The Dog Days have high temperatures and high humidity. It is the hottest season among the twenty-four solar terms. Even the slightest exercise will make you sweat profusely. Many people are afraid of the heat at this time and simply stay at home and do not go out. Less exercise means less energy consumption. In addition, the spleen is trapped by heat-dampness, and the spleen and stomach's transportation and transformation functions are not strong, so special attention should be paid to diet.

So, what’s the point of eating during the Dog Days? What is the healthiest way to eat during this month? Please follow me to take a look at the dietary principles of Dog Days.

Principle 1, more sour and more sweet

Ancient scholars believed that "summer is hot and humid, so it is suitable for clearing and nourishing". Facts have proved that people like cold drinks and drink a lot of water due to the scorching heat in summer, which causes moisture to invade the human body, and external dampness enters the body, making water wet and solidifying the spleen, causing the spleen and stomach to rise and fall, causing digestive function disorders, causing water accumulation, and causing Loss of appetite, etc. According to the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, heat-dampness is very detrimental to the spleen, and bitter foods have the function of purging dryness and should not be eaten in large quantities. Therefore, it is appropriate to eat more sweet, cool or sweet and cold foods in the daily diet. Moreover, the heart returns to the heart in summer, and the heart likes to be cool, so it is better to eat acidic foods, so you should eat more acidic foods in summer. For example, you can often eat wheat products, plums, peaches, olives, pineapple, celery, etc. Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes the unity of nature and man, and the complementarity of yin and yang. Therefore, in summer, people should eat more sour and sweet foods and try not to eat spicy, warm and dry foods. It is also necessary to avoid excessive raw food and cold drinks, which may damage the righteousness in the human body and induce diseases.

Principle 2: Replenish qi and remove fire

In summer, the weather is hot and the human body consumes more, so there is an urgent need to replenish nutrients and body fluids. The diet should be based on soups, soups, juices and other meals that are rich in water, light, appetite-stimulating, and easy to digest, so as to achieve the purpose of health care. At the same time, eat less or no greasy, thick-tasting, or fried foods, and the amount of food consumed at each meal should not be too large. The principle should be to eat small amounts and often. If some people already have the symptoms mentioned above, such as summer heat, heat damage, heat-dampness, heat stroke, etc., then according to the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine health care, pay attention to pertinence, eat according to syndrome differentiation, or replenish the spleen and lung qi deficiency, or Qi and yin are both nourishing.

In addition, the hot summer not only brings us physical discomfort, but also easily causes more and more people to become angry, showing irritability, anxiety, irritability, insomnia, etc. These symptoms are commonly used in medicine. It’s called “summer affective disorder.” Therefore, "removing excess heat" is also a must-have for summer dietary supplements. Regarding foods to dispel heat in summer, you can choose some fruits and vegetables that are cool in nature and clear away heat, such as bitter melon, watermelon, strawberry, and tomato. Milk is also a good food for detoxification and heat removal in summer. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that milk is slightly cold in nature, can replenish water, nourish yin, detoxify heat, and play the role of "removing fire". Everyone knows that milk has the effect of calming and sleeping. It can promote sleep in the hot summer and effectively avoid "summer affective disorder". But be aware that if the milk is frozen into ice cubes and consumed, the nutrients will be destroyed.

Principle 3: Eat as much fresh fruits and vegetables as possible

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the stomach is the foundation of acquired food. In summer, people often experience loss of appetite and sluggish spleen and stomach functions. You may wish to eat some fresh fruits and vegetables at this time. The nutritional composition of fresh fruits and vegetables is generally half and half of fiber and sugar. Not only can it effectively supplement the energy and water necessary for the human body, but its refreshing nature will also make people eat it for a long time without getting tired of it.

Fresh vegetables such as cabbage, rape, bell peppers, tomatoes, and fruits such as citrus and lemon are rich in vitamin C and have antiviral effects; yellow and green vegetables such as carrots and amaranth are rich in vitamin A and have protective effects And enhance the function of upper respiratory tract mucosa and respiratory organ epithelial cells; cabbage, cauliflower, etc. are rich in vitamin E, which can effectively improve the body's immune function and enhance the body's disease resistance; especially some seasonal summer vegetables such as "wild vegetables, peaches, and watermelons" Eating more fruits and vegetables is of great benefit. But be careful not to overeat raw, cold or unclean food to avoid contracting dysentery, diarrhea, etc.

[Special Tips]

In terms of diet and nutrition, workers working in high temperatures should take in more water, salt and water-soluble vitamins.

People who work in high temperatures consume a lot of calories and sweat a lot, and their body's physiological metabolism often undergoes some changes, such as reduced saliva and gastric juice secretion, and reduced gastric acid concentration. People who work at high temperatures sweat 5 to 7 times more than ordinary people per day. Due to the massive evaporation of sweat, inorganic salts such as potassium, sodium, calcium and water-soluble vitamins needed in the body are also lost with sweat. If the drained water and salt are not replenished in time, it will cause water and salt metabolism disorders and a series of pathological phenomena. In the early stage, there are symptoms such as loss of appetite, nausea, dizziness, dizziness, fatigue, soreness of limbs, and decreased physical strength. In severe cases, it may cause blood concentration and even cramps or heatstroke and fainting.

So, how much water and salt should each person working in high temperature add every day? Generally speaking, each person should supplement at least about 5000cc of water and more than 15 to 25 grams of salt (including the salt contained in food) every day. To supplement, you can often drink some salted boiled water. It is advisable to add about 1 gram of salt for every 500 grams of water. You can also drink salt tea, salty mung bean soup, pickle soup, salty soda, etc. This can not only relieve heat and quench thirst, but also replenish necessary salt in time. The principle of drinking water is to drink small amounts many times, one or two cups each time. Don't drink too much too fast. This can reduce sweat discharge and help increase your diet.

In order to protect the health of workers working in high temperatures, the principle of diet and nutrition is a balanced diet with high calories, high protein, and high vitamins. The total calories should be about 15% higher than that of ordinary workers. In the daily diet There should be a certain proportion of animal or legume protein with higher nutritional value. For vitamin supply for workers working in high temperatures, water-soluble vitamins such as vitamins B1, B2, and C should first be supplemented. Workers working in high temperatures should eat as many fresh vegetables and fruits as possible to prevent certain vitamin deficiency diseases.