topically and internally cool down. One way is by eating “cool down Summer” produce.
Cool down Summer foods have natural cooling properties for skin and body.
“The warming and cooling properties of a food have less to do with actual temperature, cooking temperature, spiciness or even individual ingredients—and more to do with the food’s balance and contrast among ingredients and the effect of these on the body when the food is ingested. TCM categorizes foods as cold, cooling, neutral, warming and hot.”—Yin-Yang Foods That Make You Feel Better, from bottomlineinc.com
Partake of the mystique of quantum energetic formulated plant-based skincare for your exalted natural beauty and well-being. Subscribe for a discount promo code, plus get truly unique beauty tips and offers.
In Summer, we naturally gravitate to cooling (yin) foods. Nature ensures in such a timely way that we have all the most perfect seasonal and local cooling fruits and vegetables we need and in abundance.
Note: The higher quality of cool down Summer foods we consume, the greater our health, wellness and happiness.
“The quality of the raw materials is very important when you cook for health and happiness. High quality natural and organic foods are the ideal ingredients for daily use. They are the building blocks for a healthy and happy life.” —Aveline Kushi, author of Changing Seasons Macrobiotic Cookbook: Cooking in Harmony with Nature
When we eat in harmony with the season, we're going to feel better physically, mentally and emotionally. You want to be able to always “keep your cool” and cool down Summer foods can help you even mentally and emotionally.
“… just as nature and our levels of activity change constantly, so should our food and methods of preparing it change in accordance with our needs… By being conscious of the changes in nature and in your body, you can adapt to them and realize the highest possible physical health and spirit.” —Michio Kushi, contributor to Changing Seasons Macrobiotic Cookbook: Cooking in Harmony with Nature
Cool down Summer food prep should be different than for the other seasons.
During Summer, we intuitively know that stews and soups aren’t right for the season. We organically gravitate to crisp, fresh, live foods like salads. If we cook a meal, it should be a light sauté unless we grill outdoors.
Grilling outdoors on an open fire aligns very much with Summer’s element of Fire.
Cool down Summer foods are foods high in water content to give us a natural cooling effect.
In Summer, we get to enjoy high water content, sweeter and juicier produce that helps to cool our bodies down.
You ‘extinguish the Fire’ by eating high water content produce.
Though drinking lots of water during Summer to stay hydrated is important, eating juicy high water content produce helps you stay hydrated too. Nothing’s more enjoyable than biting into a juicy peach or red grape during Summer.
With mass transportation methods of today, fruits like citrus and apples show up in your produce department during Summer. But they’re not the fruit of the season and therefore not ideal to eat during Summer. Though they’ll offer you water and some cooling, they’re more closely aligned with Summer’s opposite season: Winter.
In TCM Five Element Theory, each season and element has a color. As a general rule of thumb, choose the food of the season’s color. It’s an easy way to identify best foods to eat in harmony with the season.
Summer/Fire: RED. Eat lots of red foods during Summer. May 6 to July 19
Between Seasons/Earth: YELLOW. Eat plenty of yellow foods during the four interseason periods of the year. January 18 to February 4; April 18 to May 5; July 20 to August 6; October 21 to November 7
Fall/Metal: BLUE/WHITE. Eat a good amount of white foods during Fall. August 7 to October 20
Winter/Water: PURPLE/BLACK. Eat an abundance of black or blue-black foods during Winter. November 8 to January 17
Spring/Wood: GREEN. Eat bunches of green foods during Spring. February 5 to April 17
Here’s a list of cool down Summer foods courtesy of ChineseMedicineLiving dot com.
(See chart above for a visual list.) TCM considers non-red foods in this list to also be cooling foods for Summer:
Apricot
Cantaloupe (member of the cucurbit family)
Watermelon (member of the cucurbit family and quintessential cool down Summer food)
Strawberries
Tomatoes
Lemon
Peach
Cucumber (member of the cucurbit family)
Orange
Asparagus
Sprouts
Bamboo
Bok choy
Broccoli
Chinese cabbage
Corn
White mushroom
Snow peas
Spinach
Summer squash (member of the cucurbit family)
Watercress
Seaweed
Mung means
Cilantro
Mint
Dill
Bitter gourd
Mung beans
Wax gourd (member of the cucurbit family)
Lotus root
Lotus seed
Job’s tears
Bean sprouts
Duck
Fish
…
Cool down Summer food recipe: Watermelon Cooler
2 cups watermelon flesh
1 cup young Thai coconut water
1/4 cup lime juice
raw blue agave to sweeten and to taste
Run a few seconds in a high speed blender with some ice and enjoy.