“When a person is sick the doctor should first regulate the person’s diet and lifestyle” – Sun Si Miao

Many patients present with some kinds of digestive issues, even if only loose stools, bloating after eating, indigestion or food sensitivity. This tells us that the Earth element needs to be addressed for these patients.

The Earth element (Spleen and Stomach) is vital for our health and well-being. It is responsible for extracting the Gu Qi (‘grain qi’) from food, which is then turned into Qi and Blood for the whole body. The post-heaven Jing is also derived from our food. Because the Shen resides in the Blood, and requires strong Qi and Jing in order to flourish, it also depends on a healthy and strong Earth element. Dampness and Phlegm, so often seen in clinical practice, are also produced by the Spleen. All aspects of our health therefore rely on the process of digestion.

A ‘Spleen friendly’ diet is helpful in a wide range of digestive imbalances.

For instance – The ‘healthy diet’ of Chinese medicine consists of a number of basic points which make digestion as easy as possible, in order to extract maximum goodness (in the form of Gu Qi) from our food:

• Always eat breakfast

• Don’t eat late at night (the weak time for the Spleen and Stomach is 7-11pm)

• Favour warm and cooked food over cold and raw food

• Chew well

• Don’t “flood the Spleen” by drinking too much fluid with meals

• Eat a varied diet, and avoid extremes

• Don’t eat ‘on the go’ or when emotionally agitated

• Avoid too much Damp producing food (dairy products, sugar, wheat etc.)

• Avoid unnatural, processed and refined food

• Don’t overeat

The most common kinds of digestive issues is as follows:

• Too much meat in the diet, leading to Heat and Stagnation

• Too many spicy or rich foods, leading to Heat, Dampness and Phlegm

• Too few vegetables, or a lack of good quality food leading to Qi and Blood deficiency

• Too many Damp foods (especially dairy products and sugar) leading to Dampness and Phlegm

• Too much coffee, leading to Yin deficiency and Heat

Each food has an energetic temperature that effects the Qi of the stomach and spleen. For every patient with internal Heat avoiding Hot foods will help, and for every patient with Cold avoiding Cold foods will help. This is a simple but powerful way of starting to work with food, without getting too complex.

Almost everyone thinks that salads and raw foods are good for them, but easily see the sense in sticking to mainly warm and cooked foods because much extra effort by the stomach is required to process the cold raw food.

Drinking ginger tea or chai is very simple for Yang deficient people, cabbage or beetroot soup for Blood deficiency, and lemon juice in hot water for Damp-Heat or Qi Stagnation.

Eating a “Spleen friendly” diet can improve the success of almost any acupuncture treatment, and in some cases can be the missing element which is preventing an acupuncture treatment from working. All cases of Spleen disharmony or any patient that presents with digestive issues will benefit from the basic ‘Spleen friendly’ healthy eating advice, and for deficiency cases, this alone can make a huge difference to a person’s health.

Supporting patients with basic cooking ideas or recipes and working with diet and lifestyle as Sun Si Miao recommended, can get to the root of many problems, and help patients to truly heal.

Further Reading

Leggett, Daverick. Recipes For Self Healing (Totnes, Meridian Press, 1999)
Flaws, Bob. The Tao of Healthy Eating (Boulder, Blue Poppy Press, 1998)
Ni, Maoshing and McNease, Cathy. The Tao of Nutrition (California, Severn Star Communications, 1987)
Pitchford, Paul. Healing with Whole Foods (North Atlantic Books, 2002)
For using Chinese herbs in cooking
Liu, Jilin. Chinese Dietary Therapy (Churchill Livingstone, 1995)
Flaws, Bob. The Book Of Jook (Boulder, Blue Poppy Press, 1995)
In addition, basic advice for the main imbalances can be quite straightforward. For example, for Yang deficiency we should avoid energetically Cold foods (mango, bananas, tofu etc), use hot cooking methods such as baking, and eat more Warming foods such as Lamb, Trout, and most spices.

Fire is reflected in the Summer season. Summer’s special gift – the energy of fire – allows us to give and receive warmth, supporting the functioning of our hearts. We enhance our health by understanding the correlations between the Fire Element and Summer.

Summer is a time of activity and interaction with the outside world; a time to re-charge our batteries during the high point of the year’s own peak.

Summer is the season of the Heart and its partner organ, the Small Intestine. Although the Heart’s main function is to pump oxygen-rich blood through the arteries into all parts of the body, it also determines the state and strength of our constitution.  The Heart is also connected with the “Shen” or spirit while also being associated with the mind. In Chinese Medicine mental activity resides in the Heart, which affects our emotional health, memory, thinking and sleeping.  A strong healthy Heart results in a  mind that can balance our emotions is peaceful and happy, and is able to sleep undisturbed.

Summer is about  becoming more expansive and connecting with others through hiking, trips to the ocean and mountains, gardening, and summer gatherings. Recharging our Fire Element during the active, summer season will carry us through out the year. Connection with the Fire Element can be a source of great joy that embews us with renewed energy and enthusiasm and lightens our tasks.   When we have the strength of the Fire Element within us there is fun to be had in all that we do. When love and joy are alive in us we naturally reach out to others to share our warmth and friendship.

Here are some tips to stoke your Fire Element:

Plan to have fun regularly.  Schedule your fun and PLAY!!!  Adult playgrounds include retreat centers such as www.kripalu.org & www.omega-inst.org

Volunteer…give of yourself and the love will be returned three-fold. You’ll feel apperciated and yes….LOVED and that does your heart good. There is no shortage of non-profits that could use your particular talents.

I volunteer at www.youcanthrive.org and Acupuncturists without Borders: www.acuwithoutborders.org which are great organizations.

Live your passion. It can be as simple as whisteling or taking a walk through the woods.  If you sing in the shower and always wanted to sing with others, join a choir.   Take up painting, throwing pots (as in pottery), calligraphy, dancing, drumming….you get the idea.

Move, Move, Move…. There’s nothing like physical activity to get into your body and out of your head.  Leave your computers and blackberries behind and walk, dance, swim, bicycle, hike, kayack….or make up an activity.  Get your circulation going in any way that suits you.