The 8-Constitution Secret Behind Your Rainy Day Cravings

The 8-Constitution Secret Behind Your Rainy Day Cravings

Have you ever noticed that the moment the sky turns gray and a drizzly rain begins to fall, you get a sudden, undeniable urge for something greasy and comforting? In Korea, the go-to combination is a savory pancake (buchimgae) and a bowl of rice wine (makgeolli). This isn’t just a cultural quirk or a random mood swing. Your body is sending you a very intelligent signal, and 8-Constitution Medicine can explain exactly why.

These Rainy Day Cravings are your body’s brilliant attempt to maintain balance in response to the weather. Let’s break down the fascinating connection between humidity, your constitution, and that irresistible pull toward fried food.

How Rainy Weather Affects Your Body’s Energy (Qi)

In traditional Korean medicine, everything in nature, including the weather, has a specific energy or “Qi” that influences our bodies. The energy of a humid, rainy day is characterized by two qualities: it is descending and it gathers energy inward.

This single atmospheric shift creates two very different experiences depending on your innate constitution:

• Constitutions that feel worse in the rain: Hepatonia, Cholecystonia, Pancreotonia, and Gastrotonia often dislike rainy days. Their natural tendency is to have energy that already flows inward or can easily become stagnant. The heavy, inward-pulling energy of the rain exacerbates this, leading to feelings of sluggishness, heaviness, and general discomfort. They often feel the urge to counteract this with stimulating foods and drinks.

• Constitutions that feel better in the rain: On the other hand, Pulmotonia, Colonotonia, Vesicotonia, and Renotonia can feel fantastic on a rainy day. As someone with a Vesicotonia constitution, I personally love the rain. It feels like the atmosphere is helping to anchor my energy, which naturally tends to disperse outward. I feel calmer, more focused, and lighter.

The Role of Oily Foods in Restoring Balance

So, if the rain is pulling your energy down and in, what’s the natural antidote? Your body instinctively seeks out foods with the opposite energy: something that disperses energy outward and upward.

This is where oily, fried foods come in.

Foods made with flour and oil have a powerful effect on the body’s energy system. According to 8-Constitution principles:

• Flour has an energy that supports the Lungs and promotes outward dispersal of Qi.

• Fried foods and plant oils have a similar function, strongly invigorating the Lung’s dispersing energy.

When you eat a crispy, oily pancake on a damp day, you are literally consuming the energetic counterpoint to the weather. It helps to push out the heavy, stagnant feeling caused by the humidity, allowing your energy to flow freely again. This is the primary driver behind your Rainy Day Cravings.

Why Oil Is a Friend to Some and a Foe to Others

The story gets even more interesting when we look at specific constitutions.

For Hepatonia and Cholecystonia constitutions, the Lungs (associated with dispersing energy) are their constitutionally weakest organ system. Therefore, plant-based oils—like sesame oil, perilla oil, and walnut oil—are listed as beneficial foods for them. These oils directly support their weakest function, helping them feel more balanced. For these types, the Rainy Day Cravings for oily food are especially important to honor.

Conversely, for Pulmotonia and Colonotonia constitutions, the Lungs are their strongest, most dominant organ. Adding more oil, which further strengthens this already powerful system, would create a significant imbalance. This is why all oils are considered harmful to them.

Even so, a person with any constitution might experience these Rainy Day Cravings. If you have some underlying energy stagnation (ulche), the inward pull of the rain can make it worse, triggering your body’s instinct to seek out a dispersing food like something fried.

Conclusion: Trust Your Body’s Wisdom

So, the next time the clouds roll in and you find yourself dreaming of french fries or a fresh batch of pancakes, don’t just dismiss it as an unhealthy whim. Your Rainy Day Cravings are a sign of your body’s profound intelligence at work. It’s a healthy, instinctual response to maintain your internal equilibrium against the influence of the external environment.

Listening to this signal and enjoying a moderately oily or fried meal can be a genuinely beneficial act of self-care. It’s a delicious way to help your body feel its best, no matter the weather.