Spleen, Pancreas, and Stomach...the Organs of Earth!
Arguably one of the most diagnosed organs out of all the body concerning any imbalance is the Spleen. This is also one of the most written about organs in Eastern literature due to the sheer importance it has on our entire body. Why? Because it is in charge of creating our food and drink into the fuel we need to keep living and to nourish our body! Like the Lungs, it is the only other organ to be directly affected by the outside world. The Lungs must take in whatever air is around us while the Stomach takes in the food and drink we directly put in it while the Spleen takes the raw product and refines it regardless of the quality of the food and drink we take in.
Let’s get into what each organ does!
The Stomach is straightforward: it takes in whatever food and drink we decide to consume and it starts the digestion process by breaking the food down. When it is finished breaking down the food, the Spleen takes the nutritious parts of the product while the Stomach sends the waste to the Intestines and Bladder.
The Spleen takes the products of the Stomach and refines it further so that the end product creates fresh Blood, Fluids, and Qi (there will be an upcoming blog on the never ending topic of Qi) which nourishes our skin, organs, muscles, boosts our immunity, etc.
Now for those wondering why the Pancreas has been left out it is because the Eastern medical texts used to say Spleen/Pancreas. Nowadays it is implied through the functions listed. The Spleen concerning Western medicine has nothing to due with digestion. instead it filters the blood of damaged and old red blood cells while also storing white blood cells. It also detects and destroys bacteria and viruses found in the blood. The Pancreas as we know is heavily involved in digestion. So technically the Pancreas was never left out as the Eastern doctors realized that a healthy gut meant a healthy immune system as well as healthy digestion! That is why the Spleen and Pancreas used to be written as one organ.
So we have the basic functions of these organs, now what do we do to keep them healthy?
Avoid eating too much heavy, sweet, fried, and greasy foods! I personally hate to say it but this is a fact and mirrors our food pyramid. If we eat too much sweets, fried, greasy, and heavy foods, the Spleen/Pancreas becomes compromised and the most noticeable things that happen right after eating too much of those foods are the feeling of heaviness, sleepiness, increase in mucus production, nausea, and (more often than not) skin break outs. With the holidays coming up, this a really tough tip to follow but do what you can!
Exercise! I cannot harp on this enough. Exercise is amazing for the entire body but it really helps with our metabolism. If it is slow or you have a lack of an appetite, exercise will make things move and help aid your digestion. This can be a simple walk and does not have to be all out cardio! The entire body is about rhythm and movement and this definitely applies to our gut health. The less you move, the more things stay sluggish and our circulation of nutrients goes down!
Spice it up! If you notice you have a lack of appetite or don’t really eat a few meals a day without reflux, try giving some soup with ginger or a little bit of pepper a try. For the Cold months, I love to eat some Chili to balance myself out. Of course this doesn’t mean to go overboard, you can use a little bit and put down the habanero! Too much spice will dry out your Lungs, give you reflux, or issues on the toilet.
Eat on a schedule! With our busy lives this may be hard but if you can stick to eating with regularity it will keep that internal rhythm on track. This also means to watch our food intake as we go along. We all have had those nights where we end up eating at bizarre hours and we pay for it later because we shocked our system. Speaking shocking our systems…
Avoid drinking Cold liquids, eating Cold and/or Raw foods! Our bodies are 98.6 degrees, we are not meant to eat very Cold things! We should eat our veggies cooked and drink room temperate beverages. Every once in a long while should we treat ourselves to any of that since it does punish our system by making it work extra hard to have to warm the food up and then break it down.
Lastly, if you stick to 3 meals a day, make sure your breakfast is the largest meal, lunch is the second largest, and dinner is the smallest. We need fuel for the day and not at night. This does not mean starve yourself at night! They are all relative to each other in portions. Snacking during the day is perfectly fine, just don’t let them substitute a meal or be something major (like that family size bag of Doritos staring at you).
Go in health my friends!