NO WORRIES

Todays world is filled with stress. We have been living through a pandemic, economic disarray, polarized politics, and now Globalized focus on a war in Europe. Who would not be stressed. Eastern Medicine like the Western Medicine recognizes that disharmony related to stress and worry has tremendous ill effect on our health. The differences are that  Eastern philosophy concentrates on the impact to Qi as a whole rather than the micro ill effects. Eastern philosophy states that the emotion worry is associated with SPLEEN Qi disruption. This interferes with digestion and inhibits our ability to digest clearly thus effecting overall Qi, innately and Acquired.

Ancient translation in Eastern Medicine described this process as 

“ Anxiety damages the blood”. 

I could go further by saying that worrying about which foods are better than others can cause worry and stress before we even ingest it. Worrying about the perfect foods is overwhelming as we are too much often  faced with contradictory  information and stimulation, that has caused a pathology in itself.

In the words of the bard “ Unquiet meals make ill digestion” ( Shakespeare, Comedy of Errors).

Relaxation and enjoyment are key to the yin aspect of digestion. A relaxed body will digest food more efficiently thus improving our nourishment intake. Digestion begins before we even put food into our mouths. The sight of food stimulates the production of digestive enzymes.

Therefore taking time to appreciate food before we put it in our mouth is part of healthy eating.

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