Health and wellness: dampness

In recent years, due to the improvement of people's living standards and changes in dietary structure, people are more and more greedy for cold drinks and overeating greasy and sweet foods, which in turn damages the spleen and weakens the spleen yang, leading to abnormal metabolism, distribution and warming of water and dampness. The accumulation of dampness in the body can cause many diseases. This article comprehensively discusses the causes, properties and common clinical symptoms of dampness, and introduces some methods of preventing and treating dampness from the perspectives of diet, exercise, keeping warm and living.

Causes of dampness

Dampness is the main qi of the long summer. If dampness prevails and causes harm to people, it is called evil dampness, which is one of the six exogenous evils (wind, cold, heat, dampness, dryness, and fire). Dampness can be divided into internal dampness and external dampness, and the causes of their occurrence are different.

If one is not restrained in eating, eating high-calorie greasy food for a long time, or being addicted to sweet food, or drinking too much, or being hungry or full at any time, or drinking cold drinks, it will damage the spleen and stomach, causing the dysfunction of water transportation, metabolism and distribution, leading to internal dampness, which gathers into evil dampness. The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine says that "all swellings due to dampness belong to the spleen".

External dampness: Long-term rainy weather, or living in a humid place for a long time, or often wading in the rain, working in water, not changing wet clothes in time after sweating, etc., can cause external moisture to invade the human body and produce dampness, which is external dampness.

In daily life, internal dampness and external dampness often influence each other during the generation process. For example, external dampness that traps the spleen can also lead to internal dampness. If the spleen fails to function properly and dampness cannot be transformed, internal dampness can easily intertwine with external dampness and aggravate symptoms.

The nature and manifestations of dampness

According to traditional Chinese medicine, dampness is characterized by heaviness, stickiness, and easy damage to yang. The clinical symptoms of dampness can be manifested in the following aspects: First, the tongue of a healthy tongue should be light red, with a thin layer of white fur on the tongue surface, while people with heavy dampness usually have a fat tongue, thick and greasy tongue fur, and a serrated edge. Second, there are often symptoms such as decreased appetite, chest tightness, abdominal distension, and nausea. The food is not sweet and the original taste of the dishes cannot be tasted. These phenomena are all caused by the dampness in the body damaging the spleen, which reduces the spleen's ability to absorb the essence of food and cannot be transported and transformed normally. Third, the whole body feels heavy and heavy, feels that there is not enough sleep or does not feel tired after sleep, and is listless all day and too lazy to move. Some people will show "heavy head like a wrap", feeling that the whole head is wrapped in something, or like wearing a hat. This is what is recorded in the "Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic" as "due to dampness, the head is like a wrap". Fourth, the stool is loose and sticky, easy to stick to the toilet, and defecation is uncomfortable, and there is always a feeling of incomplete defecation. Fifth, the hair and face are prone to oiliness or acne on the face. When you wake up, your face is shiny and shiny, and your hair becomes greasy and wispy if you don’t wash it for a day. Sixth, other symptoms such as increased eye secretions, turbid urine, and skin eczema are also manifestations of heavy moisture.

The stickiness of dampness means that dampness tends to stick and stagnate, making it difficult to remove. Therefore, dampness often causes a long course of illness, lingering and difficult to cure, so there is a saying among the people that "a thousand colds are easy to remove, but one dampness is difficult to remove."

Because dampness is a yin evil, it can easily block the body's qi, causing it to rise and fall abnormally and the meridians to become blocked. Moreover, dampness often first affects the spleen, causing the spleen yang to be weak and unable to transform water and dampness, thus causing or aggravating the above symptoms.

Daily protection against dampness

Eat a light diet

The diet should be light, do not eat too much, eat less greasy fried foods and sweets, drink less or no alcohol, so as to reduce the burden on the spleen and stomach, enhance the spleen and stomach's ability to transport and transform, and avoid or reduce the generation of dampness.

There are many dietary methods for removing dampness, which mainly embody the three principles of strengthening the spleen and replenishing qi, regulating qi and warming yang to transform qi. Strengthening the spleen and replenishing qi can enhance the body's ability to transport water and dampness, thereby fundamentally regulating dampness. Regulating qi can make the meridians of the whole body unobstructed, which is conducive to the removal of dampness, just like a smooth road will not easily lead to traffic congestion. Warming yang to transform qi means eating some warm ingredients to speed up the dissipation of moisture. For example, if there is no fire under a pot of cold water, the water cannot evaporate into gas and dissipate. The medical saint Zhang Zhongjing has a famous saying: "For patients with phlegm and fluid, warm medicine should be used to harmonize them."

Red bean and coix seed porridge is a widely circulated dietary therapy for removing dampness, but many people do not see good results after taking it for a period of time. This is because coix seed is cold in nature when used raw, and long-term use can easily damage the spleen. You can use appropriate amounts of Poria cocos, yam, lotus seeds, coix seed (fry on low heat until slightly yellow, the nature turns warm), red beans, tangerine peel, and ginger, soak in water for two hours, and use a soy milk machine or wall breaking machine to make a paste for drinking. It has the effect of strengthening the spleen, regulating qi and warming yang. In addition, you can also add some spices when cooking, such as white cardamom, galangal, fennel, pepper, etc., which have the effect of invigorating yang and dispersing moisture. You can also often eat foods that have the effect of removing dampness, such as winter melon and carp.

Keep exercising

Modern people do more mental work, less physical energy consumption, and stay in closed air-conditioned rooms in summer, so they sweat less and the efficiency of water metabolism is reduced. The reduction of physical labor will also lead to weak Yang Qi and blocked Qi, which is not conducive to removing dampness. Therefore, you can do some activities such as running, brisk walking, playing badminton, playing table tennis, etc. to promote sweating, speed up metabolism, and invigorate Yang Qi, thereby reducing moisture in the body.

Living moisture proof

Keep the living environment dry and the indoor air circulating. Quilts, mattresses and clothes should be aired frequently to prevent moisture invasion. Many young people wear thin clothes for the sake of appearance. In the long run, it is easy to hurt the yang energy, thus affecting the movement of water and generating moisture. Therefore, you should pay attention to keeping warm on a daily basis. You can also soak your feet in hot water at about 40℃ every day for 15 to 30 minutes each time to promote the yang energy in the body and also help reduce moisture.

In short, there are many ways to remove dampness. Try to choose the one that suits you and can be adhered to for a long time. If the condition is serious, you should seek medical treatment in time and take medicine under the guidance of a professional doctor.

Note: Please follow your doctor’s advice on specific treatment and medication!

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This article is transferred from: China Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine Author: Li Mohang

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