The Chinese medicine understanding of health and illness is based on careful observation of people and nature by Chinese medical practitioners over hundreds of years. Everything in it is based on simple facts.

The reasons as to how to we feel- are we healthy or ill- and how long we are going to live boil down to only a few important factors. Understanding these factors can help you to a healthier and longer life. To try and simplify a fairly complicated subject I have divided it into six issues, namely: constitution, work rest and exercise, stress, food, medicines and sex. Each post will be devoted to one of the above.

Our Constitution: 

Our constitution is what we are born with, our physical potential. The doctors call it our Genes. We all have a different constitution. People with robust constitutions will tend to be healthier and live longer. People with weak constitutions will tend to suffer more from different health problems.

It may be worth mentioning here that the hottest thing in medical research these days is the knowledge of the human genome. Scientists have a complete map of our genes. One of the most exciting developments from this knowledge, scientists say, is that we understand now that people are different and so in the future it will be possible to treat people who suffer from the same disease differently, according to their genes (or their constitution).

Well, it is an exciting development except for the fact that that is how we have been doing it in Chinese medicine for hundreds of years now. Chinese medicine actually went a step further than that: we treat people not just according to their genes but mainly according to what, individually, came out of these genes i.e. the Individual. The constitution has an immense importance in Chinese medicine but we are not going to discuss it in detail as, despite its importance, there is not much we can do to change it. We are kind of stuck with it.

We can, however, take it into account when making decisions about our lifestyle. For example, people of a weak constitution will do well to avoid extreme physical sports. It would also be advisable not to work very long hours or in an overly stressful job. Their physical health will eventually suffer if the body has been pressed too much. Chinese medicine does not actually recommend that anyone puts their body into extremes or puts themselves under too much physical, emotional or mental pressure but constitutionally strong people tend to get away with it whilst the weaker ones tend to suffer the consequences.

How do we know if we are of weak or strong constitution? Well the best way is probably to consult a Chinese medicine practitioner but we can get a good idea by doing some self assessment. Weaker constitutions tend to get tired quickly, find it hard to maintain physical activity, really need their 8 hours sleep, find it hard or very tiring to perform sexual activity more than once in one night. They tend to feel the cold and often suffer from colds, flu and other infections. You don’t have to have all of these but if you can identify with two or three of the above then you are probably on the side of the weaker constitutions and would be advised to watch your energies.

Another advisable thing for  people with a weak constitution , will be to consult with Chinese  herbal medicine practitioner for some good tonics to support their energies

Next time I’ll discuss the second important factor in keeping healthy and living longer-food, or what we are putting in our body. Meanwhile have a good and healthy week.

Dr. Ilan Shahor