Anti-aging in TCM

Within each season, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) embodies an organ, a taste, a feeling, an emotion and an action to help heal the body.  The winter season is correlated with the Kidneys. Like we have established in Western Medicine, Chinese Medicine sees the kidneys as the organ that filters our body and blood by removing waste and excess water. However, in TCM, the kidneys play a much larger role.

In TCM, Kidneys are believed to hold a substance translated to jing or essence. It is said to be the source of our primordial yin and yang.  What does this all mean for you? 

Essentially the Kidneys are seen as the fundamental organ that establishes our baseline of hormones (think of adrenals, the endocrine system and cortisol) and holds our constitutional blueprint.  This is huge!  It means we believe that our kidneys are the origin of life! Our individual blueprint of genetics that came from our parents is stored in our kidneys. A person’s growth journey from childhood to adulthood are governed by the kidneys.

Kidney essence is believed to give us teeth, hair, and bones and be a part of our aging process from childhood to adulthood. During adolescence, our kidneys peak and they give us the ability to reproduce. Since kidneys are located in the back and open to the ears, we start seeing deafness and a hunchback when a person ages along with signs of worry on the face, hair loss and teeth decay.

Some signs that you need to work on your kidneys include; back pain, weak knees, cold limbs, hearing loss or premature grey hair, infertility and hormone issues, chronic low energy or adrenal fatigue, libido issues or other sexual disfunctions, and urination issues including incontinence and prolapse.  

So let’s talk about tonifying your kidneys. First, finding a balance in lifestyle is key!  Is your job super stressful? Finding time for rest and restoring in between work is imperative to healing the kidney. If you can, do not overextend yourself and if you do, rest afterwards.  Kidneys can weaken from chronic overexertion, low sleep, high stress and too much caffeine.  Going to bed earlier, and taking naps is just what the doctor called for.  Practices such as restorative yoga, yin yoga, meditation, journaling, Qi Gong, Energy work, facials, massage and Acupuncture (my favorite) which focus on stillness and breath techniques are great for the kidneys.

Second, Food is the ultimate medicine.  It is so basic but so true!  Warm, cooked foods are very healing to the kidneys.  Yes, your salad is great for your liver but actually can put a little stress on the kidneys.    Kidney energy provides the fire for our sexual desires and our fertility.  If these are your areas of focus you may want to warm up your body with cooked foods and stay away from salads.  Also, drink water!  Yes, the simple act of staying hydrated is great for the kidneys.  If you don’t crave drinking water, incorporate it into your foods like eating more soups and stews.  For specific food items, think of foods that are high in mineral content to restore kidneys such as; bone broth, miso, seaweed, beans, and ginger.  Meats such as seafood, lamb and chicken are especially good for our kidney yang energy.  Foods that are in winter season such as squash, cabbage, mushrooms, beans are good for our kidney yin energy.

If you’ve noticed yourself craving those warm and cozy comfort foods, or had the desire to take a nap or go to bed early, this is your body’s way of keeping you in tune with the season!