Do you know the phlegm and fat are of the same type in TCM?
Moisture is produced by spleen deficiency. Usually moisture is stored in the lungs.
Moisture is first stored in the lungs, and then morph into phlegm, which fills every alveoli, but the air breathed in by the lungs could vaporize the phlegm and exhale it out of the body. This process is called gasification.
Moisture and fat are closely related, which are both called dampness in TCM. They are also prey of gasification of the lungs. The Lung Qi fills throughout the body; the more abundant the Qi, the faster the moisture is vaporized; When Lung Qi enters the blood, a mixture called ‘Qi and Blood’ is formed, and the more plentiful the Qi and Blood, the more fat can be gasified and burned.
This would help understand a common misconception in weigh loss.
Overweight people generally have symptoms like spleen deficiency and Qi and Blood deficiency. If all body fat within their body are extracted, they will be super skinny. Assume an individual of 140 pounds of body weight, and consists of 70 pounds of fat and the remaining 70 pounds bone, muscle and blood. This is a very weak body, which does not have sufficient Qi to gasify the overwhelming fat.
For overweight people who are physically weak, when practicing a weight loss program that includes both diet and exercises, both of which actually impair the already weak body. This is why these programs rarely work long term and rebound is all too common. If only impairing was done, eventually it would cause more diseases while not much weight is lost. The correct method is to enhance the body while rid the fat, which includes properly regulating the spleen and stomach so as to increase Qi and Blood, thereby enhancing body’s ability to vaporize moisture and eventually ‘burn’ body fat in the right way.
In summary:
- First of all, fat is caused by spleen deficiency.
- Moisture give rise to spleen deficiency
- It is only through combination of spleen invigoration, moisture dispelling, Qi and Blood enhancement, can weight loss be healthy and sustainable.
For people whose obesity is caused by moisture, their weight loss program should start from these three aspects.