Voices from yesterday, solutions for today
The classical literature of Chinese touches on the complex interconnections of diet, habit, emotions, factors of environment and individual differences of each person effect health and illness.
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From the Nei Jing Su Wen
Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine
Many diseases come from disharmony of the qi. They often involve emotional disharmony. For example, when one is angry, the qi rises upward; when one is joyous, the qi disperses; when one is sad, the qi becomes exhausted; when one is fearful and frightened, the qi descends; when one is chilled, the qi contracts; when one is hot the qi escapes; when one is anxious, the qi scatters and becomes chaotic; when one overtrains, the qi depletes; and when one worries too much, the qi stagnates.
In general pungent foods have dispersing qualities, sour foods have astringent qualities, sweet foods harmonize and decelerate, bitter foods function to dry and disperse, while salty foods have a softening effect.
The five flavors have certain impacts on the body because of their properties, therefore they have certain contraindications. The pungent taste disperses qi, it should be avoided in diseases of the qi. The salty taste purges the blood. In blood diseases one should avoid salty foods. The bitter taste drains the bones and should be avoided in cases of bone disease. The sweet taste bloats the flesh, in diseases of the flesh, avoid sweet foods. The sour taste contracts the tendons and should be avoided in diseases of the tendons.
From the Nan Jing
The Classic of Difficult Questions
Forty-ninth difficult issue: The meridians can fall ill due to internal influences, or can be harmed by any of the five external influences. How can these situations be distinguished?
It is like this. Grief and anxiety, thoughts and considerations harm the Heart. A cold body and chilled drinks harm the Lung. Hate and anger disrupt the proper flow of qi, moving it upward instead of downward; thereby harming the Liver. Drinking and eating to excess, as well as weariness and exhaustion, harm the Spleen. Extended exposure to a humid or damp place, or overexertion of one’s strength, harms the Kidney. These are examples of the meridians falling ill due to internal influences.
Fifty-first difficult issue: When ill, some desire warmth, some cold. Some wish to see other people, while some prefer to be alone. With all these different desires, in which organ system is the illness located?
It is like this. If an ill person desires cold or to see people, then the illness is in one of yang organs. If an ill person desires warmth or dislikes the sound of other people’s voices and wants to be alone, then the illness is in one of the yin organs.
Seventy-seventh difficult issue: The superior? practitioner treats what is not yet ill; the mediocre practitioner treats what is ill already. What does this mean?
It is like this. The treatment of what is not yet ill implies the following. When one sees illness in the Liver, one should know that the Liver will transmit it to the Spleen. Therefore one prevents this transmission by supporting the Spleen, with the effect that it will not accept the pathologic influences from the Liver. Hence, the scripture speaks of “treating what is not yet ill”.
When a mediocre practitioner sees an illness in the Liver, he does not know about mutual transmission, and will focus all treatment efforts on the Liver. Hence, the scripture speaks of “treating what is already ill.”
