Traditional Chinese Medicine: Are you living harmoniously with your liver?
In discussions of health and medicine in the East, one controversial issue has been the validity of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). On the one hand, most TCM doctors argue that herbal remedies can balance out the body’s Qi and provide real health benefits. On the other hand, Western doctors and journalists contend that scientific research supports the hypothesis that TCM remedies and practices, such as cupping, have no real physiological benefits.
In a 2013 article, 21 Ways to Improve Your Liver Health, published by Yoga International Magazine “wellness expert” Dr. Carrie Demer answers a reader’s questions on liver health and liver congestion. To preface, Yoga International Magazine is an online resource with downloadable classes and articles on spiritual health and natural remedies. Most of the holistic health tips are based on Ayurvedic medicine, a type of alternative medicine. Dr. Demer is ambitious (or perhaps well-versed) in her answers, because she provides recipes from Ayurvedic Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for this global Yoga lifestyle community.
Demer asserts that the liver congestion is a ‘pre-condition’ in TCM, which is a condition that can be treated before it escalates to a Western diagnosis of liver failure. She prescribes herbs to detox the liver and prevent liver stagnation — all of which draw on the central tenets of TCM. In Demer’s piece she consistently refers to TCM but never explains its mental framework. The following is a short explanation of this framework, paraphrased from the University of Minnesota’s Taking Charge of Your Health and Wellbeing site:
Chinese doctors and people today tend to believe that the body has a life force called Qi, which unites all living things in the cosmic universe. Then it follows that the rest of the world is divided into Yin and Yang, opposing dualistic forces that constantly shift (e.g. Cold/Hot, Dry/Moist). In order for the Qi to stay balanced, the individual must take dietary measures to avoid deficiencies and excess of substances such as blood and bile.
TCM practitioners and believers believe the body to be affected by its environment. Many Chinese people and/or people with Chinese heritage are familiar with the concept of 活血 (huo xue) which translates to blood-activation/heating. Huo xue revolves around the framework that external dangers (e.g. wind, cold water) can lead to blood expulsion/loss. Thus foods that are heating may be prescribed to those with blood/Qi deficiency. However most people should maintain a balanced diet and avoid overly hot or overly cold foods. This remedial suggestion is similar to the way Hippocratic physicians treated their patients.
Like the ancient Greeks and Chinese, Johann Storch, as described in Barbara Duden’s book “The Woman Beneath the Skin: A Doctor’s Patients in Eighteenth-century Germany,” is a German physician in the 18th century, also believed that the inner body mediated what happened to it in the outside world (1991). For instance, Storch claimed that rain showers and cool breezes could drive the blood inwards (Duden 1991); this statement likely derives from Hippocratic and TCM literature.
Dr. Demer, in a similar manner to the ancients and Storch, prescribes diet and exercise to balance the fluids of the body. She prescribes bitter juices and purgatives and warns her reader to avoid heating foods such as oil, meat, and alcohol. Her rationalization is that TCM and Ayurveda characterize liver congestion with heat. Thus all of her remedies are “cooling.”
Although Demer’s advisory piece may seem trivial, it is in fact crucial in terms of today’s wider concern over alternative medicine in the U.S. According to the American Physical Therapy Association, treatments of TCM that are perceived as effective may be placebos or a regression toward the mean. However as some western journalists and scientists may not be aware, recent studies have shown Chinese herbal medicine, e.g. Chaihu-Longu-Muli-Tang, a concoction with ginseng and the powdered bones of a fossilized mastodon, (to learn more about animal bones and TCM please check out NatGeo’s article) having potential anti-epileptic effects on individuals who suffer from seizures.
As for Demer, a flaw in her journal article is her lack of citations. She fails to provide research journals, books, or even the contact names of other practitioners. Demer’s failure to cite may invalidate most (if not all) of her arguments.
Note: After some internet-snooping, I found that Dr. Carrie Demer is not board-certified in internal medicine as she claims. The issue with her fake certification is that her internist qualifications give her authority over widely-read journals. There may be severe ramifications from her articles — for instance, some people in comments of this article say she is very informative.
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