What foods are the best diet for kidney yang deficiency?
Food is one of the most important tools for heating and building Yang, the animating energy of our organs and systems. Since we eat several times a day, it is very simple, easy and effective to use warm and warming foods to nourish our kidneys and Yang energy. have you ever Have you been wondering what foods are the best diet for kidney yang deficiency? I invite you to relax with a hot cuppa and join me in this exploration.
How to Increase Kidney Yang Deficiency with Diet
If your acupuncture practice is anything like mine, you are all too familiar with poor pulses. How often do you check pulses to confirm or discover deep, soft, weak renal pulses? Chances are, you feel these pulses and see related symptoms often, if not daily. I consider this a precious opportunity to provide help that lasts a lifetime. Just sharing some knowledge on how to increase kidney yang deficiency with diet. These pearls of wisdom will equip the person in front of you with tools they can carry with them and use on a daily basis.
Many people suffering from Kidney Yang deficiency will not find answers when they visit their primary care physicians. Let’s face it, allopathic medicine has very few tools to treat deficient conditions and therefore often offers no solution. For this reason, as acupuncturists and Chinese medicine practitioners, we have an incredible opportunity to bring about great change. Let’s not miss the opportunity to offer the life-changing information that is at our fingertips.
Kidney Yang Deficiency
Kidney-yang is the root of all yang in the body. It is known as the Fire of the Gate of Vitality, or the mingmen fire from the bottom dantian (which also corresponds with the yogic Haraas what also known as prana).
When Kidney Yang is weak, this essential fire cannot warm the body. The cold settles in the lower back and knees. There is not enough Yang energy for the kidneys to perform basic organ functions.
The cold generally slows things down, basically lowering your metabolism.
Kidney Yang is the fire that also fuels Spleen Yang and is necessary for the fluid metabolism we call fluid transformation and transport.
Kidney Yang supports energy and sexual function and is an essential part of reproduction.
What are the signs and symptoms of kidney yang deficiency?
- Back pain or back pain
- Cold feeling in the back
- Cold or weak knees
- Weakness of the legs
- Lassitude: state of physical or mental tiredness or lack of energy
- Impotence, premature ejaculation
- Clear and copious urination
- apathy
- Edema in the legs
- Infertility-female
- Little appetite
- loose stools
- Tongue pale, swollen and moist
- Deep and weak pulses
Experienced practitioners will know that when Kidney Yang is deficient, it cannot support Spleen Yang, nor can it nourish Yang. blood (whistle) nor the Spleenwhich leads to:
- weak and flaccid muscles
- bloating, poor appetite
- loose stools
- lack of willpower and motivation
We see so much kidney deficiency in our practices, in part because it is a common cause of back pain. And back pain is the main reason most people think of acupuncture.
Common Causes of Kidney Yang Deficiency?
- Chronic disease
- Excessive sexual activity, especially in men
- Dampness or fluid retention caused by Spleen deficiency over time obstructs and eventually depletes Kidney Yang.
- Oldness
How to Increase Kidney Yang Deficiency with Diet
Nutritious, warm, cooked foods that are also inherently warming not only treat Kidney Yang deficiency, but are a diet that preserves and maintains Kidney Yang. Not just eating foods that are warm to the touch, but incorporating foods that have a warm character. Foods like ginger, cayenne and chilies, spices like nutmeg cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, etc. they are hot regardless of the temperature when eaten. Read more here about the temperature and nature of the food.
It is also important to include foods that nourish the spleen to protect and resolve dampness before it clogs and eventually depletes kidney yang.
Read more about strengthening the spleen with diet to further support kidney yang with food.
Whole grains to regulate fluid balance
Cooked grains are a wonderful way to eat unprocessed, low-glycemic plant-based foods. Whole grains help regulate fluids and resolve the dampness created by the deficiency of Spleen Qi and Yang. In Chinese medicine, rice in all its varieties Calms the Shen or Heart/Mind, Builds Qi/Energy, Builds Spleen Qi, Strengthens Spleen Yang, Benefits the Stomach, Harmonizes the Spleen and Stomach, Calms Digestion and Inflammation, Regulates Fluids, Generates Fluids and Nourishes Fluids, especially important for nursing mothers.
Each of these benefits is critical to good health and is magnified when rice and other grains are made into congee. Congee is an amazing way to support digestion and hydrate and soothe the stomach. Ideal for any meal, congee is made from slow-cooked grains or seeds in lots and lots of water. Easy to make, eat, digest, and assimilate, congee offers a digestive boost, a wake-up call for your metabolism, and a relaxing morning routine if you let it cook while you sleep.
Cooking soups and porridges with plenty of water or other liquids allows the fiber to become moist, soft and soothing to the digestive organs as it passes through. Nutrients are readily available in the liquid and are basically predigested food, removing the strain on the organs themselves.
Heated foods and spices in general are excellent for strengthening Yang. Below are foods to include and limit when eating to nourish Kidney Yang.
Cooked grains and soups made with
- rice
- Oat grains
- barley (gluten)
- sweet potatoes
- pumpkin
- Cooked or stewed fruit
- black beans
- Nuts
- pistachios
- salmon
- Black pepper
- ginger
- scent keys
- cinnamon
- cardamom
- turmeric,
- Nutmeg
- fennel
Foods to limit or avoid
- Raw fruits and vegetables
- Sprouts
- salads
- tofu
- Dairy, especially ice cream
- Smoothies
- Frozen drinks
- Refined sugars
Notice how you feel
Enjoy, experiment, have fun, try new foods, relax while you eat, chew a lot, and most importantly, stop and notice how the food makes you feel after you eat it. You are an expert on yourself in a way that no one else can be. Increase this experience by paying a little more attention to the messages your body is giving you.
Breakfast Cure is an easy option to try some meals designed to be soothing to the organs of digestion. Our Slow Cooker and Instant Pot Overnight Meals are meant to be made with lots of water. Explore our flavors now.
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What foods are the best diet for kidney yang deficiency? Thanks for reading. We’d love to hear your thoughts on foods that warm and strengthen Kidney Yang. Email us at [email protected]