The hot summer makes children’s poor appetite. Replenish the blood spleen and stomach to stimulate appetite

July 8, 2015

The weather is getting hotter and hotter, and it is about to enter the summer heat in Taiwan. According to Chinese medicine, “heat hurts the qi”, not only adults don’t want to eat, but also children can’t eat, and parents often use biscuits and candies to replace regular meals and drink cold drinks, which over time makes babies and children unhealthy, prone to illness and even gastrointestinal problems. In the end, what to do?

According to Chinese medicine, “a healthy spleen is a matter of transportation, not tonicity”. Chinese medicine doctor Sheng-Pu Lee said that children do not like to eat, appetite loss, especially in summer, is due to the digestive system of the gastrointestinal tract digestive enzymes are not enough, the liver and spleen do not work together. In addition, the baby’s resistance is weak, easy to get sick and cold, once the anti-inflammatory drugs, cold and flu medication more easily drowsy, do not want to eat, all because of the antibiotics in the drug damage to the liver and stomach caused by poor appetite.

The spleen leads the liver and gastrointestinal movement, spleen Qi deficiency, tiredness and weakness, less food and loose stools, and nutrients in the liver decomposition, metabolism, if the liver function well, then the gastrointestinal movement is good, of course, will always have the desire to take nutrients, on the contrary, if the liver metabolism is slow, even if the gastrointestinal digestion of food, but also difficult to absorb nutrients. For example, walking with shortness of breath, phlegm and other signs, it is clear that the body does not have enough Qi and blood, the five elements of the five organs are not smooth.

Dr. Sheng-Pu Lee explained that we often hear people say “qi and blood deficiency”, the so-called qi, it is the “body qi”, and blood is the “blood circulation”, qi can promote blood circulation. Therefore, in order to improve the summer appetite should be from the stomach to open the spleen, supplement the qi and blood to start. The five elements theory that everything in the universe, are led by the five basic substances of wood, fire, earth, gold, water, and its movement and change, the five elements in Chinese medicine is that “earth produces gold”, which corresponds to the five elements of the human body that is the spleen and lungs, the so-called spleen for the mother of the lungs, is derived from.

Therefore, the harmony of the five elements in the human body should be the starting point for summer dryness and low appetite. According to the record, yam is sweet, mild in nature, enters the lung, spleen and kidney meridians, not dry and not greasy, can nourish the spleen and stomach, produce fluid and benefit the lung, help digestion, nourish the kidney and astringent effect; ginseng is sweet, slightly bitter, slightly warm, enters the heart, lung and spleen meridians, can complement the lung and kidney deficiency, for blood deficiency, qi does not regulate blood, can benefit qi and promote blood, is one of the four gentlemen of the Chinese medicine; Alisma plantago-aquatica is conducive to water penetration of dampness, drainage of heat, for the summer appetite loss is positively beneficial. However, Dr. Sheng-Pu Lee reminded that not all loss of appetite is caused by spleen deficiency, so the treatment of loss of appetite must first find the cause of the disease, in order to prescribe the right medicine to make the body strong and healthy.