In my last post, I discussed Chinese medicinal recipes for Summer. This post covers a seasonal tea which helps keep you healthy during the Summer months.
Summer is Hot and Humid
Every season has its own nature. The summer is hot and humid, which can tax our qi. As I’ve written before, Chinese medicine has always valued the importance of disease prevention. In fact, it is said that the best physician does not treat disease, but prevents disease before it occurs.
The changing of the seasons is an optimal time for promotion of health and wellness through the Eight Treasure Tea. This tea is modified seasonally to address the upcoming season’s particular nature.
Summertime Eight Treasures Tea, helps to prevent summertime colds, improve energy, and prepare the body for the change of season.
What is a Wind Heat Cold?
In Chinese medicine, illnesses such as colds, the flu, and allergies are caused by environmental phenomenon such as wind, heat, or, cold. Quite often they combine to form what is called wind heat or wind cold. Summertime illnesses tend to be wind heat and summertime damp heat. Symptoms of wind heat generally include redness at the tip of the tongue, nasal congestion, sneezing, and a slight fever, which can combine with dampness leading to joint pain and excess sweating.
The Summertime Eight Treasure Tea
During the summer, the hot and humid weather taxes our qi (commonly translated as energy, but it really has many more meanings), leaving us vulnerable to sickness. Eight Treasure Tea helps prevent this from happening. In China, people drink this tasty and refreshing tea in tea houses year round. Common ingredients include green tea, which is anti-inflamatory, plus a number of Chinese herbs such as chrysanthemum flowers, wolfberries, and others, which work together to tonify and move the qi. Special modifications for the summer include the addition of atractylodes and Job’s tears, which help tonify qi and drain dampness.
Ingredients
green tea
ju hua (Chrysamthmum)1-2 flowers
rock sugar
yi yi ren (jobes tears) 2g
bai zhu (atractalocus) 2g
gou qi zi (wolfberries) 3-4 pieces
bai mu er (Tremella Mushroom) 2 pieces
tai zi shen (Stellaria) 3 g
For optimum benefits, put a packet of this tea in a large mug at the beginning of the day. After you finish the first glass, you can add more water to the same herbs and drink several glasses throughout the day.
