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Heat in the Small Intestine
Cause
- excessive or chronic negative emotions
- anxiety
- compulsive manic behavior
- over- ambitiousness
According to traditional Chinese medicine the Small Intestine is the partner organ of the Heart. This initially peculiar partnership is codependent not that much on physiological level but rather on emotional/mental level.
In Chinese medicine the Heart houses the mind. It is responsible for virtually all mental activities, including emotions, consciousness, memory, thinking, and sleep. These mental activities all rely on the ability to make clear judgment - a quality governed by the Small Intestine.
The pattern “heat in Small Intestine” is caused by excessive and chronic emotional problems as most negative emotions have "heating" nature, particularly anxiety.
The pattern "heat in the Small Intestine" is also seen in compulsive manic behavior where people, driven by great desire, are overly ambitious, undertaking several tasks and projects at the same time, and pushing themselves hard in many different directions. (1)
If you want to learn more about the Small Intestine and its functions from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine go to "The Small Intestine in Chinese medicine" in the Physiology chapter.
Symptoms
- reslessness
- tongue ulcers
- thirst
- feeling of heat in the chest area or the lower abdomen
- dark, scanty, painful urination
As the Heart and the Small Intestine partner each other predominantly on a mental level the major manifestation of “heat in the Small Intestine” is mental restlessness. The Heart opens into the tongue therefore there may be tongue ulcers. With any type of heat there is thirst. Location-wise there may be a sensation of heat in the chest area (where the Heart is) and the lower abdomen area (where the Small Intestine is). As the Small Intestine is responsible for separating the clean from dirty fluids, and heat evaporates fluids, there will be dark, scanty and painful urination, and in some cases blood in the urine.
Treatment
Foods and herbs, which clear “internal heat”, are "cold foods".
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Food therapy is the cheapest, non-toxic, biochemical approach to illness and disease. Food is something we continuously use to sustain our lives. Learning what foods are healing (and what disruptive) for each condition has the potential to convert every meal into therapy.
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(1) Maciocia, Giovanni (1989). The Foundations of Chinese Medicine. Nanjing: Harcourt Publishers Limited
(2) Pitchford, Paul (2002). Healing with Whole Foods. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books
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