For the phlegm-damp constitution: heaviness, swelling and tiring easily may come from fluid that will not move

A heavy body from the morning. Swelling that will not go. Tiring easily, yet not wanting to move. Dieting without losing weight. Does that sense of everything stalling sound familiar? Chinese medicine calls a state where the metabolism of water has fallen out of balance and excess damp has built up in the body phlegm-damp. It is a sign that water you do not need has collected inside you and stopped circulating.

This article covers what marks out the phlegm-damp constitution, how to settle it, and gentle yakuzen thinking you can practise in everyday meals.

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What is the phlegm-damp constitution?

Phlegm-damp is a state where fluid and waste you do not need have collected in the body and stall rather than circulate. It is not simply swelling or weight gain; how the organs work, and the circulation of qi, have slowed too. That is what marks it out.

What marks out the phlegm-damp constitution

• A heavy, sluggish body from the morning
• Swelling easily, putting on weight as water
• An unsteady appetite; a heavy stomach
• A vague head; concentration that has dropped
• Falling ill easily on humid days and in the rainy season

Self-care for the phlegm-damp constitution

1. Make a point of keeping damp out of where you live

People of the phlegm-damp constitution are affected by damp outside them too, so how you arrange your home matters. In the rainy season and in seasons with swings in temperature in particular, the point is to avoid places where damp collects and keep the air moving. Airing rooms often, running a dehumidifier and keeping mould from forming all make it easier for damp inside you to move too.

2. Live so as to go easy on the gut, the Spleen

Chinese medicine treats the Spleen, that is, the stomach and intestines, as the organ that handles damp, and holds that when the Spleen weakens, damp collects more easily. Stress and too much worrying in particular damage how the Spleen works. Even in busy days, make a point of settling the swings in your mood gently so that mind and body do not fall out of balance.

3. Eat so as not to build up excess damp

Caring for the phlegm-damp constitution rests heavily on what you choose to eat. Sweet food, oily food and cold food and drink readily produce damp and cool the gut. Centre your eating on warm, easily digested dishes, and making a point of eating so as not to load the gut makes it easier for things to circulate inside you.

Yasai Yakuzen for the phlegm-damp constitution

People of the phlegm-damp constitution readily build up excess fluid, damp, inside them, and that is held to bring swelling, heaviness, phlegm and coughing. To clear that damp, Chinese medicine recommends making a point of ingredients with a damp-dispelling action or a phlegm-resolving and cough-relieving action.

Below are yakuzen ingredients that help ease the phlegm-damp constitution, set out by those two actions.

Damp-dispelling: clearing excess fluid

Damp-dispelling means helping the gut work and letting the body drain water better. If swelling and heaviness are on your mind, start with these ingredients.

Category	Example ingredients
Pulses and grains	Job's tears, sweetcorn, winter melon, adzuki bean, soybean, edamame, broad bean, black soybean
Fish and seafood	White fish (easy to digest, and it drains damp)
Water-draining ingredients	Carp, hard clam (their water-draining action also helps with swelling)

Phlegm-resolving and cough-relieving: easing phlegm and coughs

Phlegm-resolving and cough-relieving means helping the Lung and easing a phlegmy cough and a blocked feeling in the chest. It suits anyone with respiratory trouble or a cough that drags on.

Category	Example ingredients
Root vegetables and vegetables	Taro, bamboo shoot (they drain damp and settle the gut) Shungiku, mustard greens (their aroma circulates qi and disperses phlegm)
Seaweed and freshwater ingredients	Loofah, kombu, nori (they cool heat and damp in the body) Clam, jellyfish (they moisten while moving phlegm)
Fruits that moisten the Lung	Soy milk, persimmon, pear, loquat, loquat leaf, ginkgo nut (they moisten the Lung and settle a cough)

See all vegetables and their benefits

Let go of what has built up, gently

The phlegm-damp constitution is a state where the body has gone into storing mode. But that is evidence that your body is telling you it is a bit tired, and that it is about time you settled things.

Live so that you settle things as you eat, with Yasai Yakuzen. Both body and mind can grow lighter.

\ Recommended for the phlegm-damp type /
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