Chinese medicine divides foods and herbs into five essences: Warm, Hot, Cool, Cold, and Neutral. Over several millennia, masters perfected the art of using essence to help prevent illness and disease and to heal a range of conditions. Ginger and cinnamon are two examples of the characteristics of essence. Each contains a Warm essence. No matter how you incorporate them into other foods or change their physical composition—even when they are turned into ice cream—they will always carry a Warm essence.

The body loves warmth. For a healthy and smooth-flowing digestive system, it’s important to feed the body warming foods—even in summer! Many people reach for a crisp salad or raw vegetables on a hot summer day. But the essence of these foods is Cold. If the Spleen-Stomach pair receives too many cold things, they will start to complain. At first, you may experience certain signs like bloating, burping, or a white coat on your tongue. That’s just their first round of messages. They will send more! Cold foods or those with a cold essence, such as meat and dairy, ask the body to work harder and use more Qi for digestion. This takes away from the body’s ability to function at its potential.

Fruits can always be eaten raw. But by roasting or sauteing your vegetables or blanching your salad, you’ll remove the Cold energy from your food and gain Qi for healing. Instead of using Stomach Qi to warm up raw vegetables, you will have more Qi reserved for healing. Food is a healing medicine. The Qi and healing messages you gain from food are more effective than its nutritional or physical components.

Healing Foods for Summer

Summer is the season associated with the Heart—the king of all organs. The goal of the Heart is to drop the mind and become peaceful so that you may fully connect with your Spirit.

Here are some foods to support your Heart function:

Apricots

Arugula

Blackberries

Blueberries

Bitter melon

Broccoli rabe

Dandelion

Endive

Escarole

Kale

Plum tomatoes

Radicchio

Raspberries

Strawberries

Watermelon

Get Creative!

Allow your Heart Qi to express itself by experimenting with the fruits and vegetables on this list. What recipes can you create?

Need some inspiration? Type one of the listed foods into our Recipe Database and try something new!

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