Traditional Chinese medicine believes: “Dampness is the source of all diseases.” If there is an excessive amount of dampness in the body, it can easily lead to the development of chronic diseases and complex conditions.
Entering the summer season, many people tend to excessively seek coolness, which aggravates the problem of internal dampness and coldness. This can affect personal health and increase the risk of illness.
As the saying goes: “It is easy to dispel a thousand colds, but difficult to eliminate one dampness.” It is challenging to eliminate internal dampness, and excessive dampness can cause significant harm to the body. Therefore, it is essential to focus on dampness expulsion in daily life.
Especially after the summer solstice, it is a critical period for dispelling dampness. It is essential to pay attention to adjusting diet and daily routines sensibly and learn to eliminate dampness.
Dispelling Dampness After the Summer Solstice! Eat Less of the “Five Items,” Discard the “Five Habits,” or Aid in Dampness Expulsion
【Eat Less of the “Five Items”】
1. Fried foods
Those with excessive internal dampness should reduce the consumption of fried foods as these greasy foods, if taken excessively, not only lead to obesity but also burden the spleen and stomach, affecting normal digestion and absorption. This can result in detoxification dysfunction, weakened immunity, physical weakness, and worsen dampness-related issues. Hence, it is advisable to consume such foods in moderation.
2. Spicy foods
Individuals with excessive internal dampness should avoid consuming excessive spicy foods as they can damage the intestines and stomach, trigger gastrointestinal diseases, and compromise spleen and stomach health, exacerbating internal dampness.
3. Sweets
Although these sweet foods may help improve one’s mood, they contain relatively high sugar content. Apart from causing obesity, sweet and sticky foods can contribute to phlegm production, aggravating dampness-related problems and affecting personal health. Therefore, it is advisable to consume such sweets in moderation.
4. Raw and cold foods
For those with excessive internal dampness, it is essential to avoid consuming raw and cold foods with cooling properties as they can exacerbate dampness-related issues. Many people tend to consume ice cream or cold drinks excessively due to hot weather, leading to an intake of excessive coldness that impairs spleen and stomach function, causing spleen and stomach deficiencies and worsening dampness issues. Hence, it is recommended to control the consumption of such cold foods.
5. Alcohol
Excessive alcohol consumption is well-known to be detrimental to health. Besides increasing the risk of illness and impairing liver function, alcohol consumption can worsen internal dampness, affecting spleen and stomach health significantly. Therefore, it is best to limit the intake of alcoholic beverages.
【Discard the “Five Habits”】
1. Exposing the ankles
Individuals with excessive internal dampness should avoid the habit of exposing their ankles as it can lead to the invasion of coldness, causing blood stagnation, cold hands and feet, and menstrual pain. It is recommended to focus on keeping warm.
2. Prolonged exposure to damp environments
After entering the summer season, one should avoid prolonged exposure to damp environments, as this can lead to the invasion of coldness and worsen internal dampness, resulting in symptoms like dizziness, fatigue, and weakness, affecting personal health. It is advisable to stay away from such environments early.
3. Prolonged use of air conditioning
Due to the hot weather in the summer, many people resort to using air conditioning. However, prolonged use of air conditioning can lead to the invasion of damp coldness, exacerbating coldness and affecting personal health. Therefore, it is crucial to control the duration of air conditioning use and avoid prolonged exposure to prevent spleen and stomach deficiencies.
4. Sleeping immediately after washing the hair
After entering the summer season, many people may sweat a lot and feel oily hair, thus choosing to wash their hair. However, it is important not to sleep immediately after washing the hair as it can easily lead to the invasion of dampness into the body. This can not only affect quality sleep but also cause headaches the next day, impacting personal health. Therefore, it is essential to dry the hair promptly after washing to expel dampness for overall well-being.
5. Prolonged sitting
Sedentary behavior has become a common phenomenon, but prolonged sitting can not only affect organ repair and detoxification but also slow down metabolism, leading to toxin accumulation and exacerbating internal dampness. Therefore, it is vital to focus on appropriate exercise in daily life to enhance metabolism, facilitate the expulsion of internal damp coldness, aid detoxification, and promote overall health.
How can one dissipate dampness in daily life?
1. Strengthen the spleen
If you wish to expel internal dampness, it is crucial to cultivate habits that strengthen the spleen, an essential organ in the human body that ensures the health of the spleen and stomach. This facilitates the expulsion of internal dampness, emphasizing the importance of adjusting diet and daily routines for maintaining spleen and stomach health.
2. Maintain a consistent amount of exercise
To eliminate dampness, it is also important to focus on adhering to appropriate exercise in daily life. This practice can enhance metabolic capabilities, aid in expelling toxins from the body, promote weight loss, and facilitate the expulsion of internal damp coldness for detoxification benefits, making it easier to expel dampness and feel lighter.
3. Reduce water intake 2 hours before bedtime
It is essential to avoid consuming large amounts of water two hours before bedtime in daily life. Even if you feel thirsty, limiting water intake during this period facilitates water absorption, prevents edema the next day, and reduces the risk of excessive internal dampness.
4. Consume diuretic and de-swelling foods
In daily life, it is beneficial to consume foods that help expel dampness, such as winter melon and lotus leaf tea, red bean and coix seed porridge, which enhance metabolic capabilities, aid in expelling internal damp coldness, promote detoxification, and facilitate dampness expulsion.
5. Improve sleep quality
To dispel dampness, it is crucial to focus on ensuring high-quality and sufficient sleep in daily life. This not only maintains the normal functioning of various organs but also enhances resistance, reduces the risk of illness, aids in expelling internal dampness, and promotes overall bodily health.
Extension: In summer, if you want to prevent excessive dampness, try to avoid these three time periods when bathing!
After waking up in the morning
After entering the summer season, if you wish to prevent excessive internal dampness, it is essential not to bathe immediately after waking up in the morning. Although this practice can help cleanse the body and wake it up thoroughly, the lower morning temperatures can easily open the pores, leading to the invasion of cold dampness, which can affect personal health. Therefore, it is advisable to avoid bathing during this time.
Bathing after exercising
After exercising, many individuals may experience profuse sweating and choose to bathe. However, this practice can easily lead to the invasion of coldness since blood circulation is faster during exercise, and pores are open. Bathing immediately after exercising can result in coldness invading the body, affecting personal health.
Bathing at night
It is crucial to avoid bathing at night, especially after 10 p.m. as the temperature gradually decreases at night, with heavier coldness. Bathing at this time can easily lead to the invasion of cold dampness, affecting personal health and increasing the risk of illness. Therefore, it is best to bathe before 9 p.m. to avoid coldness invasion and maintain bodily health, ensuring prompt drying after bathing.
Therefore, it is recommended to finish bathing before 9 p.m., thus avoiding the invasion of coldness, maintaining bodily health, and ensuring timely drying after bathing.
Do you have any additional tips for dispelling dampness and detoxification in daily life? Feel free to share them in the comments below.
