We are all familiar with damp weather in Ireland. However what is the dampness in the body?
In simple words it is the surplus water in the body.
Conditions that arise from dampness include yeast and fungal infections of any kind–nasties that thrive in warm, moist areas of your body. Athletes foot, blistering rashes, shingles, water retention, edema, loose stools, and diarrhea are all considered to be the product of too much moisture in your body. Furthermore, that adipose tissue that we lovingly call fat is also considered to be an abundance of dampness, because it, too, is loaded with water.
In Chinese medicine dampness is one of the main pathogenic factor that causes imbalance in the body. The outside damp could invade our body if our immune system is not strong. Some people have experience of living in a damp house for a period of time and developing many health issues. This is an example of the outside dampness invades the body. Another main reason for the dampness is the weak digestive system especially the Spleen not metabolizing water efficiently in the body. In Chinese Medicine Spleen has broader functions than Western Medicine Spleen. One of the main function of Spleen is the transportation and transformation of the water in the body.
Spleen is the organ in Chinese medicine that likes warmth and hates coldness and dampness. Below are the common reasons that affect the Spleen function nowadays:
- Excessive intake of cold food and drinks could impair the function of the Spleen. Spleen Yang energy is responsible for the water transformation and transportation in the body. The excessive intake of the cold food and drinks damage the Spleen Yang energy
- Excessive drinking of water. This could be a common mistake people make. Excessive drinking of water could damage the Spleen Yang and contribute to the dampness in the body. So what is excessive drinking of water? Everyone is different. For people who do a lot of exercises and have sufficient Yang energy 8 glasses of water could be perfect. But for people who do little exercise and who normally feel quite cold and not thirsty 8 glass of water a day could be excessive.
- Sedentary lifestyle. Exercises generate Yang energy. The result of the sedentary life style is usually excess Yin energy and insufficient Yang energy in the body. The sweating during exercises is also a way of the body getting rid of the damp.
It is common to see dampness in overweight people. Normally their tongues are swollen with toothmarks. The tongue body color could be pale and tongue coating could be white. For people who has cold and dampness in their body and try to loose weight it is important not to go into the wrong way:
- Eat more cooked and easy digestable food like soup, steamed vegetables.
- Do not over drinking water. Listen to your body and drink accordingly
- Avoid cold raw food and cold drinks
- reduce the intake of diary products. They contribute to the damp in the body
- Exercises regularly
In Chinese medicine we have some herbal remedies designed to help the body to process the dampness in the body and get it out of our system. One of a common used remedy is called Ping Wei San. It is made of:
- Cang Zhu
- Hou Po
- Chen Pi
- Sheng Jiang
- Gan Cao
- Da Zao
Half of the ingredients are food. However this remedy is very effective in getting rid of the damp in the body. It is used to treat obesity, chronic diarrhea, Chronic fatigue, Fibromyalgia, muscle weakness and pains, skin conditions if the root causes are dampness in the body.
A simple herbal tea that are used to aid weight loss is a mixture of
- Lotus Leaf
- Hawthorn berry
Lotus Leaf help draining the damp in the body. Hawthorn berry aids digestion especially the break down of the meat.
Please contact 085 1071022 if you like to book a consultation.