If you want to improve your immunity to protect yourself from getting sick, here are some tips from Chinese medicine to boost your immune system.
First, you have to understand that according to classical Chinese medicine, your body’s immune system is determined by the health of three main organ systems in the body: the Lungs, the Spleen and the Kidneys. We could say that these three represent the three burners of your immune system: upper (lungs), middle (spleen) and lower (kidneys).
The Lungs are the upper and most superficial system, as they have direct exposure to pathogenic elements in our environment through breathing the air around us. This often leads to direct exposure to bacterias, viruses, allergens and toxins in the air. The nose, sinuses and skin are all connected to the lung system as well in Chinese medicine. This is why it’s common to have sinus and skin symptoms when the body has acute exposure to environmental pathogenic influences.
The ancient battle of two forces – Xie Qi vs. Zheng Qi
The Lungs are our first line of defence against what is called Xie Qi according to the Chinese medicine theory. Xie Qi translates to “harmful qi,” often referred to as “evil qi”.
Qi is translated as “energy” or “air” or “influence”.
This Xie Qi is a general term used to describe any pathogenic influence that can enter the body and do harm to the health of the living organism. The stronger the Xie Qi is, the harder it is for the body to defend against it. But luckily our bodies have a hero of their own to protect us against the evil forces that intend to do our health harm.
Our body’s hero is named Zheng Qi
Zheng Qi is often translated as constitutional integrity, which for all intents and practical purposes, we can translate to our entire immune health. Why these two translations would be synonymous will become clearer as you keep reading.
According to the fundamentals of Chinese medicine, if your Zheng Qi is strong, the Xie Qi cannot invade your body, and you won’t get sick. Consequently, if your Zheng Qi is weak, then it opens the door for Xie Qi to come inside and do damage to your health.
This explains why some people were unaffected by the great plague of the Middle Ages, or why some people don’t get sick during an epidemic outbreak – because their immune strength was greater than the pathological influence.
This also explains why some people get sick often and easily – because their immune strength is weak and it’s easily overcome by pathological influence.
This understanding is one of the fundamental principles of Chinese medicine because it underlies the assumption that disease and illness can only harm us under two circumstances: 1) when there is an excessively strong Xie Qi (pathological influence) or 2) when your Zheng Qi (immune health) is compromised.
This also paves the way for a clear and effective therapeutic approach to improving immunity and warding off illness and disease, using the simple approach of strengthening Zheng Qi and minimizing exposure to Xie Qi.
The three pillars of immunity
Our Zheng Qi is determined largely by the health of these three spectacular organ systems: the Lungs, Spleen and Kidneys.
As mentioned above, the Lungs are your first line of immune defence.
If your Lungs are strong and healthy, then the mucus membranes in your nose, sinuses and lungs will be functioning properly and will easily defeat any bacteria, allergen or virus that enters it.
Conversely, if the Lungs are weak, the mucus membranes can easily get inflamed and malfunction when invaded by Xie Qi, leading to the creation of excessive phlegm.
The next line of defence is the Spleen, which in Chinese medicine plays the most important role in the digestive system of extracting nutrients from the food and using them to create the Qi and blood for the entire body.
The Spleen and the Lungs have the unique and similar functions of directly drawing Qi from our environment and transforming it into usable Qi for our blood system and body.
The Lungs absorb Qi from the air in the form of oxygen and vital elements and pass it directly into our bloodstream.
The Spleen absorbs the Qi from food and water in the form of vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and molecules and passes it directly into our bloodstream.
It’s understood from Chinese medicine that the Qi absorbed by the Spleen through food is mixed with the Qi that is absorbed by the Lungs from the air, which is then mixed with the Qi from the Kidneys to make the body’s Zheng Qi.
Understanding this gives us a clear roadmap of our health on how to improve our immune health and keep it balanced.
That roadmap is making our Lungs, Spleens and Kidneys as happy as possible. So let’s look at how to do that. Over the last five millenia, Chinese medicine has clearly mapped out what harms and strengthens these systems. Let’s take a look at each of their profiles to understand their needs.
The Lungs
Season: Fall Element: Metal Partner organ: Large intestine Governs: Skin, nose, sinuses Function: Breathing, oxygen supply, circulation, immune defence Emotional force: Bonding, communication, trust Likes: Deep breathing/exercise, fresh air, acceptance, Dislikes: Phlegm, dryness, shallow breathing, inflammation, constipation, wind-cold, wind-heat
The Spleen
Season: Long-summer Element: Earth Partner organ: Stomach Governs: Mouth, lips, fat, lymph Function: Digestion, creation of Blood and Qi, extraction of nutrients Emotional force: Awareness, discernment Likes: Healthy nutrition (fresh, clean, simple, natural, unprocessed), peace of mind Dislikes: Too much sweet or rich foods, worry, obsession, dampness, sitting or looking excessively
The Kidneys
Season: Winter Element: Water Partner organ: Urinary bladder Governs: Bones, marrow, teeth, hair, ears, brain, essence, libido Function: Water metabolism, reproduction, hormones, adrenals Emotional force: Will-power, fear Likes: Restful sleep, good work-life balance, proper posture, healthy sex life Dislikes: Excessive amounts of: work, physical labour, sex, exercise, adrenaline, fear, anxiety
Keeping the above in mind while navigating these colder months will serve your body well and make you less vulnerable to catching colds and other sicknesses. Align yourself with the intention that you will serve your immune organs well this winter.
So what should you do if you are symptomatic of a weakened immune system or have existing issues with any of the three burner organs?
Book an appointment or consultation with a registered Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, who will be able to isolate where and how your Zheng Qi is being compromised. Regular acupuncture treatments and Chinese herbal remedies can assist in both preventative and remedial cases.
You can also consult the organ profiles above to determine individualized areas of need that best fit your life and schedule.
Perhaps you will commit to more conscious deep breathing or strengthening the communication in your relationship this fall to benefit the lungs, or work on better sleeping strategies during the long hibernating months of winter to benefit the kidneys.
Whichever area you choose to focus on, celebrate in the fact that you are becoming more organ-mindful and immune healthy!
For further practical tips to help boost and maintain a strong immune system, you may want to read the following blog posts:
Colds, coughs and the flu virus can affect us at any time of year. Some of us are more prone to catching them than others. Sometimes minor colds or stubborn coughs can linger for weeks, or escalate into a full-blown infection and knock us out of commission. Sometimes they come with fever, chills, sore throats, mucus, congestion, body aches and fatigue. The fall and winter and winter are the most common times to catch them. Here are some traditional Chinese medicine tips to protect yourself from colds and coughs this year:
1) Avoid getting chilled.
It’s often during the seasonal shifts where people get sick because their bodies don’t adjust the drastic changes in temperature. According to Chinese medicine, when you catch a chill, this is called an “invasion of wind-cold“. This is why even in English we call it “catching a cold“. The wind-cold goes into your skin and your immune system goes into hyper-drive to deal with it, causing mucus, fever, aches, etc.
If you get chilled, the best thing you can do is to sweat. Take a hot bath or a sauna. Or drink a warm-ginger tea and lie under some blankets to sweat it out. When you sweat, the “wind-cold” is released through your pores, and you will avoid getting more sick. If the wind-cold isn’t expelled, then it will go deeper into your body, possibly causing a cough or a full-blown cold. The key is catching it at the beginning stages and sweating it out.
Try it, you’ll see how well it works.
Acupuncture relieves stress and boosts the immune system.
2) Get Acupuncture
Acupuncture helps keep your immune system strong and in balance. When someone’s immune system is weak, they tend to get colds and coughs easily. When their immune system is out of balance, they tend to have allergic reactions to certain environmental influences or foods.
Acupuncture helps stabilize and reinforce your immune system, so it does it’s job properly and efficiently to defend your body against outside threats and maintain a balanced relationship between all your internal systems (organ system, nervous system, endocrine system, circulatory system, lymphatic system, etc.)
There are many factors that can weaken your immune system, like stress, adrenal fatigue, digestive problems, insomnia or internal inflammation. Getting regular acupuncture solves these issues and strengthens your body in the core, by affecting the internal organs through the acu-points.
3) Eat pears and drink ginger tea in the fall.
Ginger has anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and anti-fungal properties.
The fall is the season of the lungs. Pears moisten and nourish the lungs, which are one of the four main organs involved in your immune system, according to Chinese medicine.
The three other organ systems are the Kidneys, the Spleen and the Large Intestine. Choose organic pears and eat them with the skin for the best effects. Pears are great when you have a dry cough. Ginger empowers your spleen and lungs, and defends against “wind-cold” attacks.
The best way to make ginger tea is to boil fresh ginger for 5-10 minutes. Sweetening it with some honey is also good because honey strengthens the Spleen organ system and balances the drying and hot nature of ginger. Make sure you use real honey, not the cheap stuff made with corn syrup.
Ginger also has anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and has even been shown to reduce ovarian cancer cells. Ginger is a powerful super-food and healing herb. I always have ginger in my fridge and so should you.
4) Avoid refined sugar.
Excessive refined sugar weakens the immune system and causes an internal inflammatory response, due to the spike in insulin levels triggered by the sugar intake. If you want to test this theory, the next time you start to feel like you might be coming down with something (you have scratchy throat, body aches, sniffles, fatigue, etc), then eat a bunch of doughnuts or sugar. You will likely get sicker very fast.
So if you want to avoid catching colds and coughs. The next time you notice people around you getting sick, or you are feeling like your immune system is low, stay away from refined sugars. Instead eat more fibrous foods, drink more pure water and get some rest.
Most efficient way to position your body on the toilet to optimize your bowel movements.
5) Keep your bowels moving.
Regular and complete bowel movements are the cornerstone to good health. If your large intestine isn’t excreting waste and toxins regularly, then you are likely re-absorbing toxins into your system. Instead of having a strong immune system standing by ready to defend against an external pathogen, your immune system will be too busy trying to cope with excess of toxins in your body.
If you do not have 1-2 regular and complete bowel movements per day, your immune system may be compromised.
To help your bowels move more regularly; drink more pure water, consume more fibre, get acupuncture, eliminate foods that are causing constipation, do an intestinal cleanse, change your posture on the toilet, or seek a Chinese herbal prescription to help your bowels move.
Everyone should have this herbal cough syrup in their home medicine cabinet. Safe for children too. Come into my clinic to get some.
Whether you have a cold, a cough, a sore throat, a fever or if you are healthy now but you tend to catch colds or coughs easily, arm yourself with some Chinese herbal formulas.
These formulas use 100% natural ingredients derived from plants. They are fully safe, with little to no side-effects, and have proven their efficacy to treat a wide variety of symptoms and health issues over thousands of years.
There are formulas that will help your immune system get stronger to defend itself against colds, coughs and the flu. Some herbal formulas are so effective I think everyone should keep them in their home medicine cabinet in case they start to feel unwell.
Like this herbal cough syrup, which I have available in my clinic. Come see me at my clinic to get the herbal formula that’s right for you, or consult your registered practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine for a herbal prescription.
