Spleen Qi Deficiency

In plain words

Digestion takes effort: bloating after meals, loose stools, and no strength left by evening even after a full night's sleep.

Irregular meals, too much raw and cold food, constant worry or a day spent sitting wear down the ability to draw energy from food. Less energy drawn means less fuel; with less fuel digestion performs worse still, and the loop closes on itself. What runs out is not the spleen as an organ, but that whole digestive job.

Characteristic symptoms

• Intense fatigue and lack of energy, worse after eating
• Lack of appetite and disinterest in food
• Loose stools or chronic diarrhea
• Abdominal distension and heaviness after meals
• Pale or yellowish, lusterless complexion
• Weak muscles and tendency to atrophy
• Prolapse of organs (stomach, uterus, rectum)
• Tendency to bruise easily

Key clues to recognize it

• Fatigue gets worse right after eating, not before.
• Pale tongue with tooth marks along the edges: the tongue swells and the teeth print on it.
• Loose stools that fall apart, with no strong smell and no burning.

Tongue and pulse

Tongue

Pale tongue, sometimes with teeth marks on the edges; white thin coating

Pulse

Weak (ruò) and empty (xū) pulse, especially in the Spleen position (right middle cun)

Treatment principle

Tonify Spleen Qi, strengthen transportation and transformation

Common points

Reference formula

Si Jun Zi Tang (Four Gentlemen Decoction)

What not to confuse it with

What aggravates it

• Eating standing up, in a rush, or in front of a screen.
• Raw food, ice cream and iced drinks, especially early in the day.
• Skipping meals and making up for it with a late, heavy dinner.
• Long days seated and turning the same thought over and over.

Lifestyle advice

Eat at regular times and calmly; chew well. Avoid raw, cold foods, excess dairy and refined sugars. Eat Spleen-tonifying foods: rice, millet, sweet potato, chicken, carrots, ginger. Avoid overeating and a sedentary lifestyle. Reduce worry and obsessive thinking.

When to see a doctor