The Dragon Boat Festival, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, marks the beginning of summer in the Chinese calendar, and to drive off the insects and contagious diseases that summer brings, the Chinese have traditionally drunk hsiung-huang chiu, or realgar wine, and hung slips of kudzu and artemisia over their doorways on that day.

Those precautions may have served as adequate measures in the past. But in today's deteriorating environment, drinking realgar wine and hanging up artemisia may not be enough. How can we best cope with the perils of the long, hot summer?

People all know that fitness is the best preventative against illness. But what does it mean to be fit?

Doctor of Chinese medicine Wei Kai-yu says that good health means the body is able to adjust quickly to sudden changes in temperature and the surroundings, which means regulating body temperature and resisting contagious diseases.

In that case, how can the body's powers of resistance be strengthened?

Dr. Wei quotes a concept in the Mei-ching, or Classic of Internal Medicine: "The seasons of the year must be given first priority; the harmony of the heavens must not be violated."

The ancient Chinese believed that the body's internal organs are closely related to the seasons of the year. The liver was thought to be the dominant organ in spring, the heart in summer, the spleen in mid-summer, the lungs in fall, and the kidneys in winter. Paying attention to this seasonal cycle is a key to maintaining better health.

A proper diet is the first step. Chinese medicine categorizes food into the five flavors of sour, spicy, bitter, salty, and sweet. During digestion, sourness is said to be absorbed by the liver, spiciness by the lungs, bitterness by the heart, saltiness by the kidneys, and sweetness by the spleen.

According to the She-sheng hsiao-hsi, or Tidings of Good Health, by Ch'iu Ch'u-chi (1148 to 1227), more sour foods should be eaten in summer in order to build up the liver, which has just undergone its greatest period of activity during the previous season, and fewer bitter and sweet things. The reason is that the heart has to work over-time pumping blood to dispel heat, and cool summer foods increase the burden on the spleen. Bitter and sweet things stimulate the heart and the spleen, so they should be shunned to avoid "adding oil to the flames." That means cutting back on desserts, in particular.

Of course, everyone's physique is different, so you don't have to be fanatical about each and every rule so long as you follow the main principle.

"Office workers generally move about very little and stay indoors in the air-conditioning, so they should eat bland foods, because that helps open up the apertures," says Li Chia-hsiung, another doctor of Chinese medicine, who explains that opening the apertures means freeing the pores and the seven bodily orifices so that moisture and perspiration are not trapped inside the body. And since lotus leaves are good for the spleen and bamboo leaves for the spleen and the heart, he suggests that summer is a good time to eat bamboo and lotus leaf congee.

What should laborers eat?

"Because workers move about and sweat a lot, they tend to prefer strong flavors and to go for salty and spicy foods that stimulate the appetite and make up for salt loss. During the summer they might want to try some cinnamon or purple perilla," Li says.

Cinnamon can be purchased at Chinese medicine stores in powdered form and added to rice, tea, or stewed meat. It promotes circulation.

Purple perilla, which is available in the form of leaves or of seeds, is believed to stimulate the appetite and to benefit the heart, lungs, and spleen. The leaves can be steeped in tea with dried orange peels or licorice root, and the seeds can be cooked in a stew and served with rice.

Having solved the question of nutrition, what about respiration? With air purifiers fighting a losing battle against the ever-deteriorating environment, additional self-help measures seem to be in order. Dr. Wei suggests eating carrots, which are soothing to the throat and relieve inflammation, in addition to drinking more water and gargling.

Dr. Li recommends drinking soybean milk, which is beneficial to the throat, or eating almond tofu, a cough suppressant. "Teachers and broadcast personnel, in particular, should drink more soybean milk, although not in excess or too quickly," he says.

The ancient Taoists, who paid special attention to the secrets of long life, had their own theories about how to deal with the long, hot summer.

The Taoist essay Yang-sheng lun, or "On Nourishing Life," says that in early summer people are full of vigor but should restrain sexual activities to stabilize the ch'i, or vital energy, in the heart. After midsummer arrives, you shouldn't exert yourself or sweat too much, and you shouldn't sleep outdoors in the night air.

Brushing your hair one or two hundred times a day will make you more quick-witted and brighter-eyed. But do it out of the wind, and don't brush the scalp.

As for meals, eat them while they're still hot, don't stuff yourself, and avoid greasy foods. Temperatures are hottest in the latter half of summer, so that's when you can eat more salty foods to make up for the salt lost in perspiration. And watch sweets; they'll make you feel lazy and rundown.

In fact, the secret to summertime health can be summed up in the little phrase, "a cool heart with few desires." Don't fret, and don't lust after a steady diet of air conditioning and crushed ice. As long as the body maintains a stable metabolism, those pesky diseases won't stand a chance.

[Picture Caption]

The heat makes people search everywhere for a cool sensation, but they overlook the ancient adage, "A calm heart is naturally cool." (photo by P.J. Chen)

Artemisia is widely used in Chinese medicine. The ancients used to hang it over doorways on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month as a measure to preserve good health during the coming summer months.

If you feel drowsy and run-down, brushing your hair is a good pick-me-up.

Summer vegetables are cool by nature and can relieve excess bodily heat.

Some Chinese medicines can reduce bodily heat, but be sure to "follow your doctor's orders."

Artemisia is widely used in Chinese medicine. The ancients used to hang it over doorways on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month as a measure to preserve good health during the coming summer months.

If you feel drowsy and run-down, brushing your hair is a good pick-me-up.

Summer vegetables are cool by nature and can relieve excess bodily heat.

Some Chinese medicines can reduce bodily heat, but be sure to "follow your doctor's orders.".