Late summer in Chinese Medicine relates to the time of year between full summer and Autumn.  Energy is said to be in balance at this time of year, the upward energy of spring and summer has slowed and stilled but the downward energy of Autumn had not yet begun.

It tends to be a humid time of year, a combination of warmth and wet.  This helps bring our harvest to full fruition, the final plumping up before the picking!

Some of us do not react so well to this time of year.  This would be described generally as having an underlying "damp" problem.  If you ae someone who suffers from sinusitits, or swollen joints or heavy lethargic limbs, these are all examples of damp issues.  You may just find this time of year fatiguing or notice that a condition you usually cope with is wose at this time. Things that you can do to cope with damp humid conditions:

Avoid damp forming food; this would be any food that slows up or clogggs up the digestion.  Avoid saturated fats from things like cheese, dairy products, fatty foods, red meats, fried food, crisps.  Don't eat too much raw or cold food, ices, fridge cold drinks.

Eat plenty of clean food, freshly prepared especially steamed foods and warm or room temperature drinks.

In short, eat healthy, clean and fresh foods.  Foods that are easy to digest.  Late summer is the season for the stomach, it is the season for paying special attention to our eating habits and avoiding tradtionally unhealthy foods.

Eat the earths bounty, with pleasure and company.