Cooling summer foods

I just ate the juiciest, sweetest, fattest Colorado peach that has ever graced my taste buds! Oh, how I love peaches in the summertime! Is there a more sumptuous fruit?

In Chinese medicine, peaches are indicated to moisten the intestines and help with constipation; peach kernels are prescribed to treat blood stasis in the body.

Many common foods are used therapeutically in Chinese medicine. This August, while we are experiencing above 90 degree temperatures here in Denver, I prescribe the following foods to relieve summer heat:

- Peaches
- Pears
- Watermelon
- Green tea (yes, it is cooling!)
- Mung beans (soak and cook them like a porridge)
- Cucumber
- Lotus root
- Water chestnut
- Bamboo shoot
- Seaweed

And for dessert, I prescribe this soul-healing concoction:

Vanilla ice cream (Try this gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, best-ice-cream ever!)
Sliced peaches
Cinnamon (sprinkle on top)

Divine!