Let’s Talk About TCM Basics!
Since we are at the top of the year let’s start off with the basics! I want to discuss the TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) foundations so you can understand me a bit more when I share my upcoming posts. These are things I usually have to explain to my patients when I’m helping them understand their health condition from a TCM perspective. TCM is still a very mystical side of medicine for many people, and there is a certain group that believes it is based on pseudoscience. If you’re in that group you’re probably not even reading this, so we’re just going to move on LOL!
Topics of discussion:
Qi (vital energy/force)
Channels/meridians - look for this in the next newsletter
Organs in TCM - look for this in the next newsletter
There is so much more to TCM, but I want to go over the very basic topics. Knowing the foundational components of this medicine will help you understand almost any part of it. You can always come back here and refer to this as your guide if you forget or get confused.
What is Qi?
Qi is everything inside and outside of your body. It is your life force energy and animates your entire body. It is what makes you alive. It is the energy that moves everything you experience in this universe. In relation to the human body, qi is the essential substance that keeps all vital activities running. It is what keeps you powered on. For example, if your phone is not charged you will not be able to use it. If you are not charged you will not be able to function. We explain all vital activities in the human body by notating the movement and changes of qi.
There are Six Functions of Qi
Promotes function - Growth & development, physiological activities of your organs and meridians, circulates blood, and distributes body fluid to their designated places
Warming - Maintains normal body temperature
Defensive - Fortifies the outer surface of the body to stop pathogenic invasion
Checking - Qi helps control and regulate all metabolic functions like digestion, sweating, and urination, keeps blood circulating inside of the vessels, and for men it helps with seminal emission.
Qi leads our blood. It is what makes your blood circulate as well as what makes your heart pump your blood. Where qi moves is where your blood moves. If qi gets stuck, blood gets stuck. This is called Qi Stagnation. I will be going into this more when we go over the diseases in TCM.
Qihua (activities of qi) - Deals with the total sum of all the functions on how qi influences and what qi controls in our body. Think of this as a manager, boss, etc.
Nourishing - qi is there to help pull nutrients from the food you eat and use it to help maintain your bodily functions. This is why eating a balanced diet is essential.
The different types of qi:
Congenital qi (Yuan qi) - What you inherit from your parents and are born with.
Zhong qi - The combination of air that you inhale (clean qi) and the energy of food that your stomach and spleen produce. In TCM, we acknowledge the spleen as having a major function in the body which is different from Western medicine whereas it is not considered a vital organ since it can be surgically removed and the body can still carry out its vital functions. Zhong qi’s primary role is to promote the function of the lungs, heart, and blood circulation.
Ying qi (nutrient qi) - Qi from the food essence produced from the spleen and stomach. Its primary function is to produce blood and help nourish the body.
Wei qi (defensive qi) - Think of the immune system and what it does. This is part of what wei qi does for us. It keeps us strong and prevents pathogenic invasions from occurring. This is our body’s military defense. If you have strong wei qi you have a strong body. The words protect, defend, and fight should come to mind when we discuss Wei qi.
Here is my Youtube video on Qi. I go into more detail here!>>> https://youtu.be/OVjtnLTsE3U?si=Xuu7MA3rVGpTB-FK
What Qi does will make more sense when I go over the organs and channels/meridian systems. Here is a snippet of the TCM Organs newsletter coming soon:
When we refer to organs in TCM we are mainly referring to their energetic and spiritual properties while also acknowledging the physical nature of the organ at the same time. We go beyond the anatomical and physiological aspects of organs. We also see how they get affected by emotions, channel/meridian issues, and the environment we are in.
Reference: Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion
The More You Know….
Did you know Mono (infectious mononucleosis) which is caused by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), can trigger a condition that mimics Celiac disease? Most people who are infected with mono acquire it during their teenage years. I was doing some research on a case I was working on where symptoms of Celiac disease (severe gluten allergy/intolerance) came up after they had contracted Mono. I had not heard a lot about this, but I knew EBV is the culprit for a lot of conditions people deal with today. It can mimic many other autoimmune conditions like Multiple Sclerosis, where the immune system gets tricked into attacking the nervous system.
Here is the link to the article I came across on the Mono-Celiac disease connection:
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