Stamina foods for summer

By Lee Sung-hun

Summer heat is in full swing right now, and last Sunday was the first of the three “bok” days, marking the first of the three hottest days during peak summer.

As the Korean “bok” days are designated according to the lunar calendar, they change year to year but usually fall somewhere between mid-July and August ― almost coinciding with the days associated with the Western expression “dog days of summer.”

The word “bok” actually means to lie face down to describe that autumn-qi becomes ineffective and lies down, bowing to the strong summer-qi.

According to Eastern philosophy, the Sun, which belongs to fire among the five elements (fire, water, wood, metal and earth), emits yang-qi at its strongest during the summer season.

Autumn is represented by metal, which is considered to have qi that accumulates, as it is typically a harvest season.

During these three “bok” days, it is said that fire is strong enough to melt metal, meaning that summer beats autumn-qi into submission.

In such hot summer weather, it is easy to become lax and fail to maintain your health. You tend to sweat more than usual, even after accounting for the hot and humid weather, you feel exhausted and listless and you don’t have the same appetite.

All such symptoms are typical of what we Koreans call “eating up the heat.”

In Oriental medicine, this phenomenon is explained by overly strong yang-qi that weakens the yin-qi, exerting our bodies and consuming the qi within.

If you let such symptoms go untreated, not only can you suffer throughout the entire summer, but when autumn starts and the cold arrives, the symptoms can even worsen to more severe conditions.

Traditionally, our ancestors were keen on eating foods that supplement stamina to overcome the heat of the “bok” days and keep themselves healthy. I would like to explain a few such foods in detail from the perspective of Oriental medicine.

Perhaps the most well-known example of such dishes is samgyetang, or ginseng chicken soup.

Owing to its clean and not-too-overly-stimulating flavor, samgyetang is now the most popular summertime stamina food in Korea. To non-Koreans and even to some of us Koreans, eating a hot bowl of samgyetang in the middle of the hot summer does seem odd.

However, this can be best explained with the phrase “regulating heat with heat.”

While the body on the outside is heated and hot, our internal organs are prone to becoming cold due to excessively spending the qi within it. Often, we automatically seek something cold to eat when it is hot outside, but it ends up making our insides even colder.

Thus, it is quite necessary to warm our insides, and a hot bowl of samgyetang is just the perfect dish.

In Oriental medicine, chicken meat with its high content of easy-to-digest protein is categorized as food with warm characteristics. Other ingredients of samgyetang, such as ginseng, astragalus root and jujube also fall in this category.

Ginseng is a well-known qi-replenishing ingredient used in many Korean Oriental prescription medications, and is known to have tonic and immunity-boosting properties. Astragalus root, although not as well-known, is a widely used Oriental medicine ingredient that supplements our body’s qi and helps in regulating perspiration.

Overall, samgyetang warms our insides which can be overspent and cold while replenishing our qi and regulating perspiration. It is most effective for those with cold extremities and indigestion issues.

However, if you feel that you already have an overabundant amount of heat, or you have experienced chest burns or fever after eating ginseng in the past, the warm characteristic of samgyetang may not be suitable for you.

If so, removing ginseng or opting for a duck dish rather than chicken can be your alternative.

In Oriental medicine, there is a prescription frequently used in summer, and it is called “sangmaeksan” whose ingredients include ginseng ― one of the core ingredients of samgyetang. Sangmaeksan actually consists of only three ingredients ― namely, they are ginseng, schisandra or “five-flavor” berries and big blue lilyturf (Liriope muscari) root, and can be brewed as a tea at home.

Sangmaeksan is prescribed for patients when they have spent their qi and are perspiring and thirsty. In medical textbooks of the Joseon era, patients were recommended to drink this instead of “sungnyung,” or warm tea brewed with scorched rice.

Although we don’t see it so often due to a reliance on electric rice cookers at home, serving sungnyung after a meal used to be a common practice in the past.

Recommending drinking sangmaeksan in place of sungnyung demonstrates that although it is a prescribed medicine, it is one that can be easily prepared and accessed for daily use.

The slightly sour schisandra berries used in sangmaeksan are a popular standalone tea ingredient as well. They help to quench thirst and prevent qi from slipping out of our body.

Big blue lilyturf brings down the heat from the heart, augments stomach functions and also quenches thirst. It is especially helpful to consume in advance if you expect to spend extended hours exercising, such as hiking or golfing.

Another well-known food that we Koreans enjoy during the summer heat is eels.

If you feel your body ordinarily contains plenty of heat, eating eels that are characteristically cold can be helpful. Eels are said to stimulate our internal organs’ functions and have been consumed as a typical stamina food.

There is an interesting short anecdote in Dongui Bogam, a medical textbook written in Joseon era, regarding eels. Due to certain symptoms ― probably diagnosed as tuberculosis in modern-day medicine ― the female patient was “put in a coffin to send her down a river, but when a fisherman found her still alive, he fed her lots of boiled eels, she recovered and became his wife.”

Eels are effective in helping those who are weakened and exhausted from prolonged illness as they are high in protein and vitamin E with antioxidant and immunity-boosting properties.

Maintaining good health throughout summer is difficult, not only due to the hot weather but also because we are constantly exposed to cold air-conditioning and seek out cold beverages that weaken our bodies even further.

It is then a very good practice to keep up your health by eating the appropriate foods to supplement your health.

The writer practices Oriental medicine at the

UN Oriental Medical Clinic in Hannam-dong,

Seoul.