Hello my friend Reader,
I have to confess something to you.
I've mentioned how brutally hot it's been this summer to pretty much every friend who'll listen, so many times that I'm fairly sure they've started nodding along without actually hearing me anymore.
Sorry, friends.
But the more I thought about it, the more it's turned into something worth writing to you about, because in Chinese medicine, the season you're in and the temperature outside aren't just small talk.
They actually shape your mood, your energy, and which symptoms show up.
Here's the thing I have thought about and talked about for years.
If we lived a little closer to the rhythm of the seasons, the way nature intended, I honestly believe we'd deal with a lot less illness.
We've drifted so far from the rhythm of nature that most of us don't even notice when we're fighting against it.
Summer, in Chinese Medicine, is Fire season.
It's the most Yang time of the year, all heat, movement, expansion. That's true for everyone right now.
But if you're a woman in perimenopause, here's what makes this season trickier for you specifically: your body is already leaning toward the hotter side of its own internal season.
Your Yin, the cooling, calming reserve that normally balances out all that Yang, is naturally thinning out at this stage of life.
So you've got external heat from summer stacking directly on top of internal heat your body is already generating. Two fires, not one.
In Chinese Medicine, heat isn't just feeling hot. It shows up as inflammation, redness, dryness, irritability, restlessness, insomnia, anger, frustration or symptoms that feel like your body is "running too hot."
So this week, here are a few small shifts, straight from TCM, to help you do exactly that.
Eat more cooling foods: mint, cucumber, watermelon, celery, pears, barley, mung beans, tofu, leafy greens, yogurt, and coconut water.
All of these help clear excess heat from the body.
One important note, because this trips people up: cooling in Chinese medicine doesn't mean cold.
If your digestion runs on the weaker side (and a lot of us in our 40s find it does), eating these foods icy-cold straight from the fridge actually works against you, it taxes the Spleen, the organ system responsible for digestion.
My favorite way to get all these cooling foods in one go is to crush up some mint and cucumber, drop it into a big glass or pitcher of water, and sip on it all day long.
It's ridiculously simple, it tastes like summer, and it cools and hydrates you at the same time, which is exactly what your body is asking for right now.
All in good health,
Jeanettexoxo
P.S. Reply and tell me, which of these cooling foods are you already reaching for, or if this e-mail helped you ? I read every single one.