Monday, August 3, 2009

Summer Heat

It's summer, and although it's cooler in Los Angeles than it is in other places in the United States--in Texas, it's been over 100 degrees for six weeks!--it's still much warmer in LA than usual. Although some people find the warm weather invigorating, summer's heat often challenges people who are intolerant to heat, making their life very uncomfortable.

Believe it or not, Summer Heat is actually a diagnosis in Chinese Medicine. It involves typical heat symptoms: sweating, red face, excessive thirst, dry lips, scanty yellow urine, and headache. In western terms, we would probably call it heat exhaustion.

Why are some people more susceptible to heat than others? The answer to this question lies in their description: they are heat intolerant. People can be intolerant to climactic factors in the same way that they can be intolerant to foods, like when someone experiences nausea or vomiting every time they eat shellfish. It's not a hypersensitivity reaction--they don't break out in hives or anything--but it does make them ill, and so they avoid it...which is not so easy to do with heat.

What causes people to be intolerant of heat? Sometimes it's inherited from their parents. Hormonal imbalances can also cause heat sensitivity. Sometimes certain foods cause heat reactions, and when eaten in a warm climate, can make them be more sensitive to heat. Typical foods that cause excess heat are bread, sugar, tomatoes, and mangoes. Coffee, alcoholic beverages, and certain spices also contribute to heat issues in those who are sensitive to them.

So, in addition to avoiding foods that someone might be sensitive to that cause excess heat in the body, what can be done to reduce heat sensitivity? Here's a short list:


  1. Eat lightly and drink plenty of fluids. The best thing to do in the summer is to stay well hydrated.
  2. Pay close attention to your physical state, and do things in the summer to keep you feeling cool (swimming, staying out of the sun during the hottest part of the day)
  3. Tap out your cortices (http://www.bodytalksystem.com/videos/). Getting the left and right brain to communicate optimally with each other can reduce many sensitivity issues.
  4. Breathe deeply. When you take long, slow breaths, it allows your brain to pay attention to every part of your body, and recognize and repair malfunctions.
When heat sensitivity becomes a serious problem, there are treatments for it. Acupuncture, NAET, and BodyTalk all address heat sensitivity and heat intolerance quite well, regardless of the underlying cause.

www.quantumlinkwellness.com

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