• Responsible for transformation & transportation of nutrients
• Controls the muscles and the four limbs
• Houses thoughts
• Controls sleep

• Abdominal bloating after eating
• Foggy-headedness
• Intolerance of Damp/Humid weather
• Loose stool (at times with undigested food)
• Sugar cravings
• Sudden energy drop

The Health Consequences of Spleen Qi Deficiency

If left untreated, spleen qi deficiency can eventually result in a blood deficiency (not enough qi to create and nourish the blood), and/or a spleen yang deficiency (the loss of the warming function of the spleen). When blood is not properly nourished or there is not enough being generated by the spleen, the heart and lungs are easily affected, leading to a decline in their function.

How to Avoid Spleen Qi Deficiency with Your Diet

• Eat at regular times/intervals each day
• Eat a larger breakfast, moderate lunch, and light dinner
• Don’t eat late at night
• Don’t overeat
• Avoid under-eating
• Be present when eating
• Chew your food slowly and thoroughly
• Avoid ice drinks or ice water year-round
• Avoid Raw and cold foods during months with “R” in it

Lungs.. Why should it matter to you?

In Chinese Medicine Fall is the season associated with the metal element. This is the season of contraction and moving inwards, of dryness, and the Lungs and Large intestine are the organs associated with this element. It’s at this time of the year that the Lungs are at their most vulnerable and most likely to be affected by wind, cold, and dryness. Chronic coughs tend to come up this time of year as it gets quite cool and dry, and colds and flu become more prevalent.

Functions of the Lungs (From TCM view)

• Responsible for respiration (Governs qi and respiration)
• Controls diffusing and descending of qi
• Regulates water passages
• Controls the skin and space between skin and muscle (cou li)
• Manifests in the body hairs
• Opens to the nose
• Controls nasal mucus
• Houses the corporeal soul (Po)
• Affected by worry, grief, and sadness

Symptoms of Lung (circuit/singular) deficiency may include: 

• A cough, which may be mild but continuous
• Shortness of breath
• Low speaking voice
• A tendency to catch colds
• Spontaneous daytime sweating
• Shortness of Breath
• Dislike of Speaking
• Fatigue
• Weak Voice
• Symptoms get worse with exertion

How to Support Lung energy with Your Diet 

• Eating fewer salads and more soups. The ingredients are easier to digest and the watery medium nurtures yin and fluids in the body
• Cooking by steaming and boiling foods is more enriching to the yin as the foods retain more moisture
• Apples and pears nourish and moisten Lung Yin, particularly when poached
• Honey in warm water before bed can ease a dry throat, and assist with dry constipation
• Pungent foods can help disperse mucus, such as onion, garlic, turnip, ginger, or horseradish
• Such foods as seaweeds, marshmallow root, flaxseed, and fenugreek can help repair the mucus membranes of the Lung and Large intestines