Skincare is Healthcare: How to Nourish Your Skin During Summer Heat
A new season has begun, and it's a scorching one! Summer has arrived, symbolizing utmost yang in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Throughout the summer months, TCM emphasizes the importance of maintaining coolness and hydration to counteract the intense heat and humidity, also known as dampness, which can disrupt the body's natural balance, leading to various skin issues. You may notice an uptick in acne and rosacea due to increased inflammation and sweat production. Let's not overlook the uncomfortable sting of sunburn—a stark reminder of the potential DNA damage from ultraviolet rays, heightening the risk of various skin cancers. If you're seeking the finest, holistic methods to nourish and safeguard your skin from the inside out this summer, your search ends here!
The Significance of Skin in Traditional Chinese Medicine
In TCM, your skin serves as a reflection of your ‘Shen’, representing your inner well-being, spirit, and overall health. Healthy skin acts as a protective barrier against illness and toxins, regulates body temperature, and shields against the adverse effects of UV radiation. As the largest organ of your body, the skin mirrors the balance or disharmony within various organ systems.
Supporting Your Skin: Nourishing Yin and Protecting Against UV Damage
To keep your skin healthy in the summer, it's important to nourish Yin energy and protect against UV damage. To handle the effects of sunlight well and make the most of its benefits, a smart approach means slowly getting used to being in the sun while using things to protect your skin. Strict avoidance puts people more at risk of burning when exposed to the sun, spurring aging and cancer. Additionally, sunscreen isn't necessarily the answer either. It used to be thought that UV-B rays were causing all the skin cancer, but new research implicates UV-A—which is NOT blocked by sunscreen—as a similar hazard. UV-A rays have longer wavelengths, the ability to penetrate not only the skin but also bone, destroy vitamin D, and cause mutations. This is why gradual acclimation, combined with diet and herbal/supplement recommendations, is a great way to protect yourself this summer.
Food Recommendations to Nourish Yin and Clear Heat
By combining TCM principles with Western dietary insights, you can effectively nourish Yin energy, clear heat from the body, and protect your skin from damage to ensure that your skin remains healthy, radiant, and protected throughout the summer months.
TCM Food Recommendations
TCM recommends incorporating cooling and Yin-nourishing grains like millet, barley, rice, and quinoa. Seaweeds (preferably served warm with ginger) and beans are also beneficial and help maintain balance. Fruits you naturally crave like persimmon, grapes, berries, bananas, and watermelon are excellent for cooling and hydrating the body. Limited amounts of animal products like milk, yogurt, eggs, clam, abalone, oyster, sardine, duck, beef, and pork are also suggested. Avoid spicy foods, greasy takeout, processed foods, and excessive sugar, wine, or alcohol.
Western Dietary Supports.
Western dietary recommendations emphasize the inclusion of foods that help protect the skin from UV damage and promote overall skin health. Quercetin from apples and onions, curcumin from turmeric, and green tea polyphenols are potent antioxidants. Pomegranates, grapes, and berries provide anthocyanins that inhibit tumor formation. Grapeseed extract OPCs (Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins) restore vitamin C to its unoxidized state in the skin, preventing sunburn. Omega-3 oils from fish help halt inflammation and regulate cell growth patterns. Cod liver oil, rich in EPA, vitamins A and D, supports cellular growth and immune modulation. Colored vegetables and fruits, rich in beta carotene and carotenoids, aid in skin repair.
Skin Repair Cream Ingredients and Topical Treatments
For targeted skincare, a powerful skin repair cream formulated with ingredients like rosehip oil, vitamins C, D3, A, and E, MSM, grapeseed extract, betulinic acid, and green tea and pomegranate extracts can promote skin regeneration and repair.
Additionally, topical TCM treatments like Ching Wan Hung burn cream offer remarkable relief for sunburn and skin irritations caused by summer heat exposure. Once you experience its effectiveness for sunburn, apply it to a small kitchen burn, and you'll quickly realize why this cream becomes a staple in your medicine cabinet!
Additional Chinese Herbal Recommendations
Pearl Powder (Zhen Zhu)
Pearl powder, known as Zhen Zhu in the Chinese pharmacopeia, offers numerous benefits for skin health:
Internal Benefits: Ingested in the form of capsules or teas, pearl powder can calm anxiety, improve sleep, reduce dizziness and headaches, enhance vision, and soothe the stomach.
Topical Benefits: When used in creams, washes, or face masks, pearl powder helps heal wounds, reduce age spots, and brighten the complexion. It contains magnesium, copper, iron, and amino acids that support cellular health and immune function. Pearl powder acts as an antioxidant, reduces lipofuscin (yellow-brown pigmentation), and increases superoxide dismutase, a powerful enzymatic antioxidant. It also enhances wound healing by stimulating fibroblasts and supporting collagen production.
Mung Bean (Lu Dou)
Summer isn't complete without mung beans! For many, their soothing, cooling taste evokes fond childhood memories—whether it's enjoying a chilled pot of mung bean soup after a scorching day or indulging in mung bean ice cream and popsicles on a warm summer evening. Beyond taste, mung beans offer numerous benefits. They're known for their cooling effect, which helps regulate body temperature and prevent heat stroke, making them ideal for hot weather. Mung beans, whether consumed or applied topically, can also enhance skin health. They brighten and even out skin tone, provide moisture and nourishment, reduce inflammation and redness, and help control oil production to prevent breakouts. Plus, they're gentle and well-tolerated by most skin types.
Mung Bean and Honeysuckle Tea
Ingredients:
120g lu dou (mung bean)
30g lu gen (reed root)
30g jin yin hua (honeysuckle flower)
15g bo he (mint leaf)
Instructions:
Simmer lu gen and jin yin hua in 5 cups of water over medium heat for 30 minutes.
Add lu dou and cook for an additional 15 minutes, reducing the liquid down to about 1 cup.
Add bo he last, turning off the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes. Strain and serve.
Mung Bean Soup
Ingredients:
1 cup mung beans (lu dou)
8 cups water
Rock sugar (bing tang) or white sugar, to taste
Instructions:
Wash and drain 1 cup of mung beans.
Bring 8 cups of water to a boil.
Put mung beans in a separate large pot with enough water to submerge the beans, and bring to a boil. Don’t cover the pot. Let it boil at high heat until the water is almost boiled dry.
Pour in 8 cups of boiled water; when the water boils again, turn down to low heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes or until the beans soften and open up. Keep an eye on the pot in case the soup boils over.
Add sugar to taste and stir well until sugar is dissolved. Turn off the heat.
Refrigerate the soup for 2 hours or until chilled.
Stir well and serve cold.
As we embrace the warmth of summer, let's prioritize our skin health by nourishing Yin energy, protecting against UV damage, and adopting a balanced approach to sun exposure. By incorporating Traditional Chinese Medicine principles, dietary supports, and targeted skincare practices, we can maintain radiant and healthy skin throughout the summer months and beyond. Remember, skincare is healthcare, and investing in our skin's well-being is an investment in our overall health and vitality.
If you are interested in a TCM skincare evaluation, book an appointment with one of our doctors!
