Better Digestion Starts Here

61% of Americans have at least 1 troubling digestive symptom (Almario et al., 2018). Heartburn, abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, and constipation are the most common gastrointestinal problems, affecting almost 2/3 of us in the United States.

Knowing that, it shouldn’t be surprising that one of the most common diagnoses in eastern medicine is Spleen qi deficiency. While there are several organs that constitute our digestive system, the Spleen is the command center: if the Spleen can’t perform its functions, everything else falls into disarray.

Terminology Lesson: The term “Spleen” is a modern English translation of an ancient Chinese character, and therefore is not perfect. While the Spleen does share our anatomical spleen’s function of improving blood quality, it also has a great deal in common with the pancreas in that it directs and facilitates digestive activity (some texts indeed prefer to call this organ the Pancreas). Therefore, the eastern medicine Spleen encompasses the physiological function of both the spleen and pancreas.

Because digestive problems are so common, it is important to know how to care for the gastrointestinal system that takes care of you. Because without being able to properly absorb nutrients and eliminate waste, all manner of health problems are soon to follow.

Below is a worksheet that I created to help you take back your digestive health. So if you know you want to do better but don’t know where to start, put this up on the fridge!