What are the methods for removing dampness from the body?
Generally speaking, removing dampness can be achieved through methods such as exercising to sweat, drinking red bean and coix seed water, adjusting diet, avoiding damp environments, and moxibustion. Detailed explanations are as follows:
1. Sweating through Exercise
Appropriate physical activity can promote bodily metabolism, accelerate blood circulation, and expel some internal dampness through perspiration. Activities such as brisk walking, jogging, and yoga, when practiced consistently, can strengthen physical constitution, help regulate internal dampness balance, and reduce dampness accumulation.
2. Drinking Red Bean and Coix Seed Water
Red beans have the function of strengthening the spleen and eliminating dampness, while coix seeds help remove water and reduce swelling. Boiling and drinking these two together can assist in expelling dampness from the body through urine, helping to alleviate discomfort such as bodily heaviness caused by excessive dampness.
3. Adjusting Diet
Reduce the intake of raw, cold, and greasy foods, as these can damage the spleen and stomach's yang energy and impair their function in transforming and transporting body fluids, leading to dampness accumulation. Consuming more foods such as yam, poria (fu ling), and winter melon that help strengthen the spleen and remove dampness can enhance spleen and stomach function and aid in expelling internal dampness.
4. Avoiding Damp Environments
Staying in damp environments for prolonged periods allows external dampness to invade the body, worsening internal dampness. Therefore, it is important to keep living spaces dry and well-ventilated, regularly air bedding, and avoid spending extended time outdoors during rainy weather to reduce the impact of external dampness on the body.
5. Moxibustion
Moxibustion uses the warmth generated by burning mugwort to stimulate specific acupoints on the body, such as Zusanli (ST36) and Guanyuan (CV4). It helps warm and unblock the meridians, dispel cold and dampness, enhance the spleen and stomach's transformation functions, promote the circulation and elimination of dampness, thereby alleviating symptoms of excessive dampness.
In addition, soaking feet can also assist in removing dampness. Maintaining regular作息 (作息 should be translated as作息 habits or作息 patterns, but the term is commonly used in Chinese medical texts and may be best left untranslated or replaced with "lifestyle") and avoiding excessive fatigue also help regulate internal dampness.