3 Yang-Boosting Foods to Eat After Summer Solstice: Strengthen Your Spleen-Stomach, Enhance Health, and Breeze Through Summer

Just focusing on cooling down isn’t enough during scorching days. To truly thrive in summer, you need to "stoke your inner fire" – nourish your yang energy and fortify your spleen-stomach! Today, we’re sharing three powerhouse foods naturally packed with yang-boosting properties, along with simple, home-style recipes. Eat well, stay energized, minimize illness, and enjoy a comfortable, vibrant season!

I. Warm & Nourishing: Lamb

Lamb, with its warming nature, is renowned for replenishing vitality, enriching blood, and warming the body from within. It’s especially effective at nurturing spleen-stomach yang. Consumed moderately in summer, lamb leverages the season’s natural heat to expel internal cold and dampness – a classic example of "treating winter ailments in summer."

Recommended Recipe: Lamb Rib Soup with Chinese Yam and Carrots

Ingredients:

• Lamb ribs: 500g

• Chinese yam: 300g, peeled

• Carrots: 2 medium

• Ginger: 5 slices

• Scallion: 1, crushed

• Cooking wine: 1 tbsp

• Salt: to taste

• White pepper (optional): a pinch

Steps:

1. Prepare Lamb:

• Cut ribs into chunks. Soak in cold water for 30+ minutes to remove blood.

• Transfer to pot with cold water, ginger (2 slices), and cooking wine. Bring to boil; skim off foam. Remove ribs, rinse with warm water (key for removing gaminess!).

2. Simmer:

• Place ribs in deep pot with ample water, remaining ginger, and scallion.

• Bring to boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 1 hour on low heat.

• Pro tip: Remove scallion after 30 minutes to prevent mushiness.

3. Add Vegetables:

• Add yam and carrot (cut into chunks). Simmer covered for 20–30 minutes until tender.

4. Season & Serve:

• Add salt and white pepper (if using).

• Serve hot: clear broth, tender lamb, melt-in-mouth vegetables – pure comfort!

Tips:

• Add a small daikon chunk while simmering to neutralize gaminess.

• Skim excess surface oil for a lighter broth.

II. Aromatic Damp-Dissolver: Perilla Leaves

Perilla (紫苏, zǐsū), warm and pungent, excels at "releasing surface cold, regulating qi, and harmonizing the stomach." Feeling chilly from AC, queasy from cold food, or lacking appetite? Perilla’s aromatic punch revives the spleen, dissolves dampness, and reignites yang circulation.

Recommended Recipe: Stir-Fried Cucumber with Perilla Leaves

Ingredients:

• Perilla leaves: 1 cup, whole

• Cucumber: 2, thinly sliced

• Garlic: 3 cloves, minced

• Chili (optional): 1, sliced

• Salt: ½ tsp

• Light soy sauce (optional): ½ tsp

• Oil: 2 tbsp

Steps:

1. Prep: Wash perilla; pat dry. Slice cucumber (keep skin if young). Mince garlic/chili.

2. Aromatics: Heat oil; sauté garlic/chili (10 sec) until fragrant (don’t burn!).

3. Cucumber: Add cucumber; stir-fry 2 minutes on medium-high until edges soften.

4. Perilla & Season:

• Toss in perilla; stir briskly 30 seconds as leaves wilt and release fragrance.

• Add salt and soy sauce (if using).

5. Serve: Plate immediately! (Speed ensures crisp cuke and vibrant perilla.)

Tips:

• Work fast – overcooked perilla loses aroma and turns brown.

• Pungent, fresh, and mildly spicy – a perfect appetizer!

III. Warming Cold-Buster: Ginger

"Eat radish in winter, ginger in summer – no need for doctor’s prescription!" Pungent and warm, ginger is the cornerstone for dispelling cold, easing nausea, and reviving appetite. Its spicy kick acts like a "micro-furnace," warming the spleen-stomach, banishing cold-damp, and reigniting yang dampened by heat or icy drinks.

Recommended Recipe: Vinegar-Pickled Ginger

Ingredients:

• Young ginger: 200g

• Rice vinegar / Chencu vinegar: 1 cup

• Rock sugar: 50g (or white sugar)

• Salt: ½ tsp

Steps:

1. Prep Ginger:

• Scrub ginger (no need to peel young ginger). Pat completely dry.

• Slice thinly (1–2mm). Air-dry 15 minutes or blot with paper towel (zero moisture!).

2. Sterilize Jar:

• Wash glass jar; rinse with boiling water or liquor. Air-dry thoroughly.

3. Layer & Pour:

• Pack ginger slices into jar.

• Add salt and sugar.

• Pour vinegar until ginger is fully submerged.

4. Pickle:

• Seal tightly. Refrigerate for ≥3 days (longer = milder, sweeter flavor).

Tips:

• Eat 2–4 slices at breakfast (e.g., with congee) for optimal yang-boosting.

• Avoid at night – may disrupt sleep.

• Use clean, dry chopsticks to retrieve slices. Stores for months if uncontaminated.

Why These Foods Work in Summer

1. Balancing "Heat-Clash":

Summer’s external heat + internal cold (from AC/iced drinks) creates "heat-clash syndrome" – bloating, fatigue, poor appetite. Warm foods like lamb/ginger counter cold, while perilla resolves dampness, restoring equilibrium.

2. Boosting Metabolic Fire:

Yang energy governs digestion. Ginger/perilla stimulate enzyme production; lamb’s iron supports blood-oxygen flow, enhancing nutrient absorption and energy.

3. Preventing "Summer Damp":

Humidity + cold intake cause "damp stagnation." Perilla’s volatile oils (perillaldehyde) break down mucus; ginger’s zingerone improves gut motility.

Science Spotlight:

• Gingerol (in ginger): Anti-inflammatory; accelerates gastric emptying.

• Perilla Ketone: Found in perilla, reduces histamine-induced inflammation.

• Carnitine (in lamb): Converts fat to energy – ideal for summer fatigue.

Summer Wellness Principles

1. Eat Warm, Cook Thoroughly:

Lightly steamed/stir-fried dishes preserve nutrients without burdening digestion. Avoid raw salads daily – rotate with warm veggie medleys.

2. Hydrate Wisely:

Sip warm ginger tea (steep 3 thin slices in hot water) instead of iced drinks. Add mint for cooling effect without yang damage.

3. Protect Spleen-Qi:

Cut sugar: dampens spleen function. Choose cherries/mangoes (warming fruits) over watermelon (excessively cold).

4. Move Gently:

Practice taichi/qigong at dawn. Activates yang without overheating. Avoid intense noon workouts – depletes fluids and qi.

Final Thought: Summer isn’t about extreme cooling. Nourish your core warmth wisely, and you’ll harness the season’s vibrant energy – thriving, not just surviving!

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