The Season for Being Healthy

　　How minding seasonal changes can keep you free from illness

　　By Chris Plumer and Dong Guoling

　　Ancient Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners once advised people to "value life while healthy, be prepared for unforeseen disaster, and prevent disease before it strikes." They emphasized the need to maintain a "regular life," arguing that preventing disease is like deterring an enemy. "While the latter relies on power and strength, the former relies on good health," says The Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine, an ancient Chinese medical tome.

　　According to the book, there are various conditions that contribute to the outbreak of disease:

　　External factors, such as wind, cold, heat, humidity, dryness, and fire can all have negative influences. TCM theorizes that disease often occurs when people are physiologically unprepared for sudden changes in natural conditions.

　　Internal factors, such as joy, anger, melancholy, sullenness, sorrow, fear, and shock can have physical effects. TCM holds that, while normal emotional changes will not cause disease, sudden, strong, or long-lasting stimulation will quite often surpass human endurance and cause illness. Dietary imbalances, excessive sexual intercourse, uneven allocation of work and improper care of injuries also all influence physiological functions and can induce disease.

　　Combinations of these two categories can lead to significant illness. Strong preventative measures are the best defense.

　　"When an illness first attacks a human body, it is superficial in nature," says Dong. "Vital energy (qi) and various internal organs have not been influenced yet, so the illness is easily treated. When the pathogen goes deep and mixes with the vital energy of the body, treatment is more difficult. Even if the pathogen disappears gradually, the qi has been hurt."

　　One of the best ways to take preemptive measures against disease is to look to the seasons for guidance.

　　"My view is that people should abide by the routines of natural change and care for themselves according to the characteristics of the four seasons," says Dong Jiwu, a retired TCM expert in Jiangsu Province.

　　"This is why many Chinese favor wearing more clothing in the spring, but less in the autumn; sleeping facing east in the spring and summer, but west in the autumn and winter," he says. "The Yellow Emperor's Canon includes a comparison between people who lived close to 100 years and those who lived for a much shorter time. The analysis shows that one of the major reasons for the difference centers on whether one lives a regular life or not."

　　One of the best ways to achieve a regular life is to let the seasons guide you. According to Dong, who is over 80 years of age, people should retire and rise early in the spring and take an early morning walk to stretch the muscles. Elderly people should take a nap around noon. In summer, it is acceptable to go to sleep late, but people should still wake early. In autumn, they should hit the sack early and rise early, as in the spring. In winter, it is best to sleep early to preserve yang (the masculine or positive part of the qi) and get up late to protect yin (the feminine or negative part of qi). Keeping such a schedule maintains a balance between yin and yang and protects against pathogenic factors present in nature.

　　Dong explains that an interesting point well worth noting is that changes in yin and yang forces in the body coincide with the modern theory of the "biological clock," a theory that outlines regular change in the body over a 24-hour period. For example, most functions of the human body are in a state of inactivity between two and four in the morning. While people are most efficient at 10 in the morning, hormonal changes bring tiredness around one or two in the afternoon. Extroverts are creative around three in the afternoon, while introverts are most often in low spirits at that time. The effectiveness of many functions of the human body declines after 10 at night, and so this is the time people should go to bed. "Hence," Dong concludes, "regularity of schedule helps prolong one's life."

　　Follow Dr. Dong's advice, and every season just might be a season of good health.

　　Seasonal Remedies

　　*Drinking wild chrysanthemum tea in springtime helps refresh the head and brighten the eyes.

　　*A soup of boiled lotus seeds and crystal sugar is good for coughs resulting from dry air in autumn.

　　*Mutton creates internal heat and thus should be consumed in winter rather than summer.

　　*Drinking a soup brewed with boiled talcum and licorice root helps ease internal heat and

　　prevent sunstroke during the hot summer months.