I. The Core of Traditional Chinese Medicine Health Concept: The Four-Dimensional Self-Assessment Method

1. Scientific Basis of the Four Health Indicators

• ​​”Plain Questions: The Theory of the Heavenly Truth of Ancient Times”​: “Eat and drink in moderation, maintain regular daily routines, and avoid excessive labor.”
• ​Modern Medical Validation:
  • Association between gut microbiota and metabolic diseases (confirmed by Nature research)
  • Sleep disorders lead to a 30% decrease in immunity (WHO data)

Over the years of practicing medicine, I have found that most people lack an understanding of “health.” They only think of seeing a doctor when problems arise, seeking anti-inflammatory and pain-relief treatments. They believe the disease is cured once the symptoms are temporarily controlled, but in reality, the condition often recurs after some time.

We need to reflect on one thing: with so many chronic diseases and cancers in modern times, can these chronic diseases be completely cured? Can cancer be prevented in advance?

In fact, these two major issues are what Traditional Chinese Medicine has always excelled at, known as “treating diseases before they arise.” As ordinary people, we must first be aware of whether our bodies are healthy, so that when we experience “sub-health,” we know to adjust in advance.

What is the ideal state of health? It depends on four aspects: eating, sleeping, bowel movements, and mental state. There is a lot to learn about these four aspects.

2. Correspondence Between the Four Indicators and Organ Functions

​II. In-Depth Analysis and Adjustment Guide for the Four Indicators

1. Eating: The Barometer of Spleen and Stomach Function

• ​Normal Manifestations:
  • Regular hunger (during the time of the Stomach Meridian)
  • No significant food preferences, not overly spicy or high in oil and salt. Enjoying subtle flavors is a sign of normal taste.
  • Stable appetite, eating until 70% full, not feeling hungry easily, nor feeling the need to overeat to feel full. This is a normal amount of food.
• ​Abnormal Signals:
  • 1, No hunger in the morning: Stomach, Liver, and Gallbladder dysfunction. Food is not completely emptied from the stomach after a night of digestion, leading to no hunger. Prolonged condition can lead to gallstones.
  • 2, Loss of taste, heavy flavor preference: Spleen deficiency, causing clear Qi not to rise, resulting in insufficient saliva in the mouth, hence no taste. This is related to adults smoking and children eating snacks.
  • 3, Feeling hungry at night, needing to eat to sleep: Spleen, Stomach, and Kidney deficiency: Insufficient middle Qi, with stomach heat. Food cannot be effectively converted into middle Qi, known as “not feeling full.” Prolonged condition can lead to chronic gastritis.
  • 4, Frequent belching, bad breath: Spleen and Stomach not functioning, undigested food causing heat accumulation. Often accompanied by lower abdominal blockage, less flatulence, so turbid Qi rises instead of descending.
    The progression of stomach issues starts with chronic superficial gastritis, worsens to erosive gastritis, then atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, and finally stomach cancer.
    All severe diseases develop gradually from chronic conditions. Why can’t they be controlled? Because anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers cannot truly solve the problem; they only delay the progression, and by delaying the treatment of the root cause, they indirectly lead to gradual development. The symptom of all inflammation is inflammation, but the root cause is abnormal organ function. Only when the function is restored to normal can it be considered truly cured. This is the standard of Traditional Chinese Medicine’s “treating diseases before they arise.”
    Whether eating is normal affects the entire digestive system and the sufficiency of Qi and blood. Many people, when having their pulse checked by a doctor, are told they have insufficient Qi and blood. Why is there so much Qi and blood deficiency? It is closely related to the spleen, stomach, and eating. If your eating is normal, you don’t have to worry about major issues with the spleen, stomach, gallbladder, and pancreas, nor about the body suffering from insufficient Qi and blood due to poor digestion.
• ​Symptoms​Pathogenesis​Tongue Appearance and Adjustment Plan:
  • Liver and Gallbladder heat stagnation, red tongue edges, yellow greasy coating; Chaihu Shugan Powder + millet porridge for breakfast
  • Excessive appetite, stomach fire, red tongue, little coating; Yufeng Decoction + pressing the Neiting acupoint
  • Belching, bad breath; Spleen deficiency with dampness stagnation, pale swollen tongue with teeth marks; Shenling Baizhu Powder + Chenpi tea

2. Sleeping: The Key Window for Yin-Yang Balance

• Normal Manifestations:
  • 1, Feeling sleepy around 10 PM. Can start sleeping, falling asleep within 10 minutes of lying down, and sleeping through the night.
  • 2, Older people may take up to 30 minutes to fall asleep, waking up no more than twice at night, with normal urine volume, and quickly falling back asleep, sleeping through the night.
  • 3, Sleep time generally from 10-11 PM to 6-7 AM (Beijing time). Can sleep a bit longer in colder weather.
• Abnormal Signals:
  • Common abnormal situations:
    • 1, Frequent night urination: Spleen and Kidney Yang deficiency. Many people take Liuwei Dihuang Pills, but this is the wrong approach; at this time, it should be mainly about supplementing Kidney Yang, as Liuwei Dihuang Pills are for supplementing Kidney Yin. Often, it’s not just Kidney deficiency but Spleen and Kidney Yang deficiency.
    • 2, Waking up at fixed times at night: Waking at midnight, or insomnia after midnight: Gallbladder issues. Waking around 3 AM: Liver issues. Waking between 4-5 AM: Kidney Yin deficiency.
    • 3, Difficulty falling asleep: Common in people who stay up late or are older, normally able to enter deep sleep by 11 PM. If unable to sleep, it’s often related to excessive Liver and Gallbladder fire. If troubled by thoughts, it’s often due to blood stasis in the heart.
    • 4, Frequent dreams and waking easily: Often due to excessive Heart and Liver fire. If nightmares or dreams of deceased people, it’s often due to Yang Qi deficiency.
    • 5, Night sweats: Often due to Yang deficiency not consolidating or Yin deficiency with heat.
    • 6, Feeling unrefreshed after waking: Shallow sleep, often due to blood and Yin deficiency.
  • Sleep issues are very common nowadays. If sleep quality is poor, people feel like they’ve been up all night, unable to recover even after a hard day’s work.
  • Some people think daytime naps are as good as nighttime sleep, but they are not interchangeable. Occasional late nights with daytime naps are fine, but prolonged behavior still damages the Liver and Kidney.
  • Liver and Kidney deficiency leads to fundamental deficiency. All resistance and immune foundations are affected. For example, some patients feel that their chronic diseases do not respond as well to Chinese medicine as others, recovering slowly. This is largely related to Liver and Kidney insufficiency.
  • It’s essential to take sleep seriously.
• ​Child-Mother Flow and Sleep:
  • 9-11 PM Triple Burner Meridian: Preparing for sleep
  • 1-3 AM Pericardium Meridian: Deep repair period
• ​Insomnia Adjustment Plan:
  • ​Difficulty Falling Asleep​ (Excessive Liver Fire): Longdan Xiegan Pills + massaging the Taichong acupoint
  • ​Waking Early in the Morning​ (Kidney Yin Deficiency): Zuogui Pills + applying Evodia rutaecarpa powder to the Yongquan acupoint

3. Bowel Movements: The Health Code of the Detoxification System

• ​Normal Manifestations:
  • 1, Bowel movement once a day between 7-9 AM, ideally long, thick, yellow, formed, banana-shaped stool. Only once in the morning.
  • 2, No urinary frequency, urgency, incomplete emptying, no need to wake up at night, no need to wait to urinate, can hold urine in special situations. Urine is clear, and it’s normal for it to be yellow after eating heavy flavors.
• ​Abnormal Signals:
  • 1, Sticky stool: Heavy dampness
  • 2, No urge to defecate: Spleen and Kidney Yang deficiency
  • 3, Constipation: Normally, one should have a bowel movement every 1-2 days. If not, it’s considered constipation. There are many causes of constipation, and many people rely on fruits and laxatives to help. But for most people, constipation is due to insufficient Yang Qi, and the intestines not moving. These methods only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. So even if you have a bowel movement, you’ll be constipated again if you don’t continue the treatment.
  • 4, Chronic diarrhea: Also known as chronic enteritis, modern medicine says it’s due to intestinal inflammation. From the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine, it’s due to the intestines not digesting, and the dampness, cold, and heat not being expelled in time. Some people have chronic diarrhea after drinking alcohol, which is closely related to excessive damp-heat in the intestines and Spleen and Kidney Yang deficiency.
  • Abnormal bowel movements mean the body’s waste elimination function is problematic, often affecting the entire body.
  • For example, chronic constipation leads to turbid Qi not descending, resulting in dull skin and persistent rhinitis. (The Lung and Large Intestine are externally and internally related)
  • Urine is related to water metabolism. If water metabolism is poor, people tend to gain weight. This type of weight gain is often due to deficiency, making it hard to lose weight. If Yang Qi is not truly supplemented, it’s easy to regain weight.

• ​Golden Standard for Defecation:
  • Morning banana stool (length 15-20cm, diameter 3cm)
  • Defecation time <5 minutes, no residual feeling
• ​Constipation Hazards and Countermeasures:​Type​Cause​Tongue Appearance​Adjustment Plan
  • Heat Constipation: Intestinal heat accumulation, red tongue with yellow dry coating; Maziren Pills + Jue Ming Zi tea;
  • Qi Constipation: Liver Qi stagnation, pale red tongue with thin coating; Baimai Liuwei Decoction + clockwise abdominal massage 50 times;
  • Deficiency Constipation: Qi and blood deficiency, pale tongue with thin coating; Huangqi Decoction + moxibustion on Zusanli

4. Mental State: The Barometer of Yang Qi Strength

• ​Normal Manifestations:
  • Maintaining a pleasant mood, calm, not easily angered, not easily anxious, speaking and acting in an orderly manner, advancing and retreating with reason. Having strong self-control, few negative emotions, and able to adjust quickly even if they arise, not easily venting anger on others.
• ​Abnormal Signals:
  • 1, Frequent anger: Regardless of the size of the matter, always unable to control one’s temper, speaking harshly and hurting others during outbursts, later regretting it. Although venting is better than suppressing, it still consumes vital energy.
  • 2, Excessive worry: Constantly worrying about things that haven’t happened, even losing appetite. Often leads to Spleen and Stomach weakness, indigestion.
  • 3, Excessive anxiety: More than worry, often involves Liver Qi stagnation.
  • 4, Excessive negative energy: Easily misinterpreting others’ good intentions, or being full of hostility towards many people and things without discernment, including extreme rejection. Apart from lacking a sense of security, from a health perspective, it’s also due to insufficient Yang Qi and Heart Yang, leading to a lack of mental stability, indecisiveness, and emotional instability.

• ​Emotion and Organ Association:
  • Anger harms the Liver (left guan pulse stringy)
  • Worry and overthinking harm the Spleen (right guan pulse soggy)
• ​Emotional Adjustment Methods:
  • ​Anxiety and Frequent Dreams: Ganmai Dazao Decoction + pressing the Shenmen acupoint
  • ​Irritability and Outbursts: Xiaoyao Pills + bloodletting at the Taichong acupoint

In addition to the above four aspects, there are many other important indicators: such as menstruation, sweating, dry mouth, susceptibility to colds, feeling cold or hot, etc. I will share these in future articles.

​III. Common Health Misconceptions and Solutions for Modern People

1. Three Blind Spots in Health Check Reports

• ​Normal Indicators ≠ Health: 50% of chronic disease patients show “no abnormalities” on health checks
• ​Prevalence of Sub-Health: 70% of people are in the “third state” (defined by WHO)

2. Comparison Table of Chinese and Western Medicine Adjustments

3. Key Points for Seasonal Health Maintenance

• ​Spring Liver Nourishment: Stir-fried Toona Sinensis with Eggs (soothes the Liver and regulates Qi) + 100 strokes of head combing in the morning
• ​Winter Kidney Nourishment: Black Bean and Walnut Porridge (taken every morning) + 15 minutes of sunbathing on the back

The insights shared in this article are to help everyone understand that, in addition to looking at health check reports, we can also sense which aspects of our health might be problematic by observing our daily lives. By adjusting or seeking medical help for these aspects, recovery can be much faster.

This is also what doctors focus on most when we visit a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner. We can detect these issues in advance and inform the doctor, which can effectively improve communication efficiency.

At the same time, having this knowledge can help establish correct health maintenance concepts in daily life, helping oneself and family members stay away from sub-health and unhealthy states.

Many chronic diseases are considered irreversible in modern medicine, only controllable and delayed, requiring lifelong medication. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, they are considered reversible, but if the foundation is damaged, it may take several months or even 1-2 years. The health maintenance we often hear about is actually about protecting our foundation, preventing our bodies from becoming severely “sub-healthy.”

By assessing and adjusting based on eating, sleeping, bowel movements, and mental state, we can prevent our bodies from being overdrawn and excessively consumed. This is targeted and valuable health maintenance.