By Lee Sung-hun
One of the advantages of living in Korea is that we have four distinctive seasons and thus we can enjoy our seasonal activities.
The flipside is that as the changes of the seasons bring about fluctuations in the weather, we have to somehow force our bodies to adjust to each season.
Summer in Korea means hot temperatures with high humidity through most of the season.
It is when we tend to sweat profusely and any physical activity can be quite taxing on our stamina.
Many of us prefer to stay in the well-air-conditioned indoors while sitting in front of the cool breeze from a fan and drinking cold beverages to cool ourselves down.
However, while doing so can make us feel cooler right away, it can sometimes be harmful to our health.
In summer, our bodies push warm heat to the external organs _ the skin _ to dissipate it.
As heat is congregated on the outer layers, our insides are prone to becoming cold by comparison.
For some, consuming cold food and beverages is like adding ice to an already chilled body, and it becomes even more chilled and deficient.
Those who suffer from frequent diarrhea during the summer fall into such a category.
Possibly, the best-known Korean medicinal ingredient to sustain our bodies for summer is ginseng.
Ginseng is characteristically a warm herb, and it strengthens our internal organs while boosting our natural immunity and is known to bring down blood sugar levels.
As ginseng can warm the chill inside of our bodies with all its other benefits, it is a fitting ingredient for summer.
That is the reason why ginseng is a core ingredient in Korea’s most popular summertime stamina dish, samgyetang, which literally translates to ginseng chicken soup.
Looking at the ingredients for this soup, it becomes clear why it is so popular during summer.
The core ingredient, chicken, is regarded in Korean medicine as a characteristically warm food that can replenish heat in the chilled internal organs.
Another essential ingredient is the milk vetch root, a very common traditional ingredient that replenishes depleted qi.
Also, it tightens the pores of our skin to reduce perspiration, preventing exhaustion.
However, those with a naturally abundant amount of heat in their bodies tend to be incompatible with ginseng and thus samgyetang is not great for everyone.
To determine if ginseng is a good fit for your body’s characteristics, you need to consult with your doctor.
One of the better-known common and yet wrong sayings about traditional Korean medicine medicine is that “boyak” _ the restorative medicine _ should be taken during spring and autumn but not in summer.
The reasoning is that the medicinal ingredients and their effects are lost through perspiration, which could not be further from the truth.
Samgyetang, while it is a commonly available dish, is much like a type of boyak.
There are no reasons why you should not take boyak during summer.
In traditional Korean medicine, those who sweat a lot, feel exhausted, lose their appetite and become lackadaisical during summer are said to be deficient in qi and they can benefit the most from boyak to stay healthy through the season.
The saying about taking boyak during spring and autumn probably originated from the belief that we should prepare our bodies for the upcoming harsher seasons of summer and winter. The fact is that there are no set times of the year for taking boyak.
If you feel particularly tired and depleted, that is the right time to take it.
Traditional Korean medicine can assist you in staying healthy through the summer.