June 21 this year is the summer solstice. On this day, the sun shines directly on the Tropic of cancer. It is the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, marking the real arrival of summer. After that, it gets hotter day by day, and it will be hotter until the middle of August. During this period, the days are long and the nights are short, the climate is hot, and everything begins to bear fruit. Its seasonal feature is "long summer", which means growth. According to the characteristics of "all things grow and the heart is full of fire" during the summer solstice, attention should be paid to "nourishing yang" in diet. Since the summer solstice is coming, people like to eat cold food and drink to reduce the body temperature. However, we should eat less cold food and drink in hot weather. Because the pores of human skin expand in hot weather, and the heat dissipation is more, if people blindly eat cold food and drink, the body will be damaged and consumed, and abdominal pain, diarrhea, cough, asthma and other diseases will occur. Therefore, during the summer solstice, the amount of cold food should be properly controlled, especially for the weak spleen and stomach, the elderly and children. Those who easily cause "bitter summer" can often use fresh lotus leaves to cook porridge; Eat more lotus root, mushroom, pear, pineapple and other food. Due to the poor function of spleen and stomach in hot weather, the appetite is poor. Eating bitter food during the summer solstice can restore the exercise ability of spleen and stomach and increase appetite; Bitter taste is introduced into the heart classic. It can be used to relieve the heart fire, and the Yin of bitter taste can be used to adjust the heat of "long summer" from the summer solstice to the beginning of autumn. In bitter food, the most representative is bitter melon. 1. Momordica charantia is the fruit of Momordica charantia, also known as lianggua. Balsam pear is not only refreshing but also rich in nutrients. According to traditional Chinese medicine, bitter gourd is cold and bitter in nature and enters the heart, lung and stomach channels. It has the effects of clearing away heat and heat, nourishing blood and nourishing the liver, tonifying the stomach with the spleen, and detoxifying the items. It can treat fever and thirst, heatstroke and fever, dysentery, sore and swelling, excessive prickly heat, conjunctivitis, and short urine. According to the compendium of Materia Medica, Momordica charantia can "eliminate evil heat, relieve fatigue, clear the heart and clear the eyes". According to the southern Yunnan Materia Medica, Momordica charantia can "purge the six meridians and solidify the fire, cure the evil sores and detoxify them, or become sesame prickly sores all over the body. The pain is unbearable.". According to Quanzhou Materia Medica, Momordica charantia can "be used to treat fever, thirst and drink, wind heat, red eyes, sunstroke and dysentery". I would like to recommend two kinds of bitter gourd food treatment formulas to you: the first one: use 200g fresh bitter gourd, remove the flesh and cut it into pieces, 100g pork lean meat, add proper amount of water to boil the soup, add a little salt to flavor, drink bitter gourd and lean pork in the soup, and take it for several days to treat cold and heat, heat furuncle, excessive prickly heat, eye conjunctivitis and other diseases. The second paragraph: cut the fresh bitter gourd to remove the pulp, fry it with tea or brew it for drinking, or cut the fresh bitter gourd to remove the pulp and then join it with tea, hang it in a ventilated place and dry it in the shade. Take 10-15 grams of water to fry or brew water instead of tea each time to prevent heatstroke and fever. 2. Bitter bamboo shoots: it is also a good choice to eat bitter bamboo shoots during the summer solstice. Bitter bamboo shoots are the tender shoots of bitter bamboo, which are found in Jiangsu, Sichuan, Hunan, Jiangxi and other regions. Bitter bamboo shoots are bitter and sweet in taste, cool but not cold in nature, and have the effects of clearing heat and detoxification, reducing weight and fitness, strengthening stomach and eliminating accumulation. According to Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica, "bitter bamboo shoots taste bitter, sweet and cold. They are mainly used to treat sleeplessness, remove the heat and yellow on the face and tongue, quench thirst and improve eyesight, detoxify alcohol, remove heat, replenish qi, diuresis, regulate wind and heat, and treat cold and aphasia after sweating.". Bitter bamboo shoots can also reduce high blood pressure