The superior doctor prevents sickness;

The mediocre doctor attends to impending sickness;

The inferior doctor treats actual sickness.

—Chinese Proverb

CHAPTER 1

I Second That Emotion

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) emphasizes the importance of emotions and their role in our physical well-being. Each physical ailment may be caused by an emotional issue or event or vice versa. Because I embrace this more holistic view of the body, I consider my patients’ emotions as an important part of the larger picture of their physical health.

You probably learned in high school biology about the functions and locations of all the organs. With this book, you want to try to forget what you’ve learned (if you haven’t already). It is important to establish that, as a practitioner of TCM, when I mention a particular organ—such as the spleen—I am referring to a complex system of connected symptoms and emotions, not an actual body part and its typically related functions. TCM views what we Westerners consider organs as having an energetic and esoteric role in their impact on one’s health. Their imbalances might manifest in ways that have nothing to do with the physical organ. There is some overlap in the TCM and Western functions of each organ, but sometimes they’re worlds apart. Some organs don’t play a role at all in TCM. For example, the appendix and thymus gland are not really considered at all in diagnosing or treating a patient. Sometimes two organs are viewed as one: The adrenal glands are considered to be the same organ as the kidneys (which sort of makes sense, since the adrenals sit right on top of the kidneys).

TCM advocates believe that we’re born predisposed to certain weaknesses and imbalances in specific organs. How we live our lives determines whether these problems affect us at all and to what extent. Living a balanced life—including following the tenets of Chinese nutrition and eating organic whole foods, getting enough restful sleep and plenty of exercise, avoiding drugs and overmedicating, having ways to cope with and minimize stress—supports your body’s ability to function optimally. In Part II, I will go into greater detail about the relationship between our emotions and our physical health.

Let’s use the spleen as an example of how Western medicine views the organ as compared to TCM. Western thought sees the spleen’s functions as increasing immunity, storing and releasing blood, producing red blood cells in fetuses, and destroying bacteria and worn-out blood cells. A few health issues related to the spleen are some forms of anemia, elevated white blood cell count, and Hodgkin’s disease.

In the view of Chinese medicine, however, the spleen gives energy, or qi, to muscles and organs to move and have strength. It aids digestion of food and drink, converting it into qi and blood. In addition, the spleen keeps blood in the blood vessels, governs your thought process, and prevents prolapse (hemorrhoids are an example of this) and sagging. Some related health issues would be varicose veins, obsessive thinking, weak muscles, and slow metabolism.

In TCM each organ has an emotion or emotions connected to it. When a particular organ is weak, a person will have issues with the emotion related to that organ, and if a person doesn’t deal with an emotional problem, this will cause a weakness or imbalance in its respective organ, thus leading to more issues around that particular emotion, creating a vicious cycle. For example, in Chinese terms, someone who worries or habitually overthinks things will usually have a weak spleen, which followers of TCM see as a cause of sugar cravings. Eating sugar, especially refined sugar, weakens the spleen. A weak spleen makes you worry even more, thus craving even more sweets. Unless you cut out soda, processed food, and desserts and learn how to cope with what’s worrying you, this pattern can continue for years.

TCM also teaches that each organ is connected to other organs or parts of the body in a very different way than you’re used to understanding. For example, in TCM the liver is related to anger, frustration, muscle, and connective tissue. What does this mean? When there’s an imbalance in the liver, it can manifest in tight muscles or muscle spasms. Another example is the lungs manifest on the skin, so someone with asthma or other breathing issues will most likely have some kind of skin disorder, such as eczema or rashes.

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Each organ works its hardest and is most vulnerable during its time slot. Symptoms for a particular organ may be aggravated or only show up during its time frame.

Today in the West, circadian rhythms and the body clock are familiar concepts, often arising in discussions about night-shift workers or cross-country travel. But the Chinese theorized the existence of the circadian clock thousands of years ago: Recorded proof of this theory dates back to Greece during the fourth century BC. It differs from the modern conception of circadian rhythms in that the Chinese had specific two-hour time frames of maximum energy for each organ, whereas the West has come up with physiological functions at their peak without really mentioning specific body parts. Circadian rhythms are relevant to all life, whether animal, plant, or insect. All are influenced by the time of day and amount of light to which they are exposed.

The Chinese circadian clock has many applications in modern life. Here are some examples:

Below are the two-hour increments assigned to each part of the body in TCM.

 

Lungs 3:00–5:00 a.m.

Large intestine 5:00–7:00 a.m.

Stomach 7:00–9:00 a.m.

Spleen 9:00–11:00 a.m.

Heart 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

Small intestine 1:00–3:00 p.m.

Bladder 3:00–5:00 p.m.

Kidneys 5:00–7:00 p.m.

*Pericardium 7:00–9:00 p.m.

*San Jiao 9:00–11:00 p.m.

Gallbladder 11:00 p.m.–1:00 a.m.

Liver 1:00–3:00 a.m.

 

*Note: The two organs identified with asterisks, pericardium and San Jiao, won’t be mentioned in future chapters. I’ve decided to leave them out primarily because they’re thought to have the least influence on our physical and mental health, but I will give a brief explanation here. Both are connected to the Fire element. San Jiao, translated as “triple burner,” does not exist in Western anatomy and physiology. It is broken up into three levels in the torso. The top includes the chest, lungs, and heart. The middle is below the diaphragm to the belly button. The lowest of the three encompasses the area between your belly button and your bottom. The San Jiao is most responsible for aiding in metabolism of food and fluid and keeping all the organs communicating with each other. The pericardium is the heart protector, in both TCM and Western terms. In TCM it protects the heart physically and emotionally from any harm: Whether defending you from someone yelling or an infection in the blood, a healthy pericardium will make sure the heart can’t be injured.

You breathe. You poop. You eat. At least that’s how the day should start. If the order gets thrown off balance, you get cranky, tired, or sick. The order of the clock and its influence can be disrupted in many ways. Depression, alcoholism, poor sleep quality and sleeping habits, seasonal affective disorder, bipolar disorder, and jet lag can all throw off your natural body rhythms. Artificial lighting and electricity are both big contributors to compromising this system. (If you can find a way to avoid having electric items in your bedroom and make it as dark as possible while you’re sleeping, this will help tremendously.)

You can have a positive impact on your circadian clock. For example, the stomach is most active from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m., so it’s the perfect time to get in a nourishing breakfast. You can also use the clock to decide the best times to exercise or get ready for bed. Start paying attention to when you feel your best throughout the day and when you’re most tired. This will give you clues as to what organs need some extra TLC.

Chinese Nutrition

You might be asking, what is Chinese nutrition? How is it different from Western nutrition? Chinese medicine and nutrition have been around for thousands of years, way before anyone knew what cholesterol, protein, or even vitamin C was. Food wasn’t just about survival or taste to the Chinese. Combining the right ingredients to prevent illness and to heal has always been a part of China’s culture. The West is only just starting to accept this centuries-old wisdom.

Chinese nutrition is an essential component of TCM, as important as acupuncture or herbal medicine. If you want to use this book to make real changes in your life, you must begin to view food in a completely new way. Each vegetable, grain, fruit, nut, seed, or animal product has an energetic value to it. Everything you eat has an effect on specific organs and yin, yang, qi, and/or blood. Foods can be warming or cooling. They can calm you or get you energized without the sedative quality of booze or the jitteriness of caffeine. In the remaining chapters in Part I, I will explain more about yin and yang, qi, and the other ancient concepts that form the basis for TCM. Later I’ll give you lists of delicious, easy-to-find foods to help you cope and heal from any type of emotional distress, whether it’s just waking up on the wrong side of the bed or a full-blown panic attack.