Health through Balance

Chapter 3 -- Defining the Body pp. 33-35

Healthy Body - Humors The humor branch of the healthy body trunk has three leaves Ð wind, bile, and phlegm. In the healthy body the three humors of wind, bile, and phlegm are in balance and thus are not promoters of disease as such. For, when they are in a state of balance, the three humors are causes maintaining and improving good health. The moment that they are disturbed, they become causes for disorders; however, as a branch of the healthy body trunk, they are in a state of balance. Wind is of five types: life-sustaining wind, ascending wind, pervasive wind (existing in all parts of the body), fire-accompanying (or digestive) wind, and downwards-voiding wind. These are the five major types of winds, or currents that exist in the body. Similarly, bile is of five types: digestive bile, color or complexion regulating bile, determining bile, sight bile (which enables one to see), and complexion-clearing bile. Phlegm is also of five types: supportive phlegm, decomposing phlegm, experiencing phlegm (that which experiences tastes), satisfying phlegm, and connective phlegm. These fifteen types of humors are present in every being; they are factors that carry out the functioning of the body Ð sustaining the body and enabling it to function in different ways as required. Though basically each being, by the mere fact of having ignorance, is sick, there is no manifest sickness when these fifteen are in balance. When imbalanced, some will have increased and some decreased, resulting in manifest illness. These humors are the fifteen leaves of the humoral branch on the healthy body trunk. Healthy Body - Physical Constituents The next branch on the healthy body trunk is called the physical constituents, having as leaves the seven types of physical bases that constitute the body: nutritional essence blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow, and regenerative fluid. Each produces the one after it. Roughly speaking, food that is ingested is separated into refined and unrefined portions, the refined portion being the nutritional essence. It proceeds to the liver where it is made into blood. Blood, in turn, produces flesh, which produces fat, which produces bone, which produces marrow, which produces regenerative fluid. There are many separations into refined and unrefined portions over the course of complete digestion of nutrition. Healthy Body - Excretions The third branch of the healthy body trunk, the excretion branch, has three leaves: feces, urine, and perspiration. The text explains in detail how these are produced. Thus, twenty-five leaves grow from the first trunk Ð fifteen leaves on the humor branch, seven leaves on the physical constituents branch, and the three leaves on the excretion branch. Each requires extensive explanation; right now, I am just identifying the names.