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Ask Dr.Zhang

Every week, Dr.Zhang, the author of The Chinese Almanac, picks a question submitted by a reader on a health-related matter and discusses the problem from the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Please send your questions to askdrzhang@ginsengpress.com.

Important: Please read the disclaimer before following any advice given on this site.

This week's question:

Dear Dr. Zhang,

Every day, I eat only vegetables and white fish, because if I eat meat, my stomach feels very uncomfortable, I can't concentrate and I don't sleep well at night. I eat one orange a day; any other fruit also prevents me from sleeping well.

I have no confidence to do anything and feel fearful at times. In the past two weeks, my eyes have been red and dry.

—Danny

Dr.Zhang replies:

Dear Danny,

The problems you have are likely caused by excessive dampness. Excessive dampness is a common complaint of people who live in very humid climates, such as the UK or Ontario, Canada. When the climate is damp, our digestive tract easily forms a thick layer of excessive mucus, which prevents normal digestion and absorbtion. The traditional name given to excessive mucus in the digestive tract is "internal dampness".

Internal dampness leads to feelings of heaviness in the body, tiredness, a foggy mind, indigestion, bloating and gas. Meat and fat create more internal dampness. This is why you do not tolerate meat very well. Since your body knows what it's doing, it will not tolerate anything that is already excessive in you.

Another hint you have given me tells me that you also have excessive coldness in your body. This is why you can't tolerate fruit very well and all the symptoms gets worse at night (i.e., sleeplessness). The cause of excessive coldness is called "deficient heart function". This does not mean that you have heart disease in the sense of Western medicine, so there's no reason to be concerned.

1. Increase the amount of vegetables, preferably cooked, in your diet. Vegetables help remove excessive internal dampness.

2. Add some barley to your diet, preferably barley vegetable soup. Barley is one of the best foods for removing excessive internal dampness.

3. Food flavours should be primarily bitter, with a moderate amount of sourness and moderately spicy. These flavours help clear up mucus and indigestion and enhance the heart function.

   Bitter foods are black tea, broccoli, artichoke, celery, dandelion, Chinese bitter melon, rapini, etc.

   Sour foods are citrus fruits, tomatoes, many leafy vegetables, vinegar, pickles, etc.

   Spicy foods are ginger, garlic, onion, red pepper, black pepper and many spices.

4. Avoid oily foods and stay away from oil-based supplements, such as flax seed oil, cod liver oil, vitamin E oil, etc.

5. Stay away from raw vegetables unless it's a true summer day (i.e., very warm).

6. Stay away from wheat if you live in a very damp climate.

7. Follow the traditional eating pattern of a big breakfast and lunch and a small dinner. Stay away from the modern "industralized" diet of no breakfast, small lunch and big dinner.

8. If you can reside in a warm and dry climate, this will also help ease your symptoms.