The Lungs, organ of Metal!

Moving forward in the 5 Phases, we reach the time of the Lungs in Eastern Medicine!

Why do the Lungs get their own blog entry? Because they are needed to keep us alive just like the Heart! In fact, they determine the Heart’s rhythmic beating and the body’s rhythmic pace of digestion as well as oxygen intake. Think of the Lungs as the drummer of the body, constantly keeping the beat and everything else working in unison through breathing.

If the Lungs cannot keep the proper rhythm to breathe, the Heart’s rhythm becomes irregular, the Stomach becomes upset, and the Large Intestine cannot eliminate waste as a result. Of course, everyone is different and not all of the effects may be that pronounced or dramatic. These scenarios can snowball over time and may show up when it is a moderate to severe condition with complications.

Interestingly enough, the Lungs play an important role in fluid metabolism according to Eastern medicine where they are said to send fluids down throughout the body to keep them moistened. Again, if the Lungs are experiencing difficulties in their own function of breathing or keeping rhythm, the other organs will become dry and fluids may build up in other areas in the body. A classic example of this are Asthmatics that suffer from constipation and skin issues such as Eczema or Acne. Due to their malfunctioning Lungs, the Large Intestine becomes dry causing bowel difficulties and the skin becomes dry and has pathogenic fluid build up since fluids do not properly reach their destination and spread out like they should.

Finally, the Lungs are also charged with maintaining our line of defense when it comes to fending off illnesses such as Colds, Sinus infections, and Allergies through another process which will be discussed later.

So what can we do to strengthen our Lungs and keep them in proper rhythm?

The first and most simple way is to BREATHE! When we are babies we use our entire Lung capacity and as we get older we start to shallow breathe as we learn about and experience life pressures such as taxes and having kids of our own. A quick way to check that you are breathing properly is to place one hand on your chest and the other over your belly button. When you breathe, your belly hand should be moving up while the hand on the chest should not be moving as much. If this isn’t the case, exhale a little more than normal and let your Lungs naturally fill up with air on the inhale without assistance. Do this for a few breath cycles and you will see the difference! Check yourself throughout the day, each day to make this a habit and breathe with your belly!

Keep spicy foods to a minimum! As a lover of spicy foods this is tough to say but it is true. Spicy and pungent flavors dry up the body by opening up the pores and introducing extra heat to make us sweat. This is good if you are cold and need to warm up, but it does not take much to warm us so be careful. Too many patients with skin issues get flare ups because they eat spicy food!

Eat Lung nourishing foods such as: Pears, Apricots, Almonds, Peanuts, and Cauliflower.

As it is known in Western Medicine, the Lungs are the laziest organ in the body. All they want to do is collapse and the body has to force them to keep working which leads us finally to…

Exercise! This doesn’t have to be intense, just make your body exert enough to make you breathe more to maintain the Lung capacity and build strength (Swimming is AMAZING for strengthening the Lungs).

Enjoy the Autumn and stay safe!