1. Boost your qi
Summer heat consumes this vital energy, but proper diet can help the body adapt to climatic changes, says Dr John Fung of Integrated Chinese Medicine Holding's Herbal Medicine Clinic. For outdoor types, he suggests soups made with winter melon, mung bean, American ginseng, and lotus leaf, to clear body heat and promote body fluid and qi production. Those who mostly stay indoors may have difficulty sleeping, fatigue and poor appetite. Fung suggests drinking herbal tea to clear body heat and promote urination. Pungent foods like ginger and onion can help invigorate the lungs and facilitate sweating; lotus seed, common rush and bamboo leaf can clear heart fire and promote sleep; coix seed, hyacinth bean and euryale seed can invigorate the spleen and relieve fatigue.
2. Leave the lap clear
With the weather outside frightful, it's best to make conditions at home delightful. One way is to avoid using a laptop on your lap, as the heat from the machine transfers to your body. Research published in Fertility and Sterility found that laptops on laps can raise men's testicle temperatures by up to 2.5 degrees Celcius within 10 to 15 minutes, which could affect sperm production and quality, and harm reproductive health. Place the laptop on a desk instead.
3. Laugh about it
If you find yourself in a heated discussion, slow down. Think through your responses, and try using humour to defuse rage, relax a tense situation, and get a more balanced perspective, says Dr Jenny Tsang, a specialist in psychiatry and Health Post advisory panel member. 'Use humour to help face [the problems] more constructively,' she says. 'But avoid using harsh, sarcastic humour - that's just another form of unhealthy anger expression.'
4. Think mint