The Digestive System
An efficient digestive system is absolutely central to good health. It transforms the food you eat and the fluids you drink into Qi energy and Blood nourishment.
With a good digestion, you will have a lot of energy and keep your body in good working order. If you do get ill, you will be more likely to recover from illness quickly. If the system is not fully functional, then imbalances in the distribution of the beneficial Jing, or “essence”—- distilled from food—-can lead to problems.
Symptoms of digestive issues include heartburn, irregular appetite, bloating and tiredness after eating, weight gain, alternating diarrhea and constipation, lethargy and weakness.
The Food Route
The gastrointestinal tract is one continuous system from the mouth to the rectum. Food and fluids enter and are chopped up by the teeth and sent down to the stomach, which is likened to a cooking pot with some water in it.
The spleen provides the fuel under the pot; the liver and gall bladder add “spices” in the form of bile. In the cooking pot, foods and liquids are turned into a soup. The soup is distilled into Pure and the Impure.
The Pure rises upward to the Heart and Lungs, where it is circulated around the body by respiration. The impure is drained out into the Intestines where some further extraction of nutrients takes place. The remaining matter is excreted by Large Intestine as feces. The main food nutrients are transformed into Blood, which is stored in the Heart and Liver.
TCM therapies, such as acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine help to lower gastric acid, adjust esophageal pressure and balance the functions of the digestive organs.