In the outpatient clinic, I often encounter young female patients complaining that their weight loss plans have hit a plateau. They often say that despite strictly controlling their diet and maintaining exercise, their weight refuses to continue decreasing. After careful questioning and diagnosis, I find that these situations are likely not purely due to diet or exercise issues, but rather caused by spleen deficiency and excessive dampness in the body.
Spleen deficiency with excessive dampness is a common constitutional state in traditional Chinese medicine, particularly affecting young women. In this state, the functions of the spleen and stomach are weakened, leading to metabolic disorders of water and dampness, which in turn adversely affects the body’s overall metabolism, significantly reducing the effectiveness of weight loss.
Here are some common manifestations of spleen deficiency with excessive dampness:
Excessive sweating, especially prone to sweating, tends to sweat at the slightest excitement, becomes drenched in sweat with slight exercise, sweats a lot but is still overweight.
Thick, greasy tongue coating with teeth marks, mouth feels sticky all the time.
Poor appetite, feels bloated after eating a little, has indigestion.
Heavy body, fatigue in the limbs, feels as if being weighed down by something.
Unformed stools, easily sticking to the toilet.
Oily skin, prone to acne and eczema.
Puffy, especially prone to edema in the abdomen and lower limbs.
If you exhibit several of the above symptoms, it is very likely that you have spleen and stomach deficiency with excessive dampness.
For these patients, simply relying on dieting and increasing exercise may not achieve the ideal weight loss results. On the contrary, excessive dieting and vigorous exercise may further damage the function of the spleen and stomach, creating a vicious cycle. Therefore, I recommend that these patients:
Diet Adjustment: Eat more foods that strengthen the spleen and eliminate dampness, such as yam, job’s tears, coix seed, red beans, poria mushroom, pumpkin, and jujube. These can be cooked into porridge or soup to drink, such as yam and job’s tears porridge, red bean and coix soup, pumpkin millet porridge, etc.
Exercise Adjustment: Moderate exercise can promote the body’s metabolism and accelerate the expulsion of dampness. Choose some aerobic exercises like jogging, yoga, swimming, or jumping rope, exercising at least 3-4 times a week for more than 30 minutes each time.
Acupoint Massage: Massage some acupoints that strengthen the spleen and eliminate dampness, such as Zusanli, Yinlingquan, Zhongwan, and Pishu. Use the fingertip pads to knead, massaging each acupoint for 3-5 minutes, 1-2 times a day. Persistently massaging can regulate the function of the spleen and stomach and promote the expulsion of dampness.
Ensure adequate sleep, go to bed early and get up early, avoid staying up late. Aim to be asleep before 11 PM, as this is the time when the liver and gallbladder meridians are in operation; sleep during this period can promote the body’s self-repair and detoxification, benefiting the recovery of spleen and stomach functions and the expulsion of dampness.
