“Yin toxins” are like household waste that needs to be cleaned up promptly; similarly, the waste produced in the human body should not be allowed to accumulate. We usually refer to harmful substances generated by the body’s metabolism as “toxins.”
As a person reaches middle age, they gradually enter the Yin excess and Yang deficiency stage, which is a normal change in the body. With the gradual increase of Yin energy, the body also accumulates many toxins, referred to in TCM as “Yin toxins.” Once these toxins accumulate excessively in the body, they can lead to various diseases.
Based on the method of elimination, the body primarily has Qi toxins, sweat toxins, fecal toxins, urine toxins, water toxins, fat toxins, phlegm toxins, and blood toxins, totaling eight types.
Without eliminating Yin toxins, Yang Qi will be insufficient! Only by expelling Yin toxins from the body early can we replenish Yang Qi. What harms do Yin toxins pose to the body? How can we eliminate the eight major Yin toxins? Today, let’s explore the methods of detoxification!
01Qi Toxins
Qi toxins can originate from “external” or “internal” sources. External sources usually refer to polluted air that we inhale.
A person inhales over 1000 liters of air into their lungs daily, and many harmful energies enter the body along with it.
Internal sources refer to waste gases produced after normal respiration.
Qi toxins exist in the lungs. TCM believes that “the lungs govern Qi” and “the kidneys govern the reception of Qi”, so individuals with Qi toxins often have poor lung and kidney function, typically exhibiting strong body odors, such as bad breath and body odor.
Typical symptoms of Qi toxins include dizziness and foul breath. Long-term accumulation can lead to respiratory diseases such as cough, pneumonia, and even lung cancer.
How to Eliminate Qi Toxins?
Take deep breaths, inhaling fresh air and exhaling stale air; this deep breathing method can help cleanse the lungs.
This can be done during exercise or indoors by opening windows, ensuring at least once in the morning and evening.
For example, in the early morning, stand on the balcony, stretch your limbs while practicing deep breathing.
If there are mountains or rivers nearby, going out in the morning to shout at the mountains or rivers can help clear the lung Qi.
Note: When practicing deep breathing, choose a fresh air environment, avoiding smog and other air pollution. Additionally, you can eat more lung-nourishing foods, such as pears and lilies.
02Sweat Toxins
The tiny sweat pores of the human body can also expel a lot of waste. However, if sweat cannot be expelled smoothly and accumulates in the body, it will turn into a type of toxin.
Typical symptoms of sweat toxins include the presence of an unusual odor in sweat even when not exercising and maintaining body cleanliness.
Long-term accumulation can lead to joint pain, rheumatism, and metabolic system diseases.
How to Eliminate Sweat Toxins?
It is not necessary to make yourself sweat profusely every day, but maintaining a certain amount of sweating is essential.
The primary method to induce sweating is exercise, such as swimming, running, Tai Chi, or standing meditation, all of which are effective forms of exercise.
Drinking hot porridge, hot tea, or hot soup can also promote sweating, and you can eat some spicy foods to help the body expel sweat.
Foods like Job’s tears have the effect of removing dampness and opening the sweat pores, so they can be consumed more often.
Note: The hotter the weather, the more likely sweat toxins accumulate, so it is essential to ensure adequate sweating.
In hot weather, you can use a hot towel to wipe your body, take hot showers, and drink ginger and brown sugar soup to help detoxify.
03
Fecal Toxins
The Han Dynasty book “Lunheng” states, “To achieve longevity, the intestines must be kept clean; to avoid death, the intestines must be free of residue,” emphasizing the importance of maintaining smooth bowel movements.
Feces can carry away over 60% of the body’s toxins. If bowel movements are not timely, it may lead to enteritis or even colon cancer.
Typical symptoms of fecal toxins include bad breath, skin eruptions, and heat signs; long-term accumulation can lead to enteritis and even colon cancer and other intestinal system diseases.
How to Eliminate Fecal Toxins?
According to TCM meridian theory, the time from 5 AM to 7 AM is when the large intestine meridian is “on duty.” If bowel movements occur during this time, the effect is best,
which can keep the brain clear throughout the day. The later it gets, the more toxins accumulate.
Therefore, it is recommended to drink a glass of water on an empty stomach every morning and develop a habit of having a bowel movement in the morning.
If there is no bowel movement at this time, you can massage the Tianshu point (located 2 inches beside the navel, lying on your back, in the middle abdomen, at the width of three fingers from the navel to the left and right, is the Tianshu point).
If constipated, eat more foods rich in dietary fiber, such as vegetables, oatmeal, and whole grain bread.
You can steam potatoes until soft, mash them, and mix with sophora flower honey or jujube honey; honey has the effect of clearing heat and promoting bowel movements, making it a strong combination.
04Urine Toxins
Most toxins in the body need to be detoxified by the liver and excreted by the kidneys, making the kidneys the most important detoxification organ in the body, filtering out toxins from the blood and excreting them through urine.
Accumulation of urine toxins may stem from insufficient kidney function, drinking too little water, or excessive intake of toxins.
Typical symptoms of urine toxins include dizziness and difficulty urinating; long-term accumulation can lead to urinary system inflammation, gout, and skin allergies.
How to Eliminate Urine Toxins?
Between 5 PM and 7 PM before dinner, you can drink a glass of water on an empty stomach. At this time, the kidney meridian is “on duty,”
and drinking a glass of water helps mobilize kidney Qi and aids in cleansing the kidneys and bladder, preventing urinary system stones.
You can also massage the Yongquan point (the depression at the front of the foot), San Yin Jiao (3 inches above the inner ankle),
and tap the Shen Shu point (located in the lumbar region, below the second lumbar vertebra, at a distance of two fingers wide on both sides).
In daily life, you should eat less food with a lot of additives, ensure adequate daily water intake, and eat more fruits and vegetables.
05Water Toxins
The most severe of the Yin toxins is water toxins, which are the foremost among Yin toxins, generally caused by weakened kidney function.
People over 40 should pay attention to whether they exhibit characteristics of water toxins; if they wake up with swollen lower eyelids or ankles, it is very likely due to water retention.
Typical symptoms of water toxins include bags under the eyes, a moist tongue surface; double chin, cold stomach; clear percussion sound in the abdomen; abdominal swelling, lower body obesity, and thick legs.
How to Eliminate Water Toxins?
If it is caused by kidney issues, then warming the kidneys is necessary to mobilize the body’s Qi transformation ability.
If there are no issues with the kidneys and heart, it indicates that Qi and blood are not flowing smoothly, requiring more exercise. In terms of diet, you can eat more loofah and winter melon to eliminate dampness.
06Fat Toxins
With the abundance of material life, people today consume rich and fatty foods daily, which is often considered the cause of fat toxins in TCM.
Especially when people eat a lot and exercise little, it is very easy to cause the accumulation of fat toxins.
Individuals with fat toxins are generally overweight and have excess fat, often drinking alcohol, eating meat, and consuming fried foods, which can be very harmful to the liver.
Typical symptoms of fat toxins include dizziness and drowsiness. Long-term accumulation can lead to abnormal blood lipids.
How to Eliminate Fat Toxins?
To address fat toxins, first, reduce meat and oil intake, and maintain a light diet; usually, you should eat more onions, hawthorn, black fungus, cucumbers, cabbage, and various whole grains.
To prevent high blood lipids, you can drink 0.5-1 gram of Panax notoginseng mixed with water in the morning or at noon for health benefits.
You can also massage the Fenglong point (located on the outer side of the lower leg, 8 inches above the outer ankle tip, 1 inch outside the Tiaokou point, and 2 finger widths from the front edge of the tibia), to aid digestion and reduce fat.
07Phlegm Toxins
Many people feel phlegm in their throat upon waking up, and some even cough up phlegm throughout the day.
This is a manifestation of phlegm toxins accumulation, which may be caused by long-term smoking, improper diet, or poor lung function.
Typical symptoms of phlegm toxins include excessive and thick phlegm. Long-term accumulation can lead to coughing, difficulty breathing, and epilepsy.
How to Eliminate Phlegm Toxins?
First, if the trachea is not functioning well and there is excessive phlegm, you can take Erchen Decoction to treat it, which includes 10 grams each of Poria, Banxia, and Chenpi, and 6 grams of Licorice, boiled in water to drink for 7 days to dissolve phlegm.
Second, in daily diet, you can eat more radishes, lilies, almonds, tremella, pears (preferably snow pears),
winter melon, figs, seaweed, and loquat to clear heat and resolve phlegm, which helps moisten dryness and expel phlegm.
Especially, white radish helps to tonify Qi and resolve phlegm, having a dual effect of tonifying and smoothing, so it is recommended to shred it and mix it with vinegar to eat a little every day.
Third, drinking 3-10 grams of Licorice soaked in water also has cough-relieving and phlegm-expelling effects.
08Blood Toxins
Eating too diversely and chaotically, leading to the intake of too many food additives, can accumulate blood toxins in the body, especially in individuals with poor liver detoxification function.
In summer, people often enjoy street food, which can easily lead to blood toxins.
Excessive alcohol consumption increases the alcohol content in the blood, which may cause ethanol poisoning, also falling under the category of blood toxins.
How to Eliminate Blood Toxins?
Drink green tea, or eat more grapes, watermelon, and mung beans to help detoxify; you can also massage the Shaofu point (located between the 4th and 5th metacarpal bones in the palm, between the tips of the ring and little fingers when making a fist).
Additionally, it is essential to control alcohol intake, as some foods may have a certain detoxifying effect, but they cannot handle the toxin accumulation caused by alcohol.
In daily life, honey, soy milk, green tea, ginger, and mung beans all have detoxifying effects, so it is best to consume two to three of these daily.
Among them, green tea is suitable for those with a hot constitution, ginger is suitable for those with a cold constitution, and mung beans can be boiled into soup but should not be cooked too long to ensure the soup remains green for the best detoxifying effect.
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