Here in the northwest we are getting the heavy rains our area is famous for. That’s what keeps Oregon and Washington so green. Unfortunately we see lots of humidity leading to molds, moss, and respiratory challenges.
I often hear from those who’ve lived in a dryer climate comment on how much better they feel when they return to an area with less humidity. Living in dampness can eventually lead to a condition the Chinese refer to as damp spleen.
In Western medicine we see the spleen as a blood purifier, reservoir of blood in case of hemorrhage, red cell and iron recycler, and especially as the heart of the immune system, being the largest lymphoid organ in the body. We can live without a spleen, but without it we’re more susceptible to infection.
In Chinese medicine, the spleen is viewed quite differently. We don’t see the spleen as a major part of digestion, but it is critical in it’s relationship with the stomach. We see where the Chinese associate the spleen with Yin and the stomach with Yang. They are opposite and balance each other out.
When we look at factors which influence the spleen, emotions are huge. Those emotions affecting the spleen are worry and overthinking.
Long hours, poor diet, inadequate sleep, along with worry and overthinking create damage to the spleen and it’s function. The best way to nourish the spleen is to do one thing at a time, and do it mindfully. Multitasking in a stressful environment takes a tole on the spleen. This is something we see in students studying, stressing, obsessing, and brooding over issues in life.
Food can play a role in weakening the spleen or strengthening it. Those foods which weaken the spleen are those which create too much dampness. Warming foods strengthen and nourish the spleen. These include yellow foods and a very long list of excellent foods. Those which hurt the spleen include: Dairy, Wheat, cold drinks, fruit juices, processed foods, refined flour and sugar, cold raw foods, coffee, alcohol, and deep fried foods.
Those foods which nourish the spleen include organic veggies which are lightly cooked (adding warmth to the body), celery, organic corn, turnips, pumpkin, alfalfa sprouts, mushrooms, brown rice, legumes, kidney beans, lentils, barley, oats, rye, lean meats, poultry, fish, green tea, Jasmine tea, raspberry tea, chai tea, and the list goes on.
The key here is to insure warming foods are consumed. During the cold, wet, winter months, it’s more important to ingest root foods which can impart more heat to the body. Cooling foods negatively impact the spleen in many ways. Sugar is what would be called a yin food, or cooling food. When I consider the foods of the tropics, these cool the body. That’s fine in a hot environment). They lower the spleen’s ability to maintain immunity. This is why during the holidays when more sugar is ingested we see more colds and flu. This would include increasing susceptibility to things like Covid.
Besides immune potential of a healthy spleen, we see other casualty areas from cooling the spleen and creating dampness. When I see this dampness, we see where the spleen’s function of transporting and transforming body fluids becomes impaired. This can lead to edema.
When deficient, we see production of more dampness, resulting in more weakness, creating a vicious cycle. This can come from internal as well as external dampness. Some of the characteristics of damp spleen include feeling tired, heavy feeling in the limbs, difficulty getting up in the morning and getting going. Heaviness or fuzzy feeing in the head, unclear thinking, feeling of fullness or oppression in the chest, cloudy urine, difficult urination, and dull ache and swelling of joints. There are more symptoms, but this is enough to get you thinking.
Living here in the damp northwest is bad enough, but some have damp houses as well. My wood stove maintains a low humidity in the house, even with 98% humidity outside. Staying in or working in wet clothes can increase the potential of creating more damp spleen issues.
Besides creating a dryer environment, reducing worry, overthinking, while eating responsibly, acupuncture is often used to direct more heat into the spleen. In my practice, spleen health can be improved by using a protomorphogen of spleen or a desiccated spleen tissue.
I often hear from those who’ve lived in a dryer climate comment on how much better they feel when they return to an area with less humidity. Living in dampness can eventually lead to a condition the Chinese refer to as damp spleen.
In Western medicine we see the spleen as a blood purifier, reservoir of blood in case of hemorrhage, red cell and iron recycler, and especially as the heart of the immune system, being the largest lymphoid organ in the body. We can live without a spleen, but without it we’re more susceptible to infection.
In Chinese medicine, the spleen is viewed quite differently. We don’t see the spleen as a major part of digestion, but it is critical in it’s relationship with the stomach. We see where the Chinese associate the spleen with Yin and the stomach with Yang. They are opposite and balance each other out.
When we look at factors which influence the spleen, emotions are huge. Those emotions affecting the spleen are worry and overthinking.
Long hours, poor diet, inadequate sleep, along with worry and overthinking create damage to the spleen and it’s function. The best way to nourish the spleen is to do one thing at a time, and do it mindfully. Multitasking in a stressful environment takes a tole on the spleen. This is something we see in students studying, stressing, obsessing, and brooding over issues in life.
Food can play a role in weakening the spleen or strengthening it. Those foods which weaken the spleen are those which create too much dampness. Warming foods strengthen and nourish the spleen. These include yellow foods and a very long list of excellent foods. Those which hurt the spleen include: Dairy, Wheat, cold drinks, fruit juices, processed foods, refined flour and sugar, cold raw foods, coffee, alcohol, and deep fried foods.
Those foods which nourish the spleen include organic veggies which are lightly cooked (adding warmth to the body), celery, organic corn, turnips, pumpkin, alfalfa sprouts, mushrooms, brown rice, legumes, kidney beans, lentils, barley, oats, rye, lean meats, poultry, fish, green tea, Jasmine tea, raspberry tea, chai tea, and the list goes on.
The key here is to insure warming foods are consumed. During the cold, wet, winter months, it’s more important to ingest root foods which can impart more heat to the body. Cooling foods negatively impact the spleen in many ways. Sugar is what would be called a yin food, or cooling food. When I consider the foods of the tropics, these cool the body. That’s fine in a hot environment). They lower the spleen’s ability to maintain immunity. This is why during the holidays when more sugar is ingested we see more colds and flu. This would include increasing susceptibility to things like Covid.
Besides immune potential of a healthy spleen, we see other casualty areas from cooling the spleen and creating dampness. When I see this dampness, we see where the spleen’s function of transporting and transforming body fluids becomes impaired. This can lead to edema.
When deficient, we see production of more dampness, resulting in more weakness, creating a vicious cycle. This can come from internal as well as external dampness. Some of the characteristics of damp spleen include feeling tired, heavy feeling in the limbs, difficulty getting up in the morning and getting going. Heaviness or fuzzy feeing in the head, unclear thinking, feeling of fullness or oppression in the chest, cloudy urine, difficult urination, and dull ache and swelling of joints. There are more symptoms, but this is enough to get you thinking.
Living here in the damp northwest is bad enough, but some have damp houses as well. My wood stove maintains a low humidity in the house, even with 98% humidity outside. Staying in or working in wet clothes can increase the potential of creating more damp spleen issues.
Besides creating a dryer environment, reducing worry, overthinking, while eating responsibly, acupuncture is often used to direct more heat into the spleen. In my practice, spleen health can be improved by using a protomorphogen of spleen or a desiccated spleen tissue.
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