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Module 3   Lesson 4   Yin Shi

Diet, trauma, poisons, treatment and medicines

How do what you eat, what happens to you and what you swallow make someone ill, and how do you read that in TCM language?

After this lesson you know how the quantity, regularity, manner and type of food affect the Spleen and Stomach, you can read trauma, parasites and poisons as causes, you know the classical treatment mistakes, and you can read a medicine with its actions and side effects as a picture, without ever touching the medication.

Spleen, Stomach 脾胃 the cauldron of the Centre how much too little: drains Qi, Blood too much: food stagnates when and how irregular, late, hurried Stomach-Yin and Spleen-Qi what cold, raw: Spleen-Yang fat, sweet: Dampness, Phlegm spicy, alcohol: Heat in what mood eating amid stress or rows: the Liver invades the Stomach neither external nor internal, further in ch. 22: trauma Qi, Blood stuck p. 292 parasites and poisons p. 292 treatment wrongly read p. 293 medicines read side effects p. 293 drugs read the effect p. 294 never touch medication yourself: the client discusses that with the prescriber
After Maciocia ch. 22 (pp. 290 to 295); the links for each food are textbook knowledge. Schematic.

Know by heart

  • How much. Eating too little depletes Qi and Blood via the Spleen; eating too much leaves food stagnating in the Stomach. Su Wen 43: whoever doubles his food injures the stomach and intestines.
  • When and how. Eating irregularly, late in the evening, in a hurry or while working injures the Stomach, in time with Stomach-Yin deficiency; eating under stress lets the Liver invade the Stomach (textbook knowledge).
  • What. Cold and raw food weakens Spleen-Yang and gives Cold and Dampness; fatty, fried, sweet and dairy food gives Dampness and Phlegm; hot spicy food and alcohol give Heat (textbook knowledge). mnemonic: cold douses the cauldron, grease clogs it, spice makes it boil over.
  • Trauma (p. 292). Local stagnation of Qi and Blood; an old injury makes the spot susceptible to a pathogen, and so to Bi (textbook knowledge).
  • Wrong treatment (p. 293). Mixing up Heat and Cold; tonifying while the pathogen is there; too much sweating or purging; a wrong or substituted herb. mnemonic: wrong side, wrong time, too much, wrong herb.
  • Medicines and drugs (pp. 293 and 294). Read action and side effects as a picture, with the Eight Principles and the organs; that reading is study material and never a reason to change medication.
  • Red flag. Weight loss, difficulty swallowing, vomiting blood or black stools; head injury with loss of consciousness, vomiting or blood thinners; poisoning; someone who wants to stop their medication: see the doctor or the prescriber first.

The rest of this lesson is reference.

Diet, trauma, poisons, treatment and drugs: How do what you eat, what happens to you and what you swallow make someone ill, and how do you read that in TCM language?
The chart as an image, to save or share

Three practice questions from this lesson

Su Wen 43: whoever doubles his food ...
  1. warms the Kidneys and strengthens them
  2. injures the stomach and intestines
  3. strengthens the Wei Qi

Answer: injures the stomach and intestines. Overeating leaves food stagnating in the Stomach and burdens the Spleen.

What does eating too little, as a habit, mainly deplete?
  1. Jing, the stock of the Kidneys
  2. Qi and Blood, via the Spleen
  3. The Yin of the Lungs

Answer: Qi and Blood, via the Spleen. Too little raw material for Post-Heaven Qi and Blood: pattern 6, 4 or 13.

According to the textbook, what do years of eating late in the evening eventually injure?
  1. Stomach-Yin
  2. Kidney-Essence
  3. Liver-Yang

Answer: Stomach-Yin. The Stomach loses its rhythm and its Yin; textbook knowledge: coating missing in the centre.

The rest of this lesson

In the course you get the step-by-step explanation, 17 case-based practice questions, 16 spaced-repetition flashcards, the pitfalls and the bridge to physiology with evidence grades. This lesson belongs to module 3: Causes.

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