How to care for your health in the summer heat with traditional Thai medicine

Every year, around April, the temperature in Thailand sizzles at its hottest. The increasing temperature causes our bodies to be hotter than normal, which might cause some symptoms or unhealthy conditions. Therefore, we should try to cool down our body to avoid the symptoms or abnormal conditions.

To take care of your health in the summer weeks, there are many suggestions offered by Bhakkhaphorn Booranasuntikul from the Wiwatta Clinic, Applied Thai Traditional Medicine and Alternative Medicine Clinic at Princ Suvarnabhumi Hospital in Principal Healthcare, based on the science of Applied Thai Traditional Medicine.

Health problems from cumulative heat in bodies

Cumulative heat in bodies might cause sicknesses such as headaches, dizziness, tiredness, fainting, pain in the oral cavity and throat, aphthous stomatitis, constipation, difficulty in excretion, dry skin, inflammatory acne on faces, and abscess on bodies. The cumulative stored heat in the body might cause damage to some organs or lead to their abnormal functioning. When the body suffers from inflammation several times, it might lead to severe internal sicknesses such as tumours or cancer.

The hot weather in Thailand also affects several things in daily life and might cause unexpected health issues or illnesses, such as:

● The hot weather could easily cause food to get spoilt or go rotten. Eating food with contaminated bacteria or viruses might cause diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera), food poisoning, and typhoid fever.

● When a body is in hot weather for a long time, the body temperature might increase suddenly, which cannot be reduced immediately. It might even cause a heat stroke, leading to death.

● In summer, mammals could get irritable or angered easily, so people should beware of rabies. When mammals, such as infected dogs or cats bite, scratch, or lick the wound, the virus could flow into the blood vessel and might cause death.

● Stress disorder is a commonly found issue in summer. It could cause headaches, insomnia, make one short-tempered or easily irritable, which might affect relationship with a near one. It could also affect daily life negatively, such as cause nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, or loss of weight which might lead to a decline in physical health.

‘Elements’ according to Applied Thai Traditional Medicine

Before we learn how to take care of our bodies according to the principle of elements, we must understand these elements first. The elements are categorised into four types: earth, water, air, and fire. Each element has a different distinctive feature.

Earth: A person with a tall or big body, dark skin, black hair, strong joints, big bone, complete organs, and healthy constitution. When they get an illness, they usually suffer from a chronic disease that requires them to take care of themselves, such as heart disease, hypertension, or obesity.

Water: A person with a regular physique, bright and firm skin, stable walking stance, speaking sweetly and softly, doing things slowly, and capable of enduring cold weather. When they suffer from an illness, 
it will usually be related to the respiratory system. They will suffer from fever or allergic rhinitis (hay fever) more easily than normal people. Moreover, they should beware of their lymphatic system, wounds healing slowly, and diarrhoea.

Wind: A person with a skinny or thin body, dry skin, doing things quickly, and unable to endure the cold weather. Their health problems usually are insomnia, stomach ache, heartburn, digestive problems. In some cases, they might suffer from gastroesophageal reflux disease. They might suffer from body or joint pains while some patients might suffer from dizziness and faint in the rainy season.

Fire: A person with average body, oily skin especially on the face, hot-tempered, enthusiastic, unable to endure hot weather, often hungry. They eat a lot but do not get fat because they have a good metabolism. They usually suffer from stress, gastritis, fever. They also suffer from inflammatory acne, abscess on the body, sore throat, aphthous stomatitis, and constipation.

Does the fire element in the body relapse more easily in the summer and why?

The summer (beginning in March to the end of May) is the period when the fire element relapses because the Earth orbits closer to the Sun, while Thailand is at a right angle to the Sun. The weather will be hotter than normal while the body accumulates more heat (fire element relapse). If all of the heat cannot be released, it might cause some health issues, such as aphthous stomatitis, pain in the oral cavity, prone to acne or rash, constipation, blurred vision, insomnia, or inability to sleep well.

Food, vegetables, fruit, and herbs could help reduce the fire element in the body

Eating food that has a cooling effect can help to reduce cumulative heat in the body. Recommended foods are:

● Foods such as chicken and winter melon soup with preserved lime, stir-fried zucchini with eggs, vegetable gourd soup with minced pork, and vegetable katuk clear soup. They could help cool the body, reduce heat, and relieve fever.

● Foods with a slight or moderate bitter taste, such as bitter melon soup with minced pork, sesbania flower omelette, and stir-fried Asiatic pennywort with eggs. They could help greatly in relieving the heat, waste, and fever in the body.

Vegetables, fruit and herbal drinks with a cooling effect could also reduce the fire element in the body.

● Vegetables with a cooling effect include wax gourd, vegetable gourd, ivy gourd, pandan, blue trumpet vine, cucumber, moringa, and green okra.

● Fruit with a cooling effect include watermelon, cantaloupe, melon, musk melon, rose apple, pitaya, and mangosteen.

● Herbal drinks, such as pandan drink, chrysanthemum juice, pennywort drink, aloe vera juice, and lotus root juice.

What kind of foods can reduce the fire element in the body?

Avoid strongly flavoured foods (too spicy, sweet, greasy, or salty) because they will stimulate the fire element and cause problems such as aphthous stomatitis, inflammatory or slow down the healing of inflammations.

How can one take care of the body to reduce the fire element?

1. Drink at least eight to ten glasses of room temperature water a day.

2. Consume herbal drinks with a cooling effect, such as pandan drink, chrysanthemum juice, Tiliacora triandra leaf juice, and bael juice to make the body fresh.

3. Wear loose and light clothes such as thin cotton, linen, or chiffon. Also wear clothes with soft tone colours so as to reflect the light.

4. Avoid drinks with alcohol, caffeine, or sugar in high amounts because they could stimulate the fire element in the body.

5. Avoid foods with high fat or carbohydrates because they could make the digestive system work harder, which could increase fire element accumulation in the body.

6. Excrete frequently to reduce the heat and leftover waste in the body. If you suffer from constipation or have difficulty in excretion, you should eat vegetables or fruit with high fibre.

7. If you have to be outside for a long time, prepare cold water, a cold cloth, or cold packs to compress your skin and wipe yourself to open your pores, which could help reduce the heat in the body and make you feel better.

The treatment of Applied Thai Traditional Medicine based on a study of the elements is currently popular with health lovers. It starts from changing behaviour according to the elements, eating healthy food, avoiding risky foods, and eating herbs that are appropriate to each element. These will make you healthy, relieve illnesses, and facilitate the return to normal.

Those who are interested to check their elements and consult for health guidelines with herbal treatment could make an appointment at Wiwatta Clinic by calling 02-080-5999 or Line account @psuv