(7/2022) Over the next several months I am going to introduce some (hopefully) new ideas about the role of context with regard to our health. I will also offer suggestions on how we might make small sustainable shifts to improve the quality of our lives in those contexts. I hope you find these articles helpful.

Our health for better or worse does not happen in a vacuum. This may sound obvious, yet, Western medicine, the only medicine most of us have ever known, often addresses illnesses as isolated events or using a simplified cause and effect model. This model treats the symptom as if it were the cause: eliminate the symptom and everything is hunky dory.

The next sentence may seem absurdly obvious. Symptoms are our body’s way of telling us something is wrong. This seems so simple. If it is, then why do we have industries creating products that are essentially bandaids we swallow. I am speaking of many of the over-the-counter (OTC) drugs available to us. These ingestible quick fixes are just that: quick. They do not, however, address the causes of the symptoms. The symptoms are merely the effect. OTC drugs may reduce the presentation of symptoms, yet they do nothing to address the underlying cause of those symptoms.

In a sense, over-the-counter drugs are the equivalent of putting tape over the "Check Engine" light on our car’s dashboard. No light, no problem… no symptom, no problem. Are OTC drugs helpful at times? Yes, and, too often they are considered the solution or at least the opportunity for us to not look at what’s really going on with our health. Often times, we will suppress the pesky day-to-day symptoms until a more serious condition shows up that we cannot ignore or suppress with over-the counter drugs.

Yes. I am about to talk about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). How TCM looks at the influences of daily life on our health can provide clues for how we can help ourselves.

Relationships are the very heart of Chinese medicine. These relationships might be the environment (temperature, humidity, climate), our family, our work, our finances, our emotions, educational opportunities, safety, food, politics, religion, social inequality, housing. The last sentence basically describes everything in our life. This is because everything in our life influences our health in one or more ways.

This seems obvious… or does it?

One way TCM looks at these relationships to environment differently is related to temperature. Temperature? Yes, temperature.

To show you that I am an astute observer of life, I know that we are in the season of Summer. Summer in this part of our world can be hot and humid. See, I told you I am paying attention.

External environmental factors such as this season’s high temperatures, and humidity can have an obvious effect on our body. We can become overheated and sweat more than we like among other uncomfortable effects.

What is one of the first things one might do when one feels hot when the temperature is in the upper 80’s with 75% relative humidity? We might reach for a cold beverage, be it water, iced tea, a soda with ice, or a cold beer.

Well, according to TCM this is not such a good idea. Firstly, the shock of the cold temperature in our mouth, esophagus, and stomach is considered, well, shocking to the body. It is akin to getting "brain freeze" pain from eating ice cream or drinking a slushy too fast, just in a less obvious way.

This sudden ingestion of cold liquid leads to the second effect. When we have an ice-cold beverage or food, our stomach has to heat it up to digest it. This has the effect of heating our body up. Oops. The drink feels refreshing going down, but may actually have the reverse effect. We may not notice our warmer bodies if we are sitting in an air-conditioned room.

Thirdly, now this is a distinctly TCM viewpoint here, to heat up that cold food or drink we must use our vital energy or Qi (pronounced, "chee") to so. According to TCM, the stomach loves warmth. It is sometimes referred to as the "100 degree soup." The warm food means we use less Qi to digest it. This means we have more Qi available to support our body’s natural healing ability. One of my patients followed my advice to stop drinking cold beverages and his symptom of bloating decreased in one week.

Not only that, we happen to live in a place that gets hot and humid. If we are out and about running errands or exercising in the seemingly unbearable heat, where do we want to go? Indoors to a nicely air-conditioned space seems like a good choice. Yes and no.

If you are on the risk of a heat stroke, or feeling overwhelmed by high outdoor temperatures, moving to a cooler environment is a good idea.

When we move in and out of the heat and cooler air-conditioned buildings- now this might seem crazy- but might this not confuse the body’s thermostat? Our bodies are constantly seeking balance or homeostasis. For most of human existence we have not had readily available air conditioned buildings. We are designed to acclimatize. Ever notice on a cooler summer day that temperatures in the lower 70s feel downright cool. In the Winter, temperatures in the lower 70s can feel very comfortable.

This "thermostatic confusion" in the body may weaken the immune system much the way the alternating warmer and colder days of Springtime does. This can provide the opportunity for colds and other conditions to take hold which we might otherwise be able to fight off. This bodily confusion may also lead to allergy symptoms such as runny noses and coughs.

When you feel hot, TCM suggests eating cooling foods such as watermelon, cucumber, mung beans, pears, and apples. Even at room temperature, these foods will help cool the body. Also, it is wise to avoid foods that add heat to the body such as spicy peppers, cinnamon, and fried foods.

My general advice is not from the TCM point of view. It is common sense. Do what you can to limit your exposure to the extremes of temperature. One way to do this is to not set the temperature of your air conditioning lower than 75 degrees. Another way is to have a light scarf or bandanna to cover the back of you neck when you go into a cold store, restaurant, or theater. In my home we use ceiling fans or other electric fans as long as we can before turning on the air conditioning. Of course, there are many variables such as your specific heat tolerance.

The goal is to find a balance based on your body’s specific needs. When we begin to pay attention to small influences on our body’s state of being, we can begin to understand how they may lead up to larger concerns or better health. The choice is yours.

Jefferson Breland is a board-certified acupuncturists licensed in Pennsylvania
 and Maryland with offices in Gettysburg and Towson, respectively.
He can be reached at 410-336-5876.

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