Modern-day living can often be hectic and result in abnormal eating and diet patterns. Coupled with stress from work, outpatient clinics often come across patients who seek treatment for diseases related to the spleen and stomach, such as stomach pain, flatulence, gastric acid reflux, and belching. From a therapeutic point of view, both Chinese and Western medicines can quickly improve stomach issues.
Traditional Chinese Medicine’s Understanding of the Spleen and Stomach
From the perspective of the five elements (metal, wood, water, fire, and earth) theory of Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the spleen and stomach belong to the earth, which “calls the shots,” transforms all things, and is the foundation of all the necessary componants of the human body. The spleen, in TCM, refers to the digestive and absorption system of the human body—expanding on the concept of it being just an organ in Western medicine. Therefore, what people often say about spleen deficiency actually means poor digestion and absorption.TCM believes that the spleen has the physiological function of transforming water and food into more subtle substances—absorbing and transporting them to the viscera of the whole body and in turn sustaining the latter’s physiological functions.
In addition, the spleen has also the function of governing and controlling the normal flow of blood in the veins and at the same time avoiding its leakage out of the veins. The stomach accepts and accommodates water and food, then further decomposes them, and through absorption of the resulting subtle substances, transfers them to the spleen to nourish the whole body.
Replenishing the Spleen Qi Can Cure Visceral Drooping
One example is that if the spleen qi is weak and unable to ascend the nutrients, the upper body parts will not be “nourished by the essence” and there is a feeling of dizziness and mental fatigue. The middle part of the body will have stagnant turbidity, resulting in a “belly bulging” feeling and mild pain. The lower body part will suffer from essence and qi moving downward resulting in loose stool and diarrhea.Effect on Spleen and Stomach from Early Morning “Empty Stomach” Water Drinking
For some time, it has been widely circulated that drinking a lot of boiled water on an empty stomach in the morning can reduce blood concentration, prevent cerebral thrombosis, promote intestinal peristalsis to eliminate stool, and is good for one’s health. But does it have such a good effect? I once drank about 250 ml (8.5 fl. ounces) of warm water on an empty stomach in the morning for two consecutive weeks.Since I usually have an easy bowel movement every day, I didn’t feel any difference in this respect. Instead, I had the feeling of flatulence and hiccups all day long, which caused a bit of discomfort. Thus, I simply gave up drinking water on an empty stomach in the morning. As a result, after three days, the symptoms of flatulence and hiccups disappeared.
After this personal experience, I began to survey patients in my clinic and asked those who usually suffer from flatulence and indigestion whether they drink a lot of boiled water in the morning. It turned out, many people in fact have this habit (all drank at least 200-500ml (6.8-17 fl. ounces). Their common answer was that this method is good for health! So, I asked them to go without drinking water on an empty stomach for one week for comparison—and without prescribing any medicine for them. As a result, most of the patients said that their flatulence and hiccups had improved.
Why drinking boiled water on an empty stomach in the morning hurts the spleen and stomach can be explained by looking at the basic physiological characteristics of the spleen from the TCM perspective.
The nature of the spleen qi is it “prefers dryness to dampness.” One of the conditions for the spleen qi to achieve its ascendency function is that it must be dry and not trapped by phlegm and water. If the spleen is deficient, the function of transporting and transforming water will be impaired, and phlegm and water will grow inside the so-called “dampness in the spleen.” The increase in dampness comes back to haunt both the spleen qi and the spleen yang, resulting in its reduction, which in turn, causes the deficiency of the spleen.
When the yang of the spleen has just awakened in the morning, it is like a young-born sun. Drinking a lot of water (or raw and cold vegetable juice) at this time on an empty stomach will destroy the yang of the spleen, resulting in a lack of the yang there, and insufficient qi. A low level of qi can cause flatulence, indigestion, edema, fatigue, dizziness, palpitation, blurred vision, and many other diseases. When the spleen is deficient, the intestinal peristalsis is weak, which causes constipation.
The Seven Emotions Causing Internal Damage, Resulting in Gastrointestinal Diseases
In addition to improper diet leading to gastrointestinal diseases, TCM holds that the internal fluctuations of the seven emotions (anger, joy, anxiety, overthinking, grief, fear, and fright) can lead to gastrointestinal diseases. It follows the axioms, “worry and overthinking hurt the spleen,” “liver depression invades the stomach,” “liver qi affects the spleen,” “liver (wood) restrains spleen (soil),” and so on. Therefore, the efficacy of drugs and diets for treating gastrointestinal diseases plays only a small part.How to Nourish the Spleen and Stomach
There are a few ways to nourish the spleen and stomach. Here are some suggestions for the readers’ easy reference:If you want to eat fruit, it is advisable to do so 30 minutes to one hour after a meal. In addition, the body is full of yang during the day and yin at night so it is recommended to not eat fruit for dinner, so as not to overwhelm the body with cold and dampness, which hinders health.