Enterovirus & Summer Colds: TCM perspective
A Traditional Chinese Medicine Perspective on summer colds
Summer is a time of vitality, movement, and growth—but it also presents unique health challenges. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), seasonal illnesses like summer colds, enteroviruses, and digestive upset are often linked to the pathological invasion of Dampness and Summer Heat.
Understanding the energetics of summer can help prevent illness and restore balance when sickness strikes.
Your health is an ecosystem—tend to the soil, and the body will flourish.
What Causes Summer Illness?
In TCM, summer is associated with the Fire element and corresponds to the Heart and Small Intestine. The season is naturally warm, but when heat combines with environmental dampness (think humidity, sweat, and improper food choices), it creates the perfect terrain for pathogenic Damp-Heat to invade.
Common summer illnesses include:
Enterovirus / (diarrhea, fever, runny nose and body aches)
Summer Colds (runny nose, cough, fever/chills, headaches)
Heat Stroke / Heat Exhaustion (fainting, rapid breathing, dizziness)
Digestive Upset (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, bloating)
Skin Eruptions (rashes, hives, eczema flares)
Pathogenic Factors: Dampness & Summer Heat
1. Dampness
Dampness is sticky, heavy, and obstructive. It lingers in the body, bogging down digestion and weakening the Spleen’s ability to transform food and fluids. When dampness accumulates, it can combine with external heat, leading to Damp-Heat conditions.
Signs of Dampness:
Stomach bloating
Loose stools or diarrhea
Nausea, vomiting
Foggy head or fatigue
Frontal Headache, Sinus Headache
Skin eruptions or fungal infections
A thick, greasy tongue coating
Achey muscles and malaise
2. Summer Heat
Summer Heat is a yang pathogenic factor that consumes body fluids and raises internal temperatures.
Signs of Summer Heat:
High fever, sweating
Restlessness, irritability
Always thirsty
Scanty urination or dark yellow urine
Dizziness or headache
Red face or flushing of upper body
Why Do People Get Sick in Summer?
Overconsumption of Cold & Raw Foods
Cold drinks, Beer, ice cream, smoothies, and raw salads (yes, raw salads!) weaken the Spleen, impair digestion, and trap dampness in the gut. In TCM, cold foods slow metabolic processes, contribute to phlegm, bloating, congestion and gas.Climate Exposure
Moving from hot outdoors to freezing indoor air conditioning shocks the body’s Wei Qi (defensive qi). Indoor air conditioner in TCM is a major contributing factor to neck stiffness, headaches, and wind-cold type symptoms (chills, fever, sore throat, stuffy nose, headache).Improper Diet and overconsumption of wheat, dairy and sugar
Greasy, doughy, fried, and sugary foods create internal dampness that combines with summer heat, resulting in illness. Think pizza, pretzels, cream, bagels, yogurt, ice cream, popsicles, beer, mixed drinks, soda and syrups. Add a hot day, too much time in the sun and boom—-next day, chills, stuffy nose, headache, achey body and so on.
How to Prevent Summer Illness in TCM
1. Protect the Spleen & Stomach
Eat warm, cooked meals (even in summer)
Sip room temperature or warm drinks
Avoid excess cold, raw, greasy, or sugary foods
2. Clear Summer Heat & Dampness
Drink teas like mint, chrysanthemum, or barley tea
Eat small amounts of cooling but not overly cold foods: cucumber, mung beans, adzuki beans, celery, asparagus, millet, ginger, watercress, bitter melon. Tip: When eating raw salads, allow the ingredients to come to room temperature before serving. And avoid creamy dressings! Very damp producing in the gut.
Use gentle acupuncture or acupressure on ST36, SP9, LI4, LI11, and GV14 to clear heat and support digestion
Herbal formulas for Summer Damp pathogens, examples:
Huo Xiang Zheng Qi San (Agastache Powder to Rectify the Qi)
Use for:
Dampness invading the Middle Jiao
Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach flu, food poisoning, traveler’s sickness
Yin Qiao San (Honeysuckle & Forsythia Powder)
Use for:
Early stage viral infection (sore throat, fever, body aches)
Herbs are safe and effective when they fit the pattern. TCM pattern diagnosis can only be preformed by a licensed TCM provider.
3. Strengthen Wei Qi (Defensive Immunity)
Keep the neck and abdomen covered when moving between A/C and heat. Don’t sleep directly under A/C unit or fan.
Rest properly after sweating—don’t shower in cold water right away. Drink sea salt water with lime/lemon for electrolyte re-hydration.
Eat foods that nourish the digestive tract—think warm, lightly cooked or steamed meals. Sip on room temp water, hot herbal teas that support digestion like ginger, licorice or spearmint.
Summer should be a time of joy and connection with nature, but it’s easy to disrupt internal balance with the wrong habits. By understanding the relationship between diet, climate, and seasonal energetics, you can avoid common summer illnesses like enterovirus, summer colds, and digestive disturbances.
How we manage our wellness in each season affects the next. In TCM there is a saying:
“Summer illness fosters winter disease”
Simply meaning:
If you don’t care for your health in summer, it can lead to illness in winter.
Summer is when Yang (your body’s active, outward energy) is at its peak.
For many people, summertime is a season of expansion, travel and activity. Taking on too much during summertime can easily burn the candle at both ends. If you overheat, deplete fluids, weaken digestion, or take on to much, you drain your reserves and deplete your qi, blood and yin.Winter is the season of Yin and storage.
Your body relies on the strength of your summer Qi to protect you in winter. If your system is weakened during the hot months, you may get colds, flus, fatigue, joint pain, or chronic issues when the cold sets in.
How you live in summer sets the stage for how you feel in winter.
Care for your digestion, rest, don’t overheat, avoid cold damp foods, and support balance now to prevent illness later.
Download PDF guide: foods to limit or avoid for summer damp heat illnesses.