Chinese Medicine To Support Sensible Weight Loss
By Sally Perkins
According to the CDC, around three-quarters of all American adults are overweight. With around two-thirds of these trying to change their eating habits and lose a few pounds, it’s no surprise that weight loss plans and programs are big business, with a huge range of suggestions and options touted as providing miraculous results – some with more success than others. Chinese medicine offers the opportunity for mindful, realistic and sustained weight loss, so if you’re looking for a sensible solution for an ongoing, healthy lifestyle, here are some changes you could consider making.
Food and Functionality
Traditional Chinese Medicine is based on many principles relating to food consumption, metabolism and digestion which can aid weight loss and improve your relationship with eating. Excessive weight gain is thought to relate to the accumulation of ‘dampness’ – a condition that occurs when food intake, absorption, digestion and transportation are not balanced. Take the festive season as an example – if you eat too much, or consume food higher in fat, your spleen and stomach will struggle to transform your food, and any excess will be left sitting stationary, leading to an accumulation of dampness.
Elimination of dampness is the main tenet of traditional Chinese weight loss programs, and there are a number of ways to achieve this. According to the guidelines, cultivating a diet of bitter, sour and pungent foods can aid with achieving a healthy body shape, and help you avoid fluctuating weight that can have an impact on your mood, wellbeing and budget – having to invest in different clothes of different sizes gets expensive, and has a negative impact on the environment too. Whether you’re ensuring your favorite bikini will fit exactly come the summer, aiming to eliminate health conditions exacerbated by weight, or simply want to adopt a more mindful lifestyle, changing the way you eat can make a real difference.
Antioxidant Assistance
Many Chinese people drink tea every day, and it is thought to have a number of health benefits. Polyphenols are an antioxidant found in tea and may help to maintain a healthy metabolism whilst you lose weight, repairing cells and easing digestive issues. Green tea, Jiaogulan tea and Oolong all have a soothing flavor and a good level of antioxidants, and just one cup a day is enough to make a difference – something that can be easily incorporated into most daily routines. There are also various herbs known to support weight loss by suppressing appetite, burning fat, and boosting metabolism. He Ye (lotus leaf), Fu Ling and Huang Qi are some of the most well-known, but there are others that may also be suitable, depending on your lifestyle, goals and commitment to weight loss. Consulting a Chinese medicine practitioner can help you to tailor an individual treatment plan based on your personal needs.
Photo by Kristaps Ungurs on Unsplash
Changing the way you eat and drink and supplementing with appropriate herbs is not just about losing weight; it’s about improving your overall wellbeing and health as well. Making one or two small changes at a time can support you to develop positive food habits that’ll balance your body and leave you feeling fit and functional – as well as helping you to stay that way.
Featured image photo by Louis Hansel @shotsoflouis on Unsplash
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Diet and Spirituality: Feeding the Mind, Body, and Soul
By freelance writer Sally Perkins
The idea that food can be a direct route to health and happiness is a belief that’s been long held by proprietors of traditional Chinese medicine. Recipes have passed down through generations that are used to help prevent and treat disease, slow down the aging process, or simply improve overall fitness. To this day, many households that use a traditional approach to health consider the pantry to be synonymous with the medicine cabinet.
In traditional Chinese medicine, food is more than just sustenance. It’s a healthy lifestyle choice that has a significant impact on your mental, physical, and spiritual health. Practitioners of traditional medicine promote the idea that a carefully crafted diet plan should be the first line of defense against any illness or ailment. Traditional medicine has shaped many common Chinese dishes that include a wide variety of vegetables and meats considered to have positive health benefits. Different health call for different ingredients, including herbs, spices, and vegetables that are known to have healing properties.
Dampness
Foods that are damp in nature can slow the digestive system and interfere with the flow of energy throughout your body. This blockage can lead to pain, disease, chronic allergies, and even arthritis. Signs of dampness can include congestion and excessive mucus formation, indigestion, weight gain, and swelling in the joints.
Foods to Include
- Cooked vegetables
- Whole grains
- Beans, lentils, and legumes
- Lean protein
- Fruits and vegetables
- Seaweed and kelp
- Nuts and seeds
Foods to Avoid
- Dairy
- Wheat
- Refined sugars
- Processed flour
- Coffee and alcohol
- Bananas and avocado
Yin Deficiency
Responsible for keeping you cool, a deficiency with your yin can lead to overheating and fever. Yin is closely associated with the kidneys, which function to remove toxins from your system. An imbalance in your Yin can be the result of stress or overwork, but it may also be due to an inadequate diet.
Foods to Include
- Barley, millet, and other whole grains
- Beans and seeds
- Eggs
- Fruits such as apples, pears, and bananas
- Seafood and red meat
Foods to Avoid
- Hot or spicy foods
- Caffeine, cigarettes, and other stimulants
- Sugars
Yang Deficiency
Also often a result of improper kidney functioning, a deficiency in Yang energy is characterized by soreness in the joints and lumbar region, cold sensations in the limbs, difficulty urinating, incontinence, and a decreased libido.
Foods to Include
- Berries and nuts
- Red meats such as lamb and venison
- Seafood
- Strong spices such as black pepper, cinnamon, garlic, ginger, peppermint, and more
Foods to Avoid
- Cold foods and liquids
- Raw food
According to traditional Chinese medicine, a balance between flavor and nutrition helps to promote both physical and spiritual well being. By eating the right foods, you can keep your body in balance and reduce or alleviate the symptoms of certain chronic conditions.
**Beautiful featured image by Blair Fraser on Unsplash
The Spleen and Dampness in Chinese Medicine
By Emma Suttie, D.Ac, AP
The Spleen is an extremely important organ in Chinese medicine and imbalances in the spleen system are some of the most common. It is sometimes confusing to refer to the spleen, as it is very different than the spleen of Western medicine. In Western medicine, the spleen is part of the immune system, where the blood is purified and red blood cells are recycled taking things like iron and cycling them back into the bloodstream so they can be used by the body. The spleen is the largest lymphatic organ and plays an important part in the body's immune system by helping it to recognize foreign invaders. The spleen also holds a reserve of blood which is valuable in case of haemorrhage. It is possible to survive without a spleen, with the liver taking over many of its functions. Removal of the spleen, however, does make one more susceptible to certain infections. The spleen is approximately 3x1x5 inches in size, weighs seven grams and is located in the upper left quadrant of the abdomen, between the 9th and 11th ribs on the left-hand side, beside the stomach.
The spleen in Chinese medicine is quite different. The spleen is considered the major organ of digestion and is partnered with the stomach. The spleen is yin and the stomach is yang. There are many factors that affect the spleen.
Emotions
Every organ in Chinese medicine has an emotion associated with it. The emotion of the spleen is worry and overthinking. We live in a culture where both of these things are extremely common. We work long hours, often don't eat properly and don't get enough sleep. We eat at our desks, multitasking, which puts more of a burden on the spleen because it is responsible for taking in not only the food and drink we consume, but all the stimulus as well. This is why doing one thing at a time and doing it mindfully takes the load off the spleen. Chewing your food very well and not eating too many raw foods will also help take the burden off the spleen. Intense thinking, concentration, studying, brooding and obsessing are all emotions that, if in excess, also weaken the spleen.
Nutrition
What we eat is of vital importance to the spleen. This is good news because there are many foods that are beneficial for this important organ. The spleen likes to be warm and dry, so eating warming foods that do not create too much moisture are excellent for the spleen. Also, the colour associated with the spleen is yellow, so as a rule, yellow foods are healing for the spleen. Below is a handy chart.
Foods The Spleen Loves
- Corn
- Celery
- Watercress
- Turnip
- Pumpkin
- Alfalfa sprouts
- Button mushrooms
- Radish
- Caper
- Brown rice
- Barley
- Amaranth
- Rye
- Oats
- Kidney beans
- Adzuki beans
- Lentils
- A small amount of lean organic meat, poultry and fish, tuna
- A small amount of whole fruits (as opposed to just the juice), lemon
- Sesame seeds
- Pumpkin seeds
- Sunflower seeds
- Seaweed
- Kelp
- Green tea
- Jasmine tea
- Raspberry leaf tea
- Chai tea
- Raspberry
- Peach
- Strawberry
- Cherry
- Walnut
- Chestnuts
- Pine nuts
- Pistachios
- Lamb
- Venison
- Lobster
- Mussels
- Prawns
- Shrimp
- Trout
- Black pepper
- Cinnamon bark
- Clove
- Dill
- Fennel
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Peppermint
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Turmeric
- Thyme
- Horseradish
- Cayenne
- Nutmeg
Foods That Hurt The Spleen
- Dairy
- Wheat
- Cold drinks
- Fruit juice
- Processed foods
- Refined flour, pastry, pasta, bread
- Cold raw foods
- Refined sugar and sugar substitutes
- Coffee, alcohol
- Deep-fried foods
- Peanuts and peanut butter
- Bananas
- Avocado
The Spleen and Dampness in Chinese Medicine
The concept of dampness in Chinese medicine is related to a deficiency of the spleen's function of transporting and transforming body fluids. When the spleen becomes deficient, it will cause it to produce more dampness, creating a vicious cycle. Dampness can come from both internal and external factors. The characteristics of dampness are that it is heavy, sticky, difficult to get rid of, slows things down and tends to settle in the lower parts of the body like the legs and abdomen. Dampness often starts in the legs and can work its way up to the organs in the abdomen. If it settles in the female genital system it causes vaginal discharges, often with a foul odour. If it settles in the intestines it will cause loose stools and if it gets into the bladder it will cause cloudy urine, difficulty, frequency and even a burning sensation upon urination.
Dampness has several clinical manifestations, which can be broken down into a few categories. Each has specific symptoms associated with it. Below are some common symptoms of dampness.
Dampness Symptoms
- A feeling of being tired
- A heavy feeling in the limbs
- Difficulty getting up in the morning and getting going
- A heaviness or fuzzy feeling in the head
- Unclear thinking
- A feeling of fullness or oppression of the chest
- Cloudy urine
- Urinary difficulty
- Vaginal discharges
- No appetite
- Sticky taste in the mouth
- Dull ache and swelling of the joints
- Skin diseases with weepy discharges
- A thick, sticky tongue coating
External Dampness
Dampness can be acquired externally by living in damp conditions (like moist basements), being out in damp weather, wearing wet clothing or sitting on damp ground. It can then get into the channels causing the above symptoms. External dampness generally invades the lower body, typically the legs and can cause aching and swelling of the joints. It can work its way up the leg channels and cause symptoms in the urinary system, female genital system, and intestines. Because of the heavy, sticky nature of dampness, especially when it mixes with heat, it is difficult to get rid of and tends to return again and again.
Being careful to stay covered up and warm as well as staying out of damp environments as much as possible is the best defence against an invasion of external dampness. If you are out in the rain, dry off right away so dampness doesn't set in.
Photo by Dannyst @ Deviantart
Internal Dampness
Internal dampness mainly affects the spleen, but can also affect the kidneys. If the spleen becomes deficient and its ability to transport and transform fluids is affected, it will lead to the accumulation of fluids, creating dampness. The symptoms for both internal and external dampness are the same, the difference being that internal dampness will have a slow onset, as external dampness' onset is more sudden. Another difference is subtleties in the tongue and pulse. In external dampness, the tongue will have a thick, sticky coating, whereas in internal dampness, the tongue coating will be thin. The pulse in both internal and external dampness will be slippery, but with internal dampness, it will be fine, or weak and floating. An external damp pulse will be slippery and full.
Acupuncture as well as Chinese herbs are used in the treatment of dampness. Most commonly points on the spleen meridian are used to clear dampness and strengthen the spleen, and Chinese herbal formulas are used to drain dampness, expelling it from the body (often through urination), as well as building the spleen so that more dampness is not created. Dampness can be difficult to treat because of its heavy, sticky nature, but with nutrition therapy - eating foods that strengthen the spleen and drain dampness - as well as acupuncture and herbs, you can get rid of dampness, and have a happier spleen as a result - which is what we all really want. :)
Beautiful featured image photo by Hansjörg Keller on Unsplash
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