Why wearing socks could protect the heart???
I admit that when I heard about this idea to maintain our health, I was shocked.
I heard this story from a Buddhist master who was a medical professional doctor before and she had changed her interest in Complementary Medicine, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Homoeopathy, and Bach Flower Remedies.
This Buddhist master likes reading a lot. According to her saying, she got this health method from an ancient book in TCM.
The question is: Why do we wear our socks? It is because we want to keep our feet warm; as simple as that.
Cold extremities — theory in TCM
In TCM, if a person always has cold hands and feet, it may be a ‘red light’ in his health condition; especially in the flow of Qi and Blood.
Qi may be implied to our breathing, energy, function, or vital force; which are non-material. Whereas, Blood is the substance (blood) in our circulation system.
The interactions of Qi and Blood are:
- Qi is Yang (阳), and Blood is Yin (阴).
- Qi and Blood can not exist without each other because they are inter-dependence.
- Balance of Qi and Blood is necessary, according to the mutual consumption of Yin and Yang.
- Qi pushes Blood to move forwards to maintain the blood flow in the circulation system. They are partners and need to work together.
The causes of coldness in extremities in TCM
- Qi deficiency.
- Blood deficiency.
- Qi stagnation within the flow of circulation.
- Blood stagnation within the flow of circulation.
- Imbalance of Qi and Blood.
- Qi and Blood maintain normal body temperature.
- Feet are the furthest parts of the body, so, the sign of coldness will be indicated at the feet.
Other than using herbal medicine or acupuncture to alleviate the health problem. self-care at home is also important.
Why wear socks to benefit the heart in TCM???
This home care habit is just as simple as that: wearing socks to keep our feet warm. And thus, blood circulation would not slow down at our feet because our feet are the furthest parts away from our hearts.
My understanding of the blood flow
Let’s say if circulation system is the rail system, and the blood flow is the train service. If the train service is stuck at the terminal (feet), it will affect the train service (blood flow) at the Central Business District (heart).
Contemporary medical explanation
As I hear the story from this Buddhist master who is a professional in conventional medicine. She also explains why she agrees with this self-care habit.
- Body heat is produced by our heart and lungs in the chest.
- Feet are the furthest parts away from the chest. If the heart and lungs cannot produce enough heat for the whole body, most likely our feet will not have enough heat and become cooler than other parts of the body.
- By wearing socks to keep our feet warm, our hearts may be not necessary to work so hard in producing enough body heat. In other words, it may save the heart’s workload and energy.
My trial and experience in this healthy home care
I have done this home care habit for 3 years. It is a good experience. It may benefit my heart by saving its workload and energy. For me, the most obvious results are: the pain and tension in my right leg have been alleviated. And the skin colour tone of my legs has become younger. So, I am very happy to wear my socks 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
