Reviewed by최연승대표원장
I have no appetite during the summer. Should I force myself to eat while dieting, or is it better to just rest?
It depends on your body's condition. If your lack of appetite is due to general fatigue, prioritizing nourishment and rest over a strict diet is essential. However, if it is due to impaired digestive function, eating light meals may actually be more beneficial. Rather than forcing yourself to eat or fasting, it is important to determine if your body is in a state of 'energy deficiency' or 'decreased digestive capacity.'
Many people mistakenly fast when they lose their appetite in the summer, only to suffer from binge eating and extreme dizziness later. Therefore, I recommend a tailored approach based on your specific symptoms.
First, if you feel more easily exhausted than usual, experience excessive sweating, and have no appetite, you may be in a state of 'Spleen Deficiency (Bi-heo, 脾虛).' When the Spleen's function weakens, nutrient absorption fails, and your physical strength can plummet during a diet. In this case, instead of forcing food, it is correct to first restore your body's foundation with prescriptions that boost your vital energy (Qi).
Conversely, if your body feels heavy and swollen, and you feel bloated despite having no appetite, it may be due to the accumulation of 'Phlegm-Fluid (Dameum, 痰飮)' or 'Blood Stasis (Eohyeol, 瘀血).' Phlegm-Fluid refers to the stagnation of metabolic waste, and Blood Stasis refers to poor blood circulation. In this scenario, maintaining a light diet and focusing on circulation management will actually increase the efficiency of your weight loss.
The core is distinguishing between 'Deficiency (Heo, 虛)' and 'Excess (Sil, 實).' Depending on whether you are in a deficient state (lack of energy) or an excess state (accumulation of waste), the appropriate treatment and diet differ completely. To avoid trial and error, visiting a clinic for an accurate diagnosis of your current state is the fastest way to recovery.