Chapter 4 Brisk all over with no dampness in long summer

4.1 Spareribs in this way are light and don’t produce dampness

Every year from mid-July to mid-August according to the Gregorian calendar is the most damp and humid period of the year, known as , “dog days”. As an old saying goes: “Practice in the coldest winter and the hottest summer”, because dog days, the hottest time of the year, is called “sauna days”, those who can bear the weather surely cannot be underestimated in their willpower.

In traditional Chinese medicine, dog days is named as “long summer” when dampness is predominant. The turning-point of summer and autumn in this period witnesses the mixture and prevalence of heat and dampness due to the descendant of hot Qi and ascension of water, leading to the weakened spleen and stomach. Therefore, at this time, the basic principles of diet should center on invigorating the spleen, clearing heat and removing dampness, namely, being light but not greasy.

You students are growing right at this time and your mothers may often make you some dishes with spareribs. If you finish reading this article, just share it with your moms about this method of making spareribs.

Anecdotes about food-therapy

TCM holds that “Meat generates dampness”, so it is easier to accumulate dampness inside your body if you often eat meat. If you eat greasy dishes like “braised spareribs”，“stewed spareribs in oil”and “crispy spareribs” in hot and humid summer, it is undoubtedly just like adding fuel to the fire.

Actually, when eating spareribs, we can make it healthier just by changing its way of cooking . Here is a recommendation for you: “Sparerib decoction with wax gourds and coix seeds”, which is light in flavor, helping to remove dampness.

Specific instruction: 200 grams of spareribs, 500 grams of fresh wax gourds, 50 grams of coix seeds, and an appropriate amount of oil and salt. Wash and chop the spareribs. Slice the wax gourds with skin and wash the coix seeds for use. First scald the spareribs to remove the bloody water. It’s better to blanch it for a few more minutes to blanch the fatty oil and make sure the taste of the soup will not be spoiled.

Next, wash the scalded spareribs with warm water and put them into the pot with coix seeds and water. You can drop a little white vinegar to promote the dissolution of calcium into the soup. After boiling for 2 hours, place the sliced wax gourds and cook for another 30 minutes. Finally add a few salts according to your taste and enjoy it!

Spareribs are high nutritional with the function of nourishing yin and strengthening yang, replenishing essence and tonifying blood. In addition to the ingredients such as proteins, fat and Vitamins, it also contains lots of other nutrients such as calcium phosphate, bone collagen, bone adhesion protein, etc., which can provide rich nutrition for your bone growth.

Wax gourds, cold in property and sweet in flavor, can clear heat and generate fluid, relieve summer-heat and remove troublesome, being nice to be taken in summer. They enter the meridians of lungs, large intestine, small intestine and bladder, so it has the effects of clearing lung-heat and resolving phlegm, clearing stomach heat and eliminating irritation, stopping thirst, lightening sweet and draining and excreting, dispelling dampness and heat, draining urination and alleviating diuretic.

Coix seeds serve to invigorate spleen and drain dampness, so they are used as medicine for promoting urination and draining dampness. Spareribs, cooked with wax gourds and coix seeds, can neutralize the fatty and greasy meat, and eliminate the dampness in the human body. Hence, while enjoying delicious food, you can also better your health. That is the advantage of dietetic therapy.

What’s more, the spleen and stomach are the “acquired basis of life”. A healthy spleen and a healthy stomach are better than anything else. Although it is hot, you had better not drink too much iced water or beverage, in order to avoid hurting your stomach Qi because of the stay of water and dampness in the body.

4.2 A food, used by emperor Guangxu, serves to remove troublesome and inner-heat.

Tell you a story. Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty was weak and sick since he was young. It is said that one day, the young emperor felt a sudden pain in his midlumbar spine with the bones feeling like being steamed over hot steamers. Due to the pain, he could not sleep at night and just kept awake with great pain. Later, the pain worsened day by day, no matter how hard the imperial doctors racked their brains to treat the disease, the emperor was still in great pain.

The emperor denounced those imperial doctors, saying : “I have taken your decoctions again and again, but they never work . That’s all your tricks as imperial doctors!” After that, the emperor issued a circular in the whole country to recruit doctors for his disease.

An ordinary folk-doctor heard about the emperor’s illness and claimed that he could cure it, so he uncovered the emperor’s circular . After feeling the emperor’s pulse, the doctor prescribed by drawing a soft-shelled turtle and some words beside: decoct the turtle carapace and plastron with anemarrhena and sweet wormwood herb for one

Anecdotes about food-therapy month. Emperor Guangxu was doubtful, but he took the decoction for a month and later his pain was gone.

The soft-shelled turtle did cure the emperor’s difficult and serious illness !

It turned out that Emperor Guangxu suffered from tuberculosis when he was a child. Once lung Qi was weak, body fluid would be deficient. Especially in summer, if Qi and blood are consumed seriously, yin deficiency and fever might happen in the body with bones being steamed like being in a sauna, which may keep one awake. The carapace and plastron of the soft-shelled turtle serve to nourish yin and clear heat, eliminate stuffiness and replenish kidneys, pacify liver and extinguish wind, soften hardness and dissipate mass. They mainly treat the syndromes like yin-deficiency fever, steaming-bone fever and night sweat. According to New compilation of Materia Medica: “Turtle-shell can help to tackle masses without damaging Qi, balance yin and yang , being especially suitable for treating the fullness of syndromes.”

During the long summer, the body fluid is often consumed seriously because of sweating in the day-time. So, some of you students may suffer from such symptoms as vexing heat in the chest, palms and soles, body tidal fever and sleeplessness, just like Emperor Guangxu. At this time, we can also use the soft-shelled turtle as a dietectic therapy.

Here is a soft-shelled turtle decoction with wax gourds. Take one soft-shelled turtle and 150 grams of wax gourds.

1. Kill the turtle, wash and scald it for 2 minutes, take it out, remove the black skin, the shell and innards, take the turtle meat, and then chop the turtle into 3cm square pieces; 2. Remove the wax gourd peel, dig out the gourd balls as big as grapes; 3. Heat the pan over strong fire, add the cooked lard until it is 60% hot, then fry the turtle in the lard quickly, after that, remove the lard, stir-fry it again, place the wax gourd balls, 1500ml of water and 5grams of refined salt and cook over mild fire for another 15 minutes for use; 4. Place the turtle-meat on the bottom of the plate and put on the fried turtle meat with some seasonings like raw ginger, shallot, refined salt, cooking wine and white vinegar. Steam in the steamer until the meat is soft, sticky, crisp and completely cooked. Take the dish out of the steamer, remove the whole shallot and ginger, drop a little monosodium glutamate, buckle in the soup basin, place the wax gourd ball. Then it is all done.

The meat of the soft-shelled turtle serves to nourish yin, tonify kidneys and clear heat. Wax gourds can help to eliminate vexation and stop thirst, dispel dampness and relieve summer heat. Moreover, turtle meat is nutritious and delicious. Taken with rice, it can not only fill the stomach, but also help to remove troublesome.

4.3 A decoction for teenagers to have a good appetite

Since ancient times, there has been a theory of “tonifying viscera by viscera” in TCM. For example, people believe they can tonify and replenish their brains by eating animal’s brain or strengthen their bones by having animal’s bone-marrows, as specific practices of such a theory for tonifying viscera by viscera. From the biological perspective, this theory makes a bit sense, because animals have similar viscera with man in the structures and functions of animals, so their viscera contain rich nutrients that can supplement what man lacks to achieve the effect of “tonifying viscera by viscera”.

For example, the gastric mucosa of pigs can be used to produce pepsin and gastric membrane which is a gastric wall protective agent against gastric acid and used to treat ulcer disease and gastric acid excess.

Medical doctors of past dynasties have also left behind many empirical classical formulas for the treatment of spleen and stomach diseases, to cure anorexia and dyspepsia with pig tripe, another term for the pig-stomach. TCM believes that it can tonify deficiency, invigorate spleen and stomach, treat consumptive diseases and weakness, as well as infantile malnutrition with accumulation. As pointed

Anecdotes about food-therapy out in Commentary on the Shennong’s Classic of Materia Medica : “It is the most important for tonifying the spleen and stomach”. Pig-tribe, sweet in flavor and warm in property, is cooked as a soup and has the effects of functions of spleen and stomach in transportation, coordination of heart and kidneys, and neutral reinforcement on deficiency and damage. So, it is a good ingredient of decoction for people of different ages .

In long summer, it’s rather hot and humid. Because of the weak spleen and stomach, some teenagers may have no appetite for food and suffer from loose stool caused by the decrease of digestive function. However, such phenomena cannot be relieved by using warm and hot tonics which may increase the internal heat while tonifying in this season. So, some diet with a neutral tonifying effect without generating inner heat can be a good choice, such as the pig-tripe.

Here is a “ Pig tripe decoction with white atractylodes rhizome”. Choose 1 fresh pig tripe, 15 grams of white atractylodes rhizome, 6 grams of dry tangerine peel, 3 grams of villous amomum fruit, 10 grams of raw ginger, 3 pieces of shallot white, some salt and a gauze. 1. Remove the fat from pork tripe, scald it to remove the fishy smell and scrape off the white film; 2. Place the white atractylodes rhizome, dry tangerine peel, villous amomum fruit, raw ginger and shallot white into the gauze and wrap it in the pig tripe with water, boil it for about 2 hours. After adding a bit salt, you can enjoy the meat and soup.

White atractylodes rhizome, sweet in flavor and neutral in property, can invigorate spleen and replenish Qi, dry dampness and drain urination. Modern research has proved that white atractylodes rhizome serves to enhance gastro-intestinal motility, anti-ulcer, protect liver and improve immunity. Dry tangerine peel can regulate qi and invigorate spleen, promote the secretion of digestive juice and enhance appetite. Its volatile oil has a mild stimulating effect on gastro-intestinal tract and can promote the secretion of digestive fluid, eliminate the accumulation of Qi in intestinal tube, and aromatic herbs can invigorate stomach, and expel wind and lower Qi. Villous amomum fruit functions on aromatic herbs dissipate pungent, resolve dampness and promote appetite and is often used as the seasoning or directly for making the soup to improve the taste and enhance the appetite as well.

Moreover, you should know that pig-tripe is not suitable for storage and should be eaten once you buy it. When buying the pig- tripe, don’t choose one with fuzzy mucous membrane and loose tissue, easily to break with a rotten odor. Food is apt to go bad in long summer, so do remember to choose those fresh ingredients.

4.4 Learn from Cantonese to remove dampness in long summer

I don’t know if you have ever had any experience of traveling to southern China, such as Guangdong, Hainan and other provinces. If staying there for a few days, especially in summer, you will feel stuffy, weak, agitated or depressed, dizzy and heavy. All of these are caused by the heavy humidity due to the humid climate in the southern China and the hot weather in summer. Normally, our body has a certain ability to adapt itself to the natural changeable weather, but when it comes to the most humid and hottest period in long summer, known as “sauna days”, we cannot endure it.

Dampness is predominant in long summer. TCM believes that dampness is yinbased evil and characterized by sticky and stagnant. “Sticky” means greasy, while “stagnant” means stagnation. Therefore, it is quite easy for dampness to suppress Qi and hinder its movement in the body. Moreover, dampness is also featured by “heaviness”. High humidity in the air will block the metabolism of the human body. So, in the state of high temperature and humidity, it furtherly inhibits the evaporation of sweat from the skin and process of dissipating heat, i.e. it represses the normal gasification function.

So, you should learn how to drive away the evil of dampness from those Cantonese who have been in hot and humid environment since ancient times.

Anecdotes about food-therapy

Cantonese people enjoy drinking soup. As a local proverb goes : “Better eat without vegetables than without soup.” That is how “Guangfu decoction” of various kinds come into being.

Guangfu decoction, a kind of soup made by Cantonese, has a history of thousands of years. According to a legend, in the process of moving to southern China, Cantonese, toiled and tired, came across the humid and hot climate in southern Guangdong province, and became weak and sick. The foodies realized that, from the food tonic of TCM, they could make decoctions by pairing with Chinese Materia medica which could help to nourish, beautify and strengthen the body and dispel dampness, making such decoctions their best tonic. Years by years, such decoctions have become a must of their daily life and the types change with the seasons. Finally, together with Guangdong herbal tea, it has become a symbol of Cantonese cuisine culture.

Here is a recommendation for “ Common yam rhizome poria pigeon decoction ” with functions of “invigorating spleen, nourishing heart, dispelling dampness and beatification”:

Choose 1 pigeon, 20 grams of common yam rhizome, 5 grams of poria and lotus seeds respectively, 3-5 pieces of longan aril, 5 grams of Euryale seeds and 10 grams of coix seeds. Clean up the pigeon and cut it into several large pieces with kitchen shears. Wash the common yam rhizome, poria, lotus seeds, longan aril, euryale seeds and coix seeds and remove impurities. Then add some water to the casserole and heat it until boiling, put in the pigeon meat, when it is boiling again, and remove the foam on the top. Then put the yam, poria, lotus seeds, longan aril, euryale seeds, coix seeds into the casserole and add some more water. Boil over strong fire, then simmer for another 1 to 2 hours over mild fire. Finally add salt and it is done.

Pigeon-meat is delicious, tender and rich in some nutrients such as crude protein and a small amount of mineral salts. It is a rare delicacy. Modern medicine holds that pigeon-meat can strengthen human body, tonify kidneys and invigorate brain, thus it

Anecdotes about food-therapy has the effects of improving memory, reducing blood pressure, adjusting blood sugar, enhancing beauty, making the skin fair and tender and prolonging life.

Common yam rhizome can tonify spleen and nourish lungs, secure kidneys and replenish vital essence. It is mainly used for syndromes like diarrhea, poor appetite and edema. As recorded in Shennong’s Classic of Materia Medica, it can “tonify deficiency and weakness, eliminate cold and hot evil, tonify the middle , replenish Qi and strength, grow muscles and strengthen yin. If taking it for a long time, you will have good hearing, bright vision, light body and long life without hunger.” Poria can promote urination and drain dampness, invigorate spleen, pacify stomach and tranquilize heart and mind. As recorded in Compendium of Materia Medica , poria can “tonify spleen and stomach, harmonize the middle, nourish yin, replenish Qi, prevent abortion, calm the soul, nourish the mind, prevent forgetfulness, and get rid of dampness and heat”.

Lotus seeds can clear heat and troublesome , and reduce fire. Longan aril, warm in property and sweet in flavor, is good for nourishing and tonifying the human body.

Euryale seeds have the functions of replenishing kidneys, securing vital essence, tonifying spleen, stopping diarrhea, removing dampness and stopping white vaginal discharge. Coix seeds, cool in property, sweet and light in flavor, enter the meridians of spleen, lungs and kidneys and can promote water movement, invigorate spleen, remove arthralgia, clear heat and expel pustule. Moreover, They have high nutritional value known as “the grain of life and health”.

Guangfu decoction is made by simmering over mild fire without adding any water, without opening the jar, and without dropping complex seasoning until the large food becomes completely soften and rotten, and the vital essence of the food is extracted into the soup with rich flavors. This decoction is not only a must in Cantonese dinner but also the most common food culture in Cantonese life. In the past one thousand years, it has helped Cantonese people survive the yearly hot and humid environment and prevent them from many kinds of diseases.

4.5 Duck decoction in long summer is nutritious and relieves tiredness

If you shiver a lot because of cold in winter, but in summer, you feel hot like a dog, have no appetite for food and have difficulties in sleep, you had better avoid some greasy and hot food like mutton, dog-meat and pork. Instead, you can choose duck meat as a tonic because it is cool and rich in nutrients among four common meats like chicken, ducks, fish and meats and especially fit for keeping health in hot summer.

Ancient people got to know the connection among things by means of “comparing by phenomena”, i.e. they were good at catching the common points among things. For example, flowers can be used to treat diseases which are related to the head or brain because most of them grow at the top of plants, which show the origin of the saying “all flowers rise”. Vine plants can treat diseases concerning four limbs and joints due to their strong function of carrying water and nutrition from the stems. Ducks are waterfowls which live along the waterside all year round and live on aquatic plants, so their meat is partially cold in property and especially good for bitter summer, fire and inner-heat according to the principle of “treating heat with cold” in traditional Chinese medicine.

So, isn’t it interesting?

TCM believes that duck meat, sweet and salty in flavor and cool in property, functions to nourish yin, tonify stomach, promote urination and eliminate pustules. It can be used for treating diseases like steaming-bone fever and exhausted heat, irregular urination, seminal emission and female menstrual irregularities. The old mother-duck can tonify deficiency and nourish yin, and help the patients with long-term illness and body deficiency or blood-vomiting syndromes. The saying “An old duck in the Great

Heat is better than a tonic” is a good proof.

As shown by modern nutrition research, the duck contains protein higher than other meats, and has a moderate amount of fat which is scattered evenly. Besides, the fat in duck meat is different from other kinds of animal oil, and its proportion of fatty acids is very close to the ideal value. The chemical composition in the duck meat, very similar to that in olive oil, has the effect of reducing cholesterol, being quiet suitable for people with atherosclerosis.

Therefore, eating duck meat in summer can not only supplement the overconsumptive nutrition in hot season, but also reduce the risk of having dry and hot fire caused by greasy food, and can drive away the bad influence on the human body due to the summer heat. That is why we suggest eating duck meat on the basis of keeping a balanced combination between meat and non-meat.

“Chicken decoction, duck flavor”: In summer, the ideal way to eat duck meat is to stew it, which can produce good flavor and also most nourishing. Here is a recommendation for cooking duck meat to eliminate heat and remove dampness: Duck meat decoction with lotus leaves and wax gourd.

Choose 1 lotus leaf, one duck-leg, 500 grams of wax gourd and a proper amount of green onion, ginger, cooking wine, salt, pepper and chicken seasoning. Get all the ingredients ready. 1.Wash and soak the lotus leaf in clean water until it becomes soft;

2.Wash and cut the wax gourd and duck meat respectively and blanch the duck for a while;

3.Add water to the pot with lotus leaf, green onion, ginger, duck meat and some cooking wine in turn, put on the lid and decoct over strong fire for 15 minutes; 4.Place the gourd and stew over mild fire for another 30 minutes, put in the salt, pepper and chicken seasoning to improve the flavor. Finally, it is done.

Duck meat serves to clear heat and remove poison, nourish yin and moisten intestine, promote urination and remove swelling. It is very fit for summer. It can not only drive away summer heat, but also supplement nutrition for the human body.

Anecdotes about food-therapy

Wax gourd and lotus leaf can promote urination, clear heat and drain dampness. They are good medica for relieving heat and depression. This summer health preservation decoction, when made with lotus leaf, wax gourd and duck meat, increases the effects of clearing and relieving heat, cooling blood and promoting water. What’s more, it can also refresh the taste without greasy feelings, clear summer heat, nourish and preserve health.

Many people biasedly understand the principle of moistening and tonifying summer diet. They even believe that this principle is equal to taking vegetables, fruits or melons exclusively, and pursue the absolute moistening and vegetarian diet. In fact, moistening and tonifying still emphasize replenishment. If only eating vegetables, you will not have enough protein and fat, and the immunity to fight for your body, thus failing to achieve the goal of tonifying and nourishing the human body. Duck meat is a cool food which can improve the dryness Qi of the human body. After having been cooked, it can not only help to clear and eliminate heat, but also fight against the hot climate.

4.6 The tranquilizing porridge for both Qi and blood

Theoretically speaking in TCM, the Summer Solstice is the most vigorous season for yang Qi, and it is also the time when five viscera and six fu-organs have the strongest demand for Qi and blood.

In the long summer, the evil of dampness and heat is the most vigorous, and the dampness evil has the characteristics of stickiness. The human body is like falling into the swamp, feeling weak all over with no strength, so do Qi and blood. Once they are infected with evil of dampness, they fail to move smoothly and become “dispirited”, leading to Qi and blood deficiency. Moreover, in summer, the easy opening of striae and interstice and sweat is also a process of losing Qi and blood. Therefore, in the long summer, besides nourishing yang and heart by following the principle of preserving health, we should also pay special attention to nourishing and nurturing Qi and blood in order to meet the needs of five zang-fu organs.

Then how to tell the insufficient Qi and blood in your body? Here are two practical tips: one is to check ears, and the other is to look at fingers.

If watching carefully, you will find that the youth have ruddy and elastic ears, while the elderly have drooping and loose ears and even wrinkles. This is the difference to tell whether Qi and blood are sufficient or not. If we rub the ears five or six times, and watch the color, if the red color of ears fades and then turns white, or after rubbing, ears are not red, it indicates that Qi and blood are insufficient.

Watching fingers means to press finger-tips. People generally have bulging fingers, but those with Qi and blood deficiency and internal deficiency mostly have flat fingertips. Press fingertips gently, if they rebound quickly, it means there are sufficient Qi and blood. In the long summer , how to replenish Qi and blood? There is a

“

Tranquilizing decoction by tonifying Qi and blood” which is very suitable.

Then how to nourish Qi and blood in long summer? Here is a suitable

“

Tranquilizing soup for Qi and blood” for you.

Choose 50 grams of spitedate seeds, 15 grams of poria, 50 grams of Tangshen, 15 grams of Chinese gall and longan aril respectively, 100 grams of glutinous rice and some rock sugar.

First, wash the spitedate seeds, air-dry, and pound them on the chopping board with the back of a chopping knife. Second, cook them with poria, Tangshen and Chinese gall, then put them into a gauze to filter the concentrated juice for use. Third, clean the glutinous rice, and cook with a small amount of water. After the first boiling, pour the concentrated juice and longan aril, and then simmer until it is thick, put in the rock sugar and mix. Finally, it is done!

In the long summer, it is hard to sleep due to dampness-heat. Spitedate

Anecdotes about food-therapy seeds have the effects of calming the mind and nerves,tonifying the middle and replenishing Qi. As recorded in Compendium of Materia Medica : “Spitedate seeds tonify the middle, replenish liver, strengthen muscles and bones, and helping yin Qi .” Poria can promote urination and drain dampness, invigorat spleen and calm heart. Tangshen, sweet and flat, can tonify the middle and replenish Qi, pacify stomach and produce vital essence. Chinese gall, with high medicinal value, was first listed as the top grade in Shennong’s Classic of Materia Medica . It serves to nourish and strengthen the body. Longan aril is a sweet fruit with sweet taste. When used as medicine, it is especially effective for laboring people who often consume Qi and blood of the heart and spleen because it can invigorate yang and replenish Qi, nourish and replenish heart and spleen, nourish blood and tranquilize mind, moisten and beautify the skin and so on.

Glutinous rice, a traditional staple food in China, is often used to make zongzi, rice wine, eight-treasure porridge and various desserts. Nutriology research shows that glutinous rice is rich in various nutrients, such as protein, fat, sugar, calcium, phosphorus, iron, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2 and nicotinic acid. It is a warm-tonifying food, tonifying middle, replenishing qi, invigorating spleen, nourishing stomach and stopping deficiency-type sweat.

The reason why “porridge” is used to nourish Qi and blood is that it has been treated as a tonic delicacy since ancient times. As recorded in “ Recipes of SuixiJu ”: “Porridge is the leading tonic in the world”. It is said that Zhang Tingyu, Chief Grand Councilor in the Qing Dynasty, got sick because of his poor health when he was young. Most people thought that he would die early. But finally, Zhang Tingyu lived a long life to 84 years old because he later paid great attention to nourishing his Qi and blood by eating porridge to make up for his congenital deficiency.

Many people think that it is suitable to nourish Qi and blood in hot summer, instead, it should be the time to clear heat, which is a wrong understanding. We have an idiom called “Sweeping the old and bringing forth the new”. It is a benign cycle for the new to enter and the old to come out. If we just blindly clear dampness-heat without paying attention to replenishing Qi and blood, what we finally have is the weaker and weaker body.

4.7 Three kernels decoction for dispelling dampness and removing summerheat

TCM holds that there are five seasons in a year, namely, spring, summer, long summer, fall and winter. Long summer begins from the end of summer and ends from the beginning of autumn, covering four solar terms, i.e. the Slight Heat, the Great Heat, the Beginning of autumn and the Limit of Heat. Its climate is featured by dampness and heat transpiration. Dampness is yin evil and apt to hurt yang Qi. What’s more, it is also characterized by stickiness and stagnation, leading to the heaviness of the head and body, and the soreness of limbs. The more dampness you have accumulated in the body, the more tired you will be. The hot weather makes it easy to sweat, resulting in the outflow of Qi with vital essence. The excessive sweat hurts the healthy Qi. When healthy Qi is not enough, it is easier for people to get tired.

Long summer is a special season when you first consider to dispel dampness if you want to spend it peacefully . Wu Jutong, a famous master of warm diseases in the Qing Dynasty, wrote a book called Detailed Analysis of Warm Diseases which pointed out that “Patients with warm-dampness suffer from heat resulting from dampness in long summer and early autumn, that means, their illness focuses more on dampness than heat.” The book also records a famous damp-resolving formula called “Three-kernel decoction”, which has the functions of dispersing the upper, smoothing the middle and draining the lower, excreting triple energizers and resolving dampness.

The dosage of Three-kernel decoction is as follows: 15 grams of almond

Anecdotes about food-therapy and pinellia tuber respectively; 18 grams of talc and 18 grams of raw coix seeds; ricepaperplant pith, ccardamom seeds, bamboo leaf and officinal magnolia, with each 6 grams. Decoct in water and the amount is up to three bowls, one bowl for each time, three times a day.

Of course, since it is a dietectic therapy, it should be convenient and practical, so we can improve Wu Jutong’s three-kernel decoction into tea-drink by equally dividing the decoction into three portions, brew it and drink as tea.

As pointed out in Huangdil’s Internal Classic : “Three energizers are the organs similar to officials in charge of dredging, being responsible for regulating the water passage”, which shows that the evil of dampness is produced by the abnormal metabolism of fluid, so it cannot do to dispel it without the function of triple energizers.

Many people may not fully understand the term of “triple energizers”, then just let’s regard it as “water-pipe network in cities”. Inside our body, there are lots of body fluids (namely, water fluid) which do not stay there with no rules, but are transported to all parts of the viscera through the water channel of triple energizers. The evil of dampness, literally speaking, is formed because of the long-time accumulation of fluids. If cleaning and clearing the water channel to discharge the water as soon as possible, we can dispel dampness.

In the formula, apricot is bitter and pungent, serving to open the upper energizer’s lung Qi. If lung qi travels smoothly, the evil of dampness at the exterior muscle can be removed. Cardamom seeds, bitter and pungent, can be used to resolve dampness and soothe spleen with aroma and dispel the evil of dampness in the middle energizer. Coix seeds, sweet, light and cold, serve to dispel and drain dampness in the lower energizer as urea. The combination of three materia medica is represented by sovereign medicinals, serving to open the upper energizer, soothe the middle energizer and drain the lower energizer for removing the evil of dampness in triple energizers. Officinal magnolia and pinellia tuber are minister medicinals which serve to remove dampness of spleen, move Qi and relieve abdominal fullness to strengthen cardamom seed’s effects of circuiting the middle energizer and resolving dampness; Talc, ricepaperplant pith and bamboo leaf are assistant medicinals which are used to clear heat and drain dampness to strengthen coix seed’s effects of dispelling the lower energizer and clearing heat. The combination of these drugs serves to open the upper energizer with pungent flavor, eliminate turbit with aroma, and drain dampness with sweet and light property from the lower energizer, thus helping to promote the circulation of triple energizers, dredge the body fluid and remove dampness.

4.8 Frequent intake of bitter guards helps remove the dampness and inner-fire

After the cool and pleasant spring, there comes the hot summer when it is easy to lose nutrients, have a poor appetite and get agitated due to continuous high temperature.

TCM holds that summer corresponds to the heart and the bitter flavor enters the heart meridian, so bitterness can be used to relieve heart heat, and adjust the heat of summer yang. As discovered by modern nutrition research, bitter food contains amino acids, vitamins, alkaloids, bitter principles, minerals and so on. Bitter food has the effects of fighting against bacteria and eliminating inflammation, clearing heat and removing inner-heat, promoting digestion, increasing appetite, refreshing the mind and eliminating fatigue and so on. More intake of bitter food can help to enhance appetite, promote digestion and clear heat.

Among various kinds of bitter food, bitter guard is the most representative. It is the seed of cucurbitaceae plant and known as cool melon. The bitter guard, first introduced into China in the early Ming Dynasty, has now been planted all over the country, especially in the provinces around southern Yangtze River. When used as a medicine,

Anecdotes about food-therapy it can remove pathogenic heat, relieve fatigue, clear heart and brighten vision. It is said that bitter guard contains a unique quality, namely, “never passing its own bitter flavor to any other thing”, that is to say, even when it is cooked with any dish, fish or meat, it will never pass on the bitter taste to others, so it wins its reputation as “The dish of a gentleman” and is praised to have “the value and merit of a gentleman”.

Then what are the good ways to cook and enjoy this bitter guard? In general, you can choose to stir-fry or make a salad in order to fully keep vitamins . Here are some ways as recommendation:

Bitter guard juice : Choose a fresh bitter guard and prepare some purified water. Wash it and take out the pulp, then wash again and slice it for use. Place the water and bitter gourd slices into the pot, cook for about 10 minutes over the strong fire, and then you can drink it.

Bitter gourd tea : Select a bitter gourd and prepare some green tea. 1. Wash the bitter gourd, cut it in half and remove the pulp; 2. Stuff the gourd with some green tea. After that, string up with a rope and air-dry it; 3. Wash and mince the dried bitter gourd, mix it up with green tea evenly; 4. Take out some amount of bitter gourd, brew in boiling water for a drink .

Bitter gourd mud juice: Get ready for a fresh bitter gourd and some white sugar. Wash the bitter gourd, remove the pulp and mash it into mud. Then stir it with some appropriate amount of sugar, two hours later, squeeze out the juice for a drink.

Stir-fry bitter gourd with corn kernels: Choose 150 grams of the bitter gourd and corn-kernel respectively, 20 grams of green onion section and some salt, monosodium glutamate (MSG), corn oil, etc. Remove both ends and the pulp of the bitter gourd, wash and dice them. Heat the corn oil in a frying pan to 60% hot, add the green onion and corn kernel, stir-fry them and drop the diced bittier gourd and MSG. Fry quickly until it is half cooked. Then it is done after adding a small amount of salt.

Stuffed bitter gourd with purple sweet yam : choose 1 bitter gourd, 3 ~ 5 purple sweet yams, and some honey. Remove both ends of the gourd, cut it into two sections and remove the pulp with chopsticks. Peel the purple sweet yams, dice and put them into a fresh-keeping plastic bag with a little water. Pre-heat the yams in the microwave oven for 3 minutes and mash them into mud. Blanch the bitter gourd in hot salty water. Then fill the bitter gourd with the yams for eating and it is done.

Iced bitter gourd with plum juice : Choose 1 bitter gourd, some ginger and coriander, 5 plums and 200ml plum juice. 1. Cut the bitter gourd into half, remove the pulp and boil in water, then take it out and ice it; 2. Slice the bitter gourd into pieces, chop the coriander and ginger; 3. Then put the shredded ginger, iced bitter gourd, coriander powder and plums into a bowl, pour into the plum juice, stir well and pickle in a fridge for 2 hours; 4. Take it out from the refrigerator, pour it into the plate, stir it again and enjoy it.

As a saying goes: “If enduring bitterness, you can be a superior person”. In the long summer season, we should eat more bitter food. Besides bitter gourd, there are bitter bamboo shoots, asparagus lettuce, lettuce, celery and so on. Only by eating more bitterness, can we feel light with no dampness.