My meal plan to treat my Yin deficiency - what do you think?

[Phoenix3]

From recommendations by @Taomeow regarding making bone broth and @Gerard on which foods to eat and at what time, I’ve made a meal plan to finally treat my Yin deficiency (I have a dry constitution, so I need more moisture/humidity/dampness). Please tell me if there is any corrections or improvements I can make, thanks.

 

By the way, sources differ greatly on what foods are yin and what is yang. Some say honey replenishes yin, some say it is strongly yang. Some say cherries, lemon and apples are yang food, while some sources say they replenish yin. So I’m not confident this meal plan is completely Yin replenishing.

 

Of course, this way of eating is only short term, a few weeks at most.

 

My specific problems are Heart and Liver blood deficiency, and Liver and Kidney Yin deficiency.

 

———

 

Wake up at 7am. Start cooking bone broth.

 

Breakfast (7.30am) is milky, thin porridge with added cinnamon and a banana. (Milk is yin replenishing. Cinnamon relaxes the blood vessels and banana is yin replenishing)

 

Brunch is a fruit juice, consisting of pears, cucumber, lemon, lime and coconut water. (All these fruits are Yin replenishing, right?)

 

Early lunch is omelette with cheese. No spices are added to the omelette. (Chicken egg and cheese are yin replenishing).

 

Alternatively, early lunch can be pasta with lots of cheese and tinned tuna (fish is generally yin replenishing, and tomatoes are yin replenishing).

 

Late lunch (2pm), I eat the bone broth as a soup by adding added potatoes, sweet potatoes and beef (bone broth, potato, sweet potato and beef are yin replenishing. I won’t add onion, garlic or any spices as these are yang in nature).

 

After this, for the rest of the day I won’t eat anything at all, as it is best to finish eating at 3pm, according to @Gerard.

 

Then I will go to bed at 10pm.

 

 

 

 

[voidisyinyang]

diet is pretty personal since it's tied to emotions and seasons and your age and jing levels and the people you interact with, etc. Also how you train - how much energy you lose or build up, etc. How much you meditate, etc.

 

Sounds like a good plan though - a sattvic diet. Should be good for meditation.

[Aetherous]

I think bone broth will help especially, and beef will help some.

A lot of the foods you listed might be more for other types of yin. For instance, pears are for lung yin, so they wouldn't help so much in your case. But in general it'd be good for you to eat a balanced diet, aside from blood and yin nourishing things.

Stopping meals for the day at 3pm might not be a good idea if you're already blood and yin deficient, where you need more substance. That would be better advice for someone who had a problem with food stagnation, dampness, and phlegm.

It'd be best to consult with your Chinese Medicine practitioner about this. They can keep track of how things are going for you. And importantly - they can give you herbs that will help the process along greatly.

[Phoenix3]

@Aetherous

 

I plan to stop eating at 3pm because I want to meditate. I heard meditation is good for augmenting Yin.

 

I just had a check up again recently, and apparently I had a spleen deficiency, linked to bad digestion.

[thelerner]

I admire your research and dedication.  The next important step is evaluation.  I'd suggest in a week or two seeing how its working out.  Consider a short food/mood diary. 

[Gerard]

Hello,

 

1. Stay away from banana! Damp forming. Weakens the digestive system, makes it damp and weakens the Kidney, hence KD deficiency.

 

2. Stay away from milk, juice, fruit, raw vegetables and salads and other damp forming foods.

 

Meal plan for you:

 

A.

 

1. Baked fish

2. Baked sweet potato/pumpkin

3. Steamed potato

4. Steamed green leafy vegetables, zucchini, broccoli or cauliflower

 

B. Chinese congee made of brown rice and water. Add any vegetables you wish to the congee while being cooked. Use a bone/chicken or vegetable broth if desired to boil the rice and to add more root energy to the congee.

 

C. Various soups using bone or chicken broth and seasonal vegetables.

 

No honey until most of the dampness is gone. No other sweets either. 

 

Rice is sweet

Carrot is sweet

Pumpkin is sweet

Corn is sweet

Sweet Potato is sweet

 

Adding other sweets on top of vegetables natural sugars overstimulates the Earth element, hence more dampness is formed.

 

Regulating the Spleen is hard work but your health and longevity are directly related to it.

 

Edited April 23, 2019 by Gerard

[Gerard]

On 20/04/2019 at 5:35 AM, Phoenix3 said:

 

 

I just had a check up again recently, and apparently I had a spleen deficiency, linked to bad digestion.

 

 

Too much thinking and worrying too! 

 

You were born in the year of the Dog, right? "I worry" is the Dog's motto.

 

Eat slowly, mindfully and love the healthy meal you eat is the way to go. 

 

Also a weak Heart weakens the Spleen. 

 

 

[Gerard]

While we are at this, let's also take care of:

 

1. Liver Yang rising

2. Stomach overactive (poor diet habits processing too much information on a daily basis) & weak Spleen ---> true Qi will leak downwards (diarrehea) with the chance of never rising again ---> numerous diseases will occur as a result and a shortened lifespan. One will live a life of permanent autumn and winter rather than spring and summer as this is the correct function of the Spleen & Stomach

---> moving and rising rather than sinking.

3. Lung not descending & a weak Lung Qi due to "lifestyle" and uncontrolled specific emotions. How much phlegm is blocking your Lung?

Further reading:

 

https://www.sacredlotus.com/go/diagnosis-chinese-medicine/get/zang-fu-lung-patterns-tcm

 

All of this results in the Kidney not being nourished properly by the Lung. Not enough 'sprinkling the morning dew' action is formed, since the Lung is positioned above, while the Kidney is below, which  combines with the true water that the Kidney is. This combination forms the 'ocean' of bodily Qi. 

 

The Lung is therefore the master of Qi. As above so below using the cosmic principle of which the human body is a miniature image of the entire reality. A little drop equates to the whole ocean.

 

4. Weak Gallbladder. Further reading:

 

https://www.easterncurrents.ca/for-practitioners/practitioners'-news/eastern-currents-news/2017/05/01/a-curious-organ---the-gallbladder

 

Three big principles:

 

1. Regulate your diet

2. Regulate your emotions

3. Change your lifestyle to suit universal laws (Taoism), Yin & Yang, 5E, Bagua (change/impermanence), etc.

 

[Phoenix3]

@Gerard

 

 

15 hours ago, Gerard said:

1. Stay away from banana! Damp forming. Weakens the digestive system, makes it damp and weakens the Kidney, hence KD deficiency.

 

2. Stay away from milk, juice, fruit, raw vegetables and salads and other damp forming foods.

 

You always recommend no ‘damp forming’ foods! But not everyone is the same. As I said before, my constitution is dry, so I need moisture. 

 

15 hours ago, Gerard said:

Steamed green leafy vegetables, zucchini, broccoli or cauliflower

 

Aren’t leafy green vegetables mainly yang? 

Can I instead cook leafy green vegetables in a stir fry, instead of steaming them?

 

15 hours ago, Gerard said:

Use a bone/chicken or vegetable broth if desired to boil the rice and to add more root energy to the congee.

 

C. Various soups using bone or chicken broth and seasonal vegetables.

 

Isn’t chicken a yang meat? 

 

thank you

[Phoenix3]

I’m suffering from Yin deficiency so much that I have false fire symptoms almost every night, and my mouth is always dry every night, yet I always get recommended food which take away moisture! My body needs dampness, not to remove dampness from it!

[Aetherous]

16 minutes ago, Phoenix3 said:

I’m suffering from Yin deficiency so much that I have false fire symptoms almost every night, and my mouth is always dry every night, yet I always get recommended food which take away moisture! My body needs dampness, not to remove dampness from it!

 

Are the soles of your feet hot, or cold?

[Gerard]

Your body doesn't need *dampness. This is absolutely ridiculous and erroneous. Damp is the Spleen's greatest enemy. A weak Spleen = a weakness in your entire energetic system.

 

You need to learn how to eat correctly. 

 

Go see a qualified TCM practitioner with many years of experience and treating numerous patients so they can give you correct dietary advice according to your personal constitution.

 

You can always contact Dr Bruce Eichelberger (https://renoacupuncture.com/) who has developed a tailored dietary program according to each individual. He uses software for this and it's a very extensive report. He has over 40 years of experience in clinical Chinese Medicine practice plus he also is a practising Taoist.

 

Good luck!

 

 

*A moist Spleen/Earth is a healthy one. A Damp (covered/stagnant  in/with water) will bring forth a myriad of ailments, disease, a short life and a weak person with little energy; they are always tired and sleepy. A dry Earth isn't good either. A moist Spleen is like rich dark soil in which trees and vegetables grow and yields a healthy crop. This is the ultimate goal, to be able to turn your weak damp Spleen  

into a healthy one.

 

Remember that a weak Earth leads to a weak Kidney too, hence KD yin and also Yang deficiency.

 

You might also have an irrational fear or simply be a fearful person by nature caused by a traumatic event in the past, this has damaged our KD hence you are KD Yin def. Internal work will fix it but it will take you a long time tl heal and lots of discipline. Find a good method that suits your personality. 

Edited April 24, 2019 by Gerard

[Fa Xin]

I'm curious if you crave any of the foods you listed naturally?

 

Not saying you should be, or shouldn't be ... but I'd be interested in your response.

 

I've found myself craving fruits at various times of my life ... sometimes when I've been sick I've craved strange things, and wondered if it relates to yin/yang properties.

 

Good luck 

[Phoenix3]

9 hours ago, Aetherous said:

 

Are the soles of your feet hot, or cold?

 

They’re warm, but not as warm as my legs or other parts of the body.

 

@Fa Xin

 

I do prefer soups and foods with a lot of moisture. I really don’t like baked things, with the moisture all removed. But this is normal for me because I think I’ve always been Yin deficient.

Edited April 24, 2019 by Phoenix3

[Aetherous]

3 hours ago, Phoenix3 said:

They’re warm, but not as warm as my legs or other parts of the body.

 

I think if you had actual yin deficiency, they would be HOT to the touch (because one aspect of yin deficiency is "five center heat").

So there is likely another reason why you are getting dry mouth at night, etc. Chinese Medicine is complicated - often times even practitioners don't quite get a perfect diagnosis (although most people will still benefit from the treatments, even when it's not perfectly understood...luckily it works that way). It's important to keep seeing the same practitioner, so they can discern when one strategy hasn't been working well enough, and switch to another option...and if they don't do that, after some time of working with them, then ask around to find someone who is more thorough.

So anyway, my recommendation is not to be obsessed with increasing dampness and moisture in your body, and to not diagnose yourself. Don't think "I have _____(yin deficiency, or whatever other pattern)_____". You're not qualified to know, and when a practitioner tells you a diagnosis, that only applies to that day, and hopefully their treatment addressed it and changed it (or at least worked on it). Sometimes you can get a diagnosis, walk around after the treatment thinking you still have the diagnosis, when really it changed right then and in truth you no longer have it; it's useless to go around thinking you have a pattern, especially when what you think is likely wrong.

There are a multitude of reasons why dry mouth/thirst at night could be happening besides not taking in enough sweet/moist.

 

Here's one possibility (of many): at night, the yin increases and the yang decreases. It might be the case that the body has all the moisture it needs, but those fluids aren't flowing to where they should. For instance, if the spleen is weak, it won't transport the body fluids up to the mouth. Yang is function and movement, so we could say the spleen yang weakens at night time.

So if that were the case, adding more moisture through tons of sweet and dampening foods would further weaken the spleen's ability to metabolize fluids: the dry mouth/thirst might get even worse.

I'm not going to give advice on what to do, but I encourage you to work with your practitioner and not people on the internet. You can get a lot of misinformation about Chinese Medicine from these people.

[Gerard]

Living in the wrong direction is a recipe for disaster. Check this out:

 

https://www.geomancy.net/archive/2008/products/po-bazi/pod-bazi-free.htm

 

 

[Phoenix3]

@Aetherous

 

Last time I replied to you it was the daytime. During the night in the last two days, I have noticed the soles of my feet being much hotter than the rest of the body and my legs (they are really hot). But in the daytime, they are just warm, hence my last reply.

 

It is about 9 degrees celcius outside and I often can’t sleep because I feel so warm. 

 

I also get a lot of nosebleeds. It is always coming from the same nostril.

 

I have seen multiple qualified chinese medicine professionals and they have all said I have a yin deficiency and I’m experiencing ‘false fire’, which apparently means my yin levels are low.

 

I also have to say that this only happens when I’m practicing celibacy. When I’m not practicing celibacy, I don’t have these symptoms so much.

 

Another problem is that the chinese medicine professionals always say the same thing, that this can be treated by taking chinese medicine, but it takes a very long time. They don’t really talk about what diet or lifestyle changes I can make, even when I ask. But to take chinese medicine over a long period of time is very expensive.

Edited April 26, 2019 by Phoenix3

[Phoenix3]

@Gerard you said that ‘internal work’ will fix kidney yin deficiency (and I suppose therefore also the spleen), so does that mean all I need to do is:

 

1. Meditate a lot more,

2. Eat a diet mainly consisting of baked and steamed vegetables and fish, and not after 3pm.

 

And this will cause my yin deficiency to disappear?

Edited April 26, 2019 by Phoenix3

[Aetherous]

 

1 hour ago, Phoenix3 said:

I have seen multiple qualified chinese medicine professionals and they have all said I have a yin deficiency and I’m experiencing ‘false fire’, which apparently means my yin levels are low.

 

This is a subject that Chinese Medicine practitioners debate with each other. TCM seems to point toward yin deficiency often, but other practitioners say that might be a mistreatment and that yin tonics are way over-prescribed.

Despite what you insist about your symptoms, I still question your diagnosis, and highly encourage you to never diagnose yourself. You don't have the ability.

 

That being said - stick to what your practitioner says above all else. The one that sees you in person is able to actually diagnose, and they're responsible for the treatments...people on the internet aren't.

 

Best of luck.