Diet is one of the Eight Branches of Traditional Oriental Medicine or Traditional East Asian Medicine (TEAM). TEAM likens the body to the environment when describing functions and pathology. Conditions may be described as Damp, Cold, Heat, Dryness, Summer Heat or Wind. Pain may result from what is called Damp Accumulation. Damp is wet and heavy, it sinks or lodges in the joints and may look like swelling. It may combine with other pathogens and it’s insidious. It will sneak up on you, lowering your energy, making you heavy, tired and fuzzy headed.

Damp Accumulation is often the result of overeating or over-nutrition (too many supplements). It is important to support the “Spleen” to avoid Damp Accumulation. 

Sidenote: The names of the channels can be misleading, in Traditional East Asian Medicine the Spleen channel is responsible for many functions that are not ascribed to the lymphatic organ we know of in western bioscience. The Spleen of Traditional East Asian Medicine is responsible for fluid transformation, digesting not just food but ideas and information, keeping blood in the vessels, keeping organs in their places, and nourishing the muscles and limbs.

Here are some tips on how to assist the Spleen with its digestive function to prevent Damp and reduce pain:

• Enjoy your meals, attitude is important, be thankful for the nutrients and all that went into making the food for you. Pay attention to how you feel on receiving the food and stop eating if it doesn’t make you feel good. Also take time to discover why you like or dislike something. This can help you make beneficial adjustments to your diet.

• Everything in moderation. There is no one right diet for every one. We are all different and we change all the time, the only rule that applies consistently is “everything in moderation.”- Relax, take your time, don’t mix food with work, watching TV or reading, also relax your posture so the passage of food through your digestive system is eased. 

• Don’t Worry. Worry is harmful to the Spleen and digestion, and it helps nothing. The past is a memory constructed by our mind, the future exists only in our imagination. It is better to focus on something that you enjoy than to waste time worrying.

• Chew more than you think you need to – chewing prepares the digestive tract to receive the food and starts the breakdown process, it also warms chilled foods. To feel better, chew more. Smoothies should not be frozen and still be chewed for these reasons.

• Stop just before you are full – if you overeat at any one meal, you create stagnation, a temporary queue of food waiting to be processed. This results in feeling tired and bloated.

• Drink between meals.  The Spleen does not like too much fluid with a meal. A little warm fluid with a meal is helpful but too much dilutes the stomach acid and slows down the process.- Avoid cold food. This is best enjoyed with the heat of summer. Too much raw or chilled food or fluid will weaken the Spleen, the digestive process needs warmth. Enzymes work best at certain temperatures, if you have to heat it up the food will stagnate and the process takes away from all your systems.

• Eat your main meal early – when your main meal is eaten late at night, your system is naturally slowing down and the food will transit slower, this may lead to unwanted effects. 

• A gentle walk after eating will benefit the digestion by increasing the circulation and helping movement or peristalsis through the intestines.

• Include fermented foods in your diet. Traditionally several side dishes of small amounts of different pickles are provided. The probiotic lactobacillus and other beneficial bacteria are tremendous for health promotion. 

• The middle burner, the Stomach and Spleen (not the lymphatic organ so much as the pancreas) nourishes the Defensive Qi, our immune system so not only does eating better help with discomfort but also improves resilience.

Foods that are known to cause Damp Accumulation include an over-abundance of dairy, concentrated fruit or vegetable juice, sugar and sweeteners, rich fatty meats, highly processed foods or supplements.

Foods that can transform or drain damp include alfalfa (sprouts), adzuki beans, celery, green tea, jasmine tea, lemon, mushrooms, turnips, barley, seaweeds.

Foods that regulate Qi, help the uplifting of blood returning to the heart from the legs are mostly spices: basil, caraway, cardamom, carrot, cayenne, chives, cloves, coriander, dill seed, marjoram, mustard leaf, orange peel, star anise, and turmeric. A nice chai tea (cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, cloves) with a little honey and Chinese 5 spice powder (cinnamon, cloves, black or sichuan pepper, star anise, fennel seeds) are both easy ways to incorporate more Qi Regulators in your diet and benefit the Spleen as well.