Summer Food Energy – Balancing Yang Heat With Yin Food

One big way we live in harmony during the summer is to eat mindfully. When it is very hot, we eat cooling foods. Just as we intuitively feel it is best to practice qigong as the sun rises and sets in summer we also know it is best to balance our practice with rest when the sun is hot at high noon.

We do the same with the foods we choose to eat. We should stay away from deep-fried food or heavy, oily food that generate heat in the body and choose foods that are grown locally and in the garden right now to cool the body, feed our heart, and nurture and detoxify our small intestine.

As you look at the wide variety of fresh vegetables at the farmers market, remember that foods that are coolest are at the green end of the spectrum, but generally most all vegetables are yin, cooling foods.

You will see all the colors of fire in the vegetables of the summer season like sweet orange, red and yellow peppers, tomatoes, summer squashes, corn, lemons and oranges, peaches, watermelon, cherries and more and they are all beneficial as long as you balance them with the addition of green veggies.

Lettuces of every kind as well as cruciferous vegetables like Chinese cabbage, Bok Choy, broccoli, and cauliflower balance yang heat in the body. Using some spice in your food actually has a cooling effect because it helps the body cool through sweating. It’s always best to find moderation when using ingredients like hot peppers.

Fish and seafood are cooling while most meats are warming.

Seaweed is always a good addition to the diet at this time and herbs like mint, dill, cilantro and parsley are healing and detoxifying. Fruits filled with antioxidants also help your body adjust its temperature and help it cleanse. Adding lemon and/ or cucumber to your water each day will help you stay hydrated.

Remember this time of year, yang energy is here to help you nourish your heart, mind and spirit. In all things, including foods, we should find joy. Finding joy in all you eat and in all you do. This is always so beneficial.

Click here for a list of summer foods.

Food is medicine and the ancient Chinese used food and its healing properties to build up the body when deficient, cleanse it when toxic, and release energy when in excess.