Traditional Chinese Medicine:
Five Seasons Food Therapy and Health Enhancement

In traditional Chinese medicine, the relationship between the five seasons and the five internal organs is explained based on the Five Elements theory. The five elements include wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. These elements have a corresponding relationship with the seasons of nature: spring, summer, long summer, autumn, and winter. Likewise, the five internal organs: liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys also correspond to the five elements and are thus associated with the five seasons.  

The following is the corresponding relationship between the five seasons, the five elements, the five qi (wind, heat, dampness, dryness, cold) and the five internal organs:

Spring - Liver: Spring is related to wood and is the season for the growth of all things. The liver corresponds to wood, and its main function is to regulate the smooth flow of Qi and store blood, which is beneficial to the circulation of qi and blood in the body. Spring is also a windy season, and it is easy to catch a cold and flu due to wind evil.

Summer - Heart: Summer is related to fire, and the heart corresponds to fire. Its main function is to control the blood and vessels and govern the spiritual activity. Summer is hot, which is consistent with the fire nature of the heart. The heart activity is strong, which helps promote blood circulation. People feel hot in summer, frequent thirst, excessive sweating, easy fatigue and weakness, concentrated urine, feeling upset, palpitation and restless.

Long Summer - Spleen: Long Summer is the season between summer and autumn and is related to earth. The spleen corresponds to earth, and its main function is to transport and transform food and regulate blood, which is beneficial to the digestion and absorption of food. Long summer is the rainy and humid season, which is hot and humid. Therefore, you will experience dampness in the spleen, heavy fatigue, gastrointestinal discomfort, and easy diarrhea.

Autumn - Lung: Autumn is related to metal, and the lungs correspond to metal. its main function is to control breathing, and in charge of dispersing and descending lung qi, which helps regulate the body's qi. The climate in autumn is dry, which consumes body fluids and damages lung yin. People will experience dryness symptoms such as thirst, oliguria, dry skin, yin deficiency and internal heat.

Winter - Kidney: Winter is related to water. The kidney corresponds to water. Its main functions are to store vital essence and control water, promote the growth, development, and reproduction of the body, and regulate the metabolism of the body. The cold nature of winter is consistent with the water nature of the kidney, and the function of kidney tends to be stored, helping to preserve the essence in the body. The weather is cold in winter, and the human body often suffers from cold syndromes such as difficulty in limb flexion and extension, joint pain, and low back pain.

These correspondences not only reflect the interaction between changes in nature and the functions of internal organs of the human body but are also an important theoretical basis for traditional Chinese medicine to regulate the body and prevent diseases. Based on these relationships, Chinese medicine practitioners recommend different health regimens in different seasons to achieve physical balance and health.

Spring: In January, the weather turns from cold to warm, but the cold is still there. The human body's Yang Qi consumption is the largest in winter. If not properly maintained, it is easy for the body to suffer from deficiency syndrome. In February and March, which is close to summer, there is a mixture of hot and cold air, sometimes cold and sometimes hot, sometimes sunny and sometimes rainy. Exogenous wind-cold and wind-heat influenza are more common, and people are also prone to skin diseases such as eczema.

Health enhancement in spring: Among the five elements, spring relates to the liver and the five elements belong to earth. The liver is abhorrent to wind evil. Food therapy should nourish the liver as liver store blood and enhance the blood circulation, which can dispel wind. In addition to nourishing the liver, it is also important to strengthen the body's qi and blood to protect against the invasion of external evils such as wind heat, and wind cold. Other than nourishing the liver, strengthen the spleen qi to enhance physical fitness of the body is also important. Ingredients that nourish blood, promote blood flow, and belong to the liver: pig liver, pig blood, chicken liver, pigeon meat, cuttlefish, oysters, eel, spinach, leek, wolfberry, carrot, mulberry, lychee, fleece-flower root, angelica, donkey-hide gelatin, etc. Ingredients for strengthening the spleen and replenishing qi: rice, wheat, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pork belly, beef, chicken, grass carp, hairtail, mullet, frog meat, pumpkin, ginseng, yam, red dates, chestnuts, etc.

Summer: The weather is hot, and high heat causes the human body to sweat a lot, leading to loss of body fluids, which can lead to irritability, dry mouth, self-feeling fever, difficulty falling asleep at night, fatigue, and susceptibility to “heat exhaustion”, “Summer fever” and “Heat stroke”.

Health enhancement in summer: Among the five elements, summer relates to the heart and the five elements belong to fire. The heart likes coolness and hates heat. In summer, one should keep the mood calm and not get angry. To maintain health, food should be mild nourishing, relieve heat, nourish yin and promote fluid production. The heart governs the blood and vessels, so it is important to nourish the blood and strengthen the heart. Foods that clear away heat, nourish yin, nourish blood and strengthen the heart are watermelon, mung beans, tea, wheat, day lily, lotus root, bitter melon, bamboo leaves, longan, pig heart, ginseng, licorice, angelica, Ophiopogon japonicus, lily, Rahmanian, schisandra chinensis, mulberry, turtle board etc.

Long Summer: During the sixth and seventh months of the lunar calendar, between summer and autumn, the weather is not only hot, but also rainy and humid. People feel that dampness and summer heat trap the spleen, and the body often suffers from fatigue, bloating, boredom, gastrointestinal discomfort, and diarrhea.

Health enhancement in long summer: Among the five elements, long summer relates to the spleen and the five elements belong to earth. The spleen governs transportation and transformation (digesting food). It likes dryness and hates dampness. Strengthening the spleen and removing dampness is the foundation of long summer health preservation. Foods that strengthen the spleen and dry dampness are winter melon, loofah, lotus leaves, tea, cucumber, amaranth, adzuki beans, broad beans, corn, herring, chain fish, carp, mullet, poria, astragalus, atractylodes, yam, etc.

Autumn: The climate changes from hot and humid to cool and dry, and the human body is affected by autumn dryness, causing symptoms such as dry mouth, dry nose, and itching all over the body. Autumn dryness consumes human body fluids, and the dryness evil turns into heat and damages the lung yin, resulting in dry skin, hot hands and feet, dry cough and less phlegm.

Health enhancement in autumn: Among the five elements, autumn relates to the lung, and the five elements belong to metal. The lung is a delicate organ responsible for breathing. Diet therapy should focus on moistening the lungs, promoting body fluids and moistening dryness. Foods include pork, duck, jellyfish, bird's nest, milk, goat's milk, mustard greens, cabbage, radish, white fungus, fungus, pear, persimmon, orange, pomelo, lemon, monk fruit, loquat, sesame, pine nut, peanut, ginseng, yam, cordyceps, Adenophora, polygona tum, lily, etc.

Winter: The weather in winter is cold, the metabolism of human body activities is reduced, and the vitality of all things is hidden. Cold is a yin evil that damages the human body's yang energy. Cold causes qi and blood to stagnate, resulting in various pains due to poor circulation, difficulty in flexing and extending limbs, slow relaxation of muscles and bones, joint pain and spasm, low back pain, and skin tightness.

Health enhancement in winter: Among the five elements, winter relates to kidney, and the five elements belong to water. The kidney stores innate essence, promotes the body's growth, development and reproduction; regulates the body's metabolism and physiological functions. The dietary regimen should: Warm and nourish the kidney and replenish essence. Foods include pig kidney, mutton, dog meat, venison, eel, seabass, shrimp, mussel, sea cucumber, walnut, yam, velvet antler, Basan, Eucommia, cordyceps, dodder, Gecko etc.