It’s not “ice” ~ It’s amazing for cooling down, eliminating edema, and losing weight!

The summer is so hot that it’s almost “freezing!” (Taiwanese: flip the table); many people want to prevent heat stroke and cool down, so they eat shaved ice, which is icy and sweet, and drink ice water and cool drinks, but they become edematous without realizing it. Some people also say on the Internet: "Eating ice can help promote metabolism and help you lose weight successfully." Is this true? Chinese medicine practitioners teach you tips on how to reduce fever, eliminate edema and lose weight at the same time. (Video/Jiang Minjun)

When it is hot, staying in an air-conditioned room, if the temperature is too low, it will be like staying in a refrigerator. If you still feel hot and can't help eating ice or drinking cold drinks, it will easily reduce the metabolic circulation function of the spleen and kidneys, causing water to be retained in the body and unable to be discharged normally, so "cold and dampness" will easily form in the body.

It is easy to eliminate a thousand colds, but difficult to eliminate one dampness. Cold evil is the source of all diseases.

There is an old saying: "A thousand kinds of cold are easy to eliminate, but one kind of dampness is difficult to eliminate; cold evil is the source of all diseases" is absolutely true.

Once dampness invades the body, it can easily induce chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and obesity.

Chinese medicine practitioner Wu Mingzhu said that when cold food enters the gastrointestinal tract, it will cause the stomach and intestines to suddenly cool down and induce gastrointestinal spasm, which is what Chinese medicine calls damage to spleen yang. Even heart and lung function can be easily obstructed, resulting in symptoms such as coughing and chest tightness. If you already have chronic diseases such as asthma, heart disease, high blood pressure, etc., the symptoms will be aggravated. When there is too much moisture in the body, it can also induce symptoms such as allergic reactions and digestive system discomfort, such as sneezing, bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea, facial spots, and oily face.

Chinese medicine practitioner Wu Mingzhu teaches you tips on how to easily reduce fever, eliminate edema and lose weight. (Photography by Jiang Minjun)

Eating ice and drinking ice water can lower metabolism and help lose weight?

After drinking ice water, part of the body's heat is absorbed by the cold water, and the body must increase heat production to cope with the temperature loss, so there is indeed a temporary increase in metabolism. Once the water temperature rises to body temperature, this increased metabolism disappears. Although after drinking ice water, the body will increase its basal metabolic rate and consume calories to balance the temperature of the ice water in the body in order to maintain a constant body temperature, the calories consumed are quite limited. Therefore, drinking ice water will not reduce your metabolism. On the contrary, it will cause a short-term increase in your metabolism. Even people who have the habit of drinking ice water for a long time should be careful as it may cause water metabolism disorders in the body and lead to "pear-shaped obesity".

Is eating watermelon and drinking grass jelly tea the best way to cool down in summer?

Since eating ice or drinking ice water in summer may cause body dampness, which may affect health, some people instead eat watermelon, bitter melon, winter melon, or drink grass jelly tea to cool down. Chinese medicine practitioner Wu Mingzhu said that most fruits are cool in nature, especially watermelons and watermelon juice sold everywhere on the streets. Watermelon is known as the "natural white tiger soup" and can not only clear away summer heat, replenish water and act as a diuretic, but can also lower body temperature, relieve sweating and heatstroke discomfort. In particular, the "watermelon green skin" (the white flesh between the outermost green peel and the red flesh at the bottom) is better in clearing away summer heat.

People with a cold and damp constitution should not eat too much watermelon, as the more they eat, the colder and damper they will become.

Although watermelon has the effect of cooling down, it is not suitable for everyone. In particular, people with a cold and damp constitution should not eat too much watermelon. On the contrary, the more they eat, the colder and damper they will become. People with weak stomachs and heavy moisture are prone to diarrhea, menstrual pain, excessive leucorrhea, or people with weak constitutions such as asthma and cough should not eat too much watermelon in the summer. In addition, if you drink a lot of watermelon juice in the summer, you should be careful about the high sugar content, which is not good for diabetic patients.

There is also grass jelly tea, which is a favorite drink for everyone. However, grass jelly is cold in nature. If you do not understand your physical condition, drinking too much grass jelly tea may cause diarrhea, loose stools, abdominal pain, chills and other discomforts. People with weak constitution who are prone to diarrhea, cold hands and feet, stomachache, abdominal pain, and headache should try to avoid drinking grass jelly tea.

To eliminate dampness and coldness in the body, Chinese medicine practitioner Wu Mingzhu recommends drinking the following "Qi-replenishing and Cold-dampness-eliminating tea" or "Qi-replenishing and Heat-relieving tea". (Photography by Jiang Minjun)

The most feared thing in summer is the arrival of "severe humidity", but there are ways to remedy it

Once the body is damp and cold due to drinking too much ice water, cold melons, and tea, it is necessary to eliminate the dampness and coldness in the body. It is recommended to drink the following "Qi-replenishing and Cold-dampness-removing tea" or "Qi-replenishing and Heat-relief tea", and you can dredge the Qi and blood by pressing the "Hegu" and "Guanyuan" acupoints, or regulate the Qi and blood by pressing the "Guanyuan" acupoint: