To many people, Nutrition and Oral Health is a nebulous subject in spite of the fact that everything we eat and drink makes its first contact in the mouth. Whether eating or drinking is done for the sake of nourishing the body or just for the pleasure it can have a strong oral health impact.
It is said that the mouth mirrors the health of the whole person. Or, that diseases in other parts of the body can be of oral origin, because silent infections in teeth and jawbone may leak toxins and bacteria to the bloodstream.
This could cause arthritis, fatigue and other chronic conditions, particularly since many people have compromised immune systems due to poor eating habits, excessive sweets, environmental toxins etc.
There can be many reasons for adverse reactions in nutrition and oral health.
Excessive use of antibiotics and birth control pills is one of them. It can lead to an imbalance of the bacterial flora manifesting as candidiasis throughout the body including areas of the mouth.
One of the key features in Chinese Medicine is tongue diagnosis. By looking at the tongue the doctor can determine the dis-harmonies within the person. Each section of the tongue reflects a specific organ function, and changes in the shape, coating and color contribute to the diagnosis and the most effective treatment plan.
Herbs Correct Silent Infections, Strengthen the Immune System.
Chinese Healing Herbs with their proven history is useful in correcting chronic, often silent infections. Herbs do not have the devastating effects on bacterial flora the way antibiotics do, therefore they provide an alternative treatment for periodontal disease.
For overall and oral health nutrition these ‘superfoods’ may be added to soups, drank as a tea or taken in a pill form. Tonifying herbs such as Ginseng and Astragali help to build the immune system, an important factor for increased resistance to bacteria and viruses.
Also, taking A,B,C and D vitamins with Flax seed oil with plenty of purified water can help.
From the standpoint of the PH balance of the body, most herbs and vegetables are alkaline. This is important in nutrition and oral health, particularly with people who are prone or have diabetes with a high rate of caries and very low resistance to infection.
By using Chinese healing herbs the acid-alkaline balance of the saliva improves, there is a decrease of systemic calculus formation with less tendency to periodontal disease. Fewer visits to a dentist, although regular check-ups are necessary for all of us!
But fewer deep cleanings are required. This applies especially to mitral valve prolapse patients for instance, who need administration of antibiotics each time deep cleaning is done.
Acupuncture for Pain Relief and Oral Health.
Another Chinese modality is acupuncture which can, directly or indirectly contribute to nutrition and oral health.
Mainly used to treat or prevent illness, acupuncture may also provide local anesthesia or relaxation response. The movement of Chi is regulated by using thin needles, electricity or soft laser.
A recent addition to no-needle acupuncture is a system using one inch wide disks based on nanotechnology. They work as well as other methods and less accuracy is needed in terms of acupuncture body points.
If no other method is available, finger pressure can work as well. Here is an example from my own experience.
Nearly twenty years ago when staying in Shanghai for my post-graduate work, I was travelling from one end of the city to the other in a taxi. The driver was suffering from excruciating dental pain on one side of his face. I was sitting behind him, and he allowed me to apply finger pressure on three points (St. 2, 6 and 7). To his surprise, the pain was gone well before we arrived at our destination.
Aha! Chi flowed smoothly!
Another example. If the Chi flow on Spleen/Stomach channels, one pair of the twelve primary channels is consistently disrupted, it can result in bleeding gums and halitosis (bad breath). Acupuncture does work on these conditions along with good hygiene and herbs as a part of nutrition for oral health.
Today, most informed health professionals agree that acupuncture does work as pain relief. In 1997 the U.S National Institute of Health acknowledged that acupuncture shows promising results in treating post-operative dental pain. The treatments activate endorphin secretion, which manifests in feelings of calmness and balance therefore, pain and stress are lifted.
In case of dry mouth, saliva secretion can be activated by acupuncture treatments. They are also used to eliminate temporomandibular joint pain as well as many other pain conditions.
Knowledge and balance are key elements in any health system. Learn what good nutrition for oral health is, for it goes hand in hand with other wellness practices!
Acupuncture-without-needle, Chinese Healing Herbs and Meditation with Exercises are all part of the ancient Chinese Medicine. Each one of them can positively impact oral health and in general, contribute to your vitality and enjoyment of life.
While the use of Natural Healing Remedies grew primarily to help cure illnesses, healing herbs were, and still are, also used to maintain youthful vigour and smooth flow of Chi through our physical networks.
Ideally herbs are used for prevention. There is an old saying, ‘It’s better to dig a well before you run out of the water.’
However, the classification of Chinese Healing Herbs developed because of the need to cure illnesses with complex symptoms.
What makes these substances correct dis-harmonies or help revitalize the person who is using them?
Human beings and herbs have one thing in common – both are of nature, which encompasses the entire material universe and its phenomena.
The root of the word nature is Nasci< Latin – to be born. The cells of plants, animals and humans are in perpetual renewal, nothing ever dies, forms only change according to the movement of Chi with its myriad qualities.
Being born is an essential character in all things and beings, not isolated, not even a part but the integrated whole. Being in renewal is innate – of nature!
Natural healing remedies are of nature, not broken down into chemical components like drugs, but working in a roundabout way, holistically resonating with the same kind of Chi.
Marshall McLuhan said, “Matter does not matter!”
Since all Life is radiation and resonance, let us forget matter for a moment!
Vibrating, resonating life includes plant, animal and mineral kingdoms as well as human life, nature’s most complex expression.
Life’s very purpose is its process – to evolve naturally, to remain harmonious.
The mineral kingdom is a simple form of vibratory life fossilized into a certain frequency. In vegetation, the cells breathe in and out the changes in constant continuum and each cell re-creates itself naturally in the process of life and death.
This diversified continuum is directed by Wu Chi, the Primal Creative Energy, manifesting in all and everything. It is harmonizing and creating new combinations according to two of the basic laws in Creation. . .
Motion and Attraction of Similar Radiations. ‘Birds of the Feather Flock Together!’
The overall harmonious co-operative is Tao – the Way, a still point within everything while causing movement – like an axis in the centre of a wheel.
It seems that healing herbs with a particular quality and magnetism – a particular vibratory frequency, are drawn to a similar ‘milieu’. Through it, the herbs’ qualities affect the channel and organ functions and through that the entire body.
Therapeutic potential of an herb depends on its taste and temperature as well as its ability to move within the channel network. The herb must also be able to lead or to harmonize and support actions of other herbs in a formula.
Variations in combinations create possibilities for different actions.
The practitioner works on the basis that natural healing remedies do not cure, but they assist and support nature in her ongoing process to harmonize and nurture life.
For a certain deficiency in the body, such as of blood (Anemia), the herbs can supply certain constituents so the body may improve its blood. This way an overall vital force is strengthened and harmonized.
Here is an example from my own experience. When I was studying Chinese Medicine in the eighties, the pressure to study day and night had built to such an extent that I was totally exhausted, began to have palpitations and chest pains.
After examining me, my teacher prescribed a common patent formula called “Gui Pi Wan’. Soon the pains were gone, and this medicine has come handy through the years whenever I am overworked and need an energy boost.
Also, ‘Let your food be medicine and medicine be your food’ is another old Chinese proverb.
A twentieth-century scholar Lin Yutang wrote: “The Chinese do not draw the distinction between food and medicine. What is good for the body is medicine and at the same time food.”
Daily meals are often flavoured and supplemented with the same herbs the herbalists use in their formulas.
The essential message of this short introduction to Chinese Healing Herbs is that the wonderful nature we all share within and without, is a subtle co-operative vibrating creatively, being born in an ongoing continuity and newness.
The connections are intricate yet each part fits into the greater whole. This working together seems to be the primary aim of nature when we view its uniqueness, its harmony and its beauty.
Animals search in nature for those plants that benefit their well-being.
Shouldn’t we as human beings, who have been bestowed with greater co-operative intelligence also accept, that it is wise to look for answers in nature, of which we are the most evolved and exultant expression?
They produce, transform, regulate and store fundamental substances – Jing, Chi Shen, Blood, Fluids. They transform, store and do not drain.
Fu or Yang Organs:
Small Intestine
Large Intestine
Gallbladder
Stomach
Urinary Bladder
Triple Warmer
They receive, breakdown and absorb that part of food that will be transformed into nutrition. They drain and do not store.Yin organs are deeper inside the body and are considered more important than the Yang organs.
Six Extraordinary Organs.
Bone marrow
Brain
Blood vessels
Uterus
Gallbladder
They resemble Yang organs in form but Yin organs in function. They ‘store Yin and do not disperse’.
Yin Organ Functions.
Heart – ‘The Sovereign Fire – The Emperor’.
Controls blood & blood vessels
Stores Shen
Opens into the tongue – ‘tongue is the mirror of heart’.
Manifests in the face.
Lung ‘the Lid of Yin Organs – A Tender Organ – The Prime Minister’.
Rules Chi.
Regulates water to ‘descend and liquify, circulate.
Rules the skin and body hair. Manifests in body hair.
Is the foundation of Chi.
The nose – the thoroughfare for respiration, the door of lung and the home of the vocal chords.
Spleen/Pancreas – ‘the Foundation of the Postnatal Existence – ‘The food granaries’.
Governs transformation and transportation
Governs blood
Rules muscles, flesh and four limbs
Opens into the mouth, distinguishes five tastes
Manifests in the lips
Holds the organs in place – raises Chi
Pericardium – ‘the Ministerial Fire – ‘The Messenger – A Civil servant’
Protects the heart
Liver – ‘Adjusts and Makes Smooth- Rules Flowing and Spreading – the General, makes plans.’
Stores blood, disharmony shows in the eyes and menstrual flow
Harmonizes emotions
Controls the bile secretion
Rules the tendons
Manifests in the nails
Opens into the eyes to distinguish ‘five colours’
Kidney – ‘Root of Life – the Mansion of Fire and Water, the Residence of Yin and Yang – Channel of Life and Death – The Minister of Health’.
Responsible for growth, development and reproduction
Stores Jing, the Essence
Rules water – sends mist upwards
Receives Chi – rules grasping of Chi – is the root of Chi
Opens into the ear – distinguishes five tones
Rules bone and produces marrow, which forms the brain, teeth are the surplus of bones
Manifests in the head hair – the surplus of blood
Chinese Medicine; Yang Organ Functions.
Gall Bladder – ‘the Judge, makes decisions with the Heart’.
Stores and discharges bile (the bitter yellow fluid produced by surplus liver Chi) into the small intestine
Rules decisions with the heart – GB disharmony and weakness can lead to indecision and timidity
Stomach – ‘the Sea of Food and Fluids – the food granary’
Receives and ripens (decomposes) food and fluids – pure go to Spleen, turbid to Small intestine.
With Spleen – aids digestion and absorption
SP/ST is a source of health
‘Spleen rules ascending – Stomach rules descending’
Large Intestine – ‘the Official of Transportation.’
Receives waste material from SI
Absorbs water and sends it to UB
Forms feces and eliminates them
Small Intestine – ‘the Treasurer– The receiving official’.
Separates the pure from the turbid – the clear go to SP, the turbid to LI and turbid fluid to Kid/UB
Receives and temporarily stores partially digested food
Urinary Bladder – ‘the District Official.’
It stores then excretes urine (formed in KID from the turbid fluids transmitted from LU/LI/SI
The functions of UB are assisted by KID Chi
San Jiao or Triple Warmer – ‘the officer of the bursting water dam –where the water channel arises – Has a name but not shape’
An insubstantiate organ, it coordinates all functions of water metabolism.
Upper Warmer – head and chest (HT/LU) – vapour – spreads Chi and blood
Middle Warmer – below the chest and above the navel – foam (SP/ST), decomposition and dissolution of substances
Lower Warmer – the abdominal area below the navel (KID/LI/SI/UB – excrete impure substances.
TCM; Extraordinary Organs’ Functions.
Brain – ‘The Sea of Marrow, upper part – DU 20, lower part – DU 16.
Thinking, memory and expansion of consciousness
Responsible for the fluidity of movement, sensitivity of eyes and ears
Jing – the Essence of Kidney produces marrow that forms the brain
He/Liv/Kid are closely related to mental and spiritual activities
Bones are ruled by the Kidneys to give the body structural support
Uterus – ‘Palace of the Child’
Presides over menstruation and gestation
Related to Kid/Liv/Sp/Chong/Ren – yin organs are involved in menstruation
Ren and Chong channels originate in the uterus
Chi and Blood of the twelve channels pass into the uterus through these two extra channels
Blood Vessels – ‘the Yang Organs of the Blood’
The means by which most blood is transported through the body
Blood vessels carry more blood and channels carry more Chi
Related to HE/Liv/SP
Fundamental Substances – Jing, Chi, Shen, Blood and Fluids are presented on their respective pages.
Human Blood as a Radiating Force and Bridge to greater Consciousness
The meaning of Human Blood (Xue) in Chinese Medicine is different from its Western counterpart. The name Blood in Western medicine is generally understood by its precise parameters of chemistry and histology. On this page, we specifically mean blood according to the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
According to TCM, the Fundamental Substances within the human body are Jing, Chi, Shen, Blood and Body Fluids
Body fluids are derived from food and especially from drink. They warm and nourish the muscles and moisten the skin. Within the body, they lubricate the joints, tone the brain and moisten the orifices.
Human Blood, being instrumental in all-over metabolism of the body contains a large amount of fluids. And sweat, urine and saliva are all formed from body fluids.
While one of the five fundamental substances, and although important for instance in flushing out toxins, the fluids are considered as ‘less refined, less essential and less deep’ than Blood, Jing, Chi and Shen.
Blood, Jing, Chi and Shen
Human Blood, being the life-giving substance which circulates throughout the body, is also regarded as aradiating Force, yet with a definite sensitivity to the influence of varied qualities of Chi Energy. Blood depends on Chi even for its formation from air and food as well as for its ability to move and remain in the blood vessels.
Chi and blood are intimately related and most of the acupuncture channels reside along the blood vessels. Blood is receptive Yin in relation to Chi, which in general has active Yang characteristics.
Chi is considered to be the commander of Blood, while Blood is the mother of Chi. (As the mother of vital energy, is it not wisdom to nourish the Blood with best quality food, drink, good thoughts and actions as well as a natural, regular lifestyle?)
Since in relation to Chi, Blood is Yin, it then is receptive to the active Chi, particularly of the Heart Chi – Shen or Spirit. In the Organ Functions section, you’ll read that Heart, considered ‘the Sovereign Fire – the Emperor’, controls the Blood and blood vessels.
Jing Chi, the Primal Intelligence operating within every cell of the body and Shen, the Spirit are the powerful, radiating forces within the blood. With this, all divisions dissolve and the Blood is just one aspect of the unified functioning of the human being.
Does this not begin to clarify the mystery of human blood! Abd-ru-shin speaks of it “In the Light of Truth”: ‘Blood is meant to form the bridge for the activity of the spirit on earth’.
Blood as a Radiating Force and Bridge to Human Spirit Consciousness.
Accepting Blood Radiation as the Bridge to Human Spirit, it then can also be instrumental for expanding consciousness through the work on Jing, Chi and Shen.(Please read the Chi Guide page).
Realization of this is stupendous, almost overwhelming. Think, it can bridge the gap that has existed ever since the purely intellectual capacity claimed the primary directing role for humans, who therefore became seemingly separated from the laws of nature and spiritual dimensions of life.
And it is only a seeming separation – for the laws of cosmos operate unfailingly. We have recklessly used our inner and outer natural resources, and in spite of many clever advances made in science and technology, we now see dire consequences of this in nature and in individual lives. According to Tao and all other spiritual teachings, we reap what we sow!’
Bridging the Gap between the old and new Medicine.
Understanding what Blood in Chinese Medicine means, can help bring the old and new medicine to a new, integrated level, where each one can contribute with clarity and trust for the benefit of mankind.
Dr. Maurice Bucke (1839-1902) was a progressive psychiatrist and the author of ‘Cosmic Consciousness’, a classic study of higher consciousness. In his work as a psychiatrist, he initiated new approaches in treating the mentally ill. But imagine, had he known about the exalted role of Human Blood, he might have used a simple blood transfusion along with dietary changes as well as work on Jing, Chi and Shen with amazing results.
The useful discoveries made in the last century – radiology – ultra-sound – magnetic resonance imagery etc. speak even in their names about the Radiation Connection that is Fundamental to Life.
And the efforts and discoveries in quantum physics, for instance, quantum objects being perceived by scientists as light waves OR particles also point toward this connection.
However, it is impossible to observe quantum objects with scientific instruments, the same way as Chi cannot be proven by them. Chi exists on the level of a different concept of time and space. Similarly, acupuncture/herbal treatments and meditation can be proven only by their beneficial results. Chinese Medicine has been practised for thousands of years on that basis.
The acceptance of the unified field theory as ‘One Expanding Life directed by the ultimate Chi Guide’ is only a question of time. Our consciousness is taking its inevitable leap. This will make everything New!
‘Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.’ – Albert Einstein
The complex Chi Energy systems operating relentlessly within us determine our awareness and our health; they affect everything we do, think and feel.
When we feel exhausted after long days of work, has the energy disappeared? Of course not, for energy never disappears, it only changes its way of functioning. What has happened then?
By learning to understand and work with the awesome Chi systems of our bodies and know how they relate to the outer cosmos, we can learn to be in charge of them. We then know exactly what happened and are able to free and transform the stuck energies in order for them to flow naturally once more.
Chi is one with the Fundamental Substances of the body. Their English translations Energy, Essence, Spirit, Blood and Fluids are only approximations of their Chinese meaning, which defines five fundamental properties inherent within us.
Why Chi, not Energy?
In practice, the term Chi is used in preference to Energy since the latter in Western languages implies energy as opposed to matter. In TCM energy-matter is a continuum, Chi having both energetic and material attributes.
Within the Chi systems some Chis are Yin, most are Yang in their characteristics, yet Chi means a tendency to, as well as motion itself. In general, the term Chi is for the functional, active aspect of the body.
Discomfort and certain symptoms appear when the Chi system is out of balance. Therefore different manifestations of Chi are examined and measured in diagnosis.
Jing Chi’s many Functions within the Chi systems
Jing or Source Chi provides the basis for all the functional activities of the channels. This essential Chi is one with the universal Generative Force – Wu Chi, which underlies all life in Creation with Its unfathomable Power and Intelligence.
In the human body, Jing is thought of as fluid-like, it is nutritive and supportive. It activates harmonious transformation throughout the Chi systems and controls growth, reproduction and development.
And it holds the secret of the physiological mechanism or Generative Force for the human brain’s transformation and expansion of consciousness.
Jing, as the ‘Essence of Human Nature’ is the basis for all movement and takes on characteristics according to the needs of the body.
It manifests as Organ Chi for organ functions, Channel Chi for transporting and moving functions, Nourishing Chi for transforming and creating blood as well as for helping the blood to nourish the tissues of the body.
Protective Chi warms and travels between the skin and the flesh. It regulates the opening and closing of the pores therefore, protects the body from external pathogenic influences, and it moistens the skin and hair.
Shen or Ancestral Chi
Ancestral Chi or Shen collects in the chest and underlies breathing and speaking, it regulates the beating of the Heart and is important in clarifying the Spirit and strengthening the body when cultivated in meditation.
According to Neijing the Spirit of the Heart or Shen rules the mental and creative functions.
The spirit of the Liver rules the nervous system and gives rise to the extrasensory perception.
Spirit of the Spleen rules logic or reasoning power.
Spirit of the Lungs rules animistic instincts, physical strength and stamina.
Spirit of the Kidneys rules the will, drive, ambition and survival instinct.
The Birth of Yin and Yang
In order to understand how these various qualities of Chi relate to the greater cosmos, it is important to learn about Chinese cosmology.
Wu-Chi, which underlies all living phenomena of the universe is the manifestation of the Generative Will of the Source and is One with Motion, the first law in Creation.
The original Loving Source Radiation, being one with the Will to Create, became receptive Yin, the transcendental Feminine Principle. Through Her, the brilliantly and creatively acting Will – Yang, became the Masculine Principle.
Carried by the Power of the original Radiation, the receptive Yin substance and the dynamically penetrating Yang manifest the great Law of Love – Tao – in forever re-birthing Creation.
The masculine and feminine qualities or Yin and Yang are eternally one with the Primal Intelligence, God or Wu, the original Intention and the guiding Principle of all that exists.
Truane Wu Chi, the Original Vital Energy
All the universes are created out of this Triune Wu Chi, the original Vital Energy. This continual forming works harmoniously in most spheres of Creation creating new combinations of love and beauty through cyclic radiations and in the rhythmic way of Tao.
On the material level, we can observe WuChi in Five Phases of Nature through birth, growth and development, even through decay in plants and animals.
Nature follows the great Tao or Law of Love. Only, when disturbed by wrongly directed human free will do things go wrong. And this has been going on for millenniums – the humans have subjugated their free will to their limited intellect instead of following the guidance of the Source Intelligence accessible through intuition and commitment to the universal Laws.
Ming, the Royal Command or Destiny
The impersonal and original Triune, the sub-stratum of Life (Ming – royal command or destiny) is in every cell.
In the human body it is called Jing and while impersonal, it is receptive (Yin) compared to Wu Chi, dynamically active (Yang) and observable in the harmonious nature.
Jing is based in the kidney domain as the Essence of Life and as a potent source of original Power, the Generative Force (Kundalini).
When Jing Chi is consciously cultivated with Shen Chi (spirit) through disciplined meditations and virtues, it rises as ‘the fiery Dragon’ to the brain.
New neural pathways are built, through which dormant areas of the brain are awakened. When awake, they reveal a new level of consciousness filled with blissfulness, clarity and creativity of a genius, and ultimately cosmic consciousness – the great AHA!
