The relationship between spleen and stomach

Traditional Chinese medicine often talks about disharmony between the spleen and stomach, which refers to the relationship between the two. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the spleen and stomach are two very important functions of the human body. The two interact with each other. The former is responsible for transportation and transformation, while the latter mainly serves as a "nutritional granary". If the spleen and stomach are out of harmony, then problems will arise in the human gastrointestinal tract. At the same time, the properties of the two are completely different. The spleen prefers dryness, while the stomach prefers moisture. Let’s understand the relationship between the spleen and stomach and learn how to regulate your health.

1The function of the stomach is to receive and digest food, generate water and grain energy needed by the internal organs and other human tissues, and is the "nutritional granary" of the internal organs. The spleen is responsible for transportation and transformation, and its main function is to promote the use of water and grain to nourish the internal organs and ensure adequate nutrition to maintain the functions of the human body's internal organs.

2 The reservoir cannot dry up, and some parts of the pump cannot take in water. The stomach likes moisture and does not like dryness, while the spleen likes dryness and does not like moisture.

"Huangdi Neijing·Suwen·Jingmai Bielun" says: "Drink enters the stomach, the essence and energy roam, and are transported to the spleen. The spleen disperses the essence and energy, which return to the lungs." In other words, the spleen is responsible for ascending the clear, and ascending is the normal state. The spleen returns the essence of water and grain to the lungs, and uses the Zong Qi to transport it to the whole body to nourish the head, limbs, and internal organs. It also transports excess water (moisture) to the lungs and kidneys in time, to be converted into sweat and urine and excreted from the body, so as to maintain the metabolic balance of water and moisture in the body.

4 The harmony of stomach qi lies in its descent, and the stomach is responsible for descending turbidity. The stomach is connected to the esophagus above and the small intestine below. After food enters the mouth, it is chewed by the teeth and stirred by the tongue, then falls into the stomach through the esophagus. The stomach performs preliminary processing on the food, that is, after digestion, its gas pushes the undigested food residues down to the intestines. This is what Chinese medicine calls "descending turbidity." It is opposite to but complementary to the spleen's function of raising clear fluids.

5 The spleen qi should rise, and the stomach qi should fall. It is this process of rising and falling that completes the two major functions of reception and excretion of the human body. The rise and fall are appropriate and mutually causal, achieving a certain relative balance and coordination, which makes the human body's Qi flow endlessly. Maintaining the normal operation of the spleen and stomach's ascending and descending functions is an important guarantee for maintaining the digestive system.