TCM Basic Substances: Body Fluids (Jin Ye)

This is the fifth and last post on the series on basic body substances in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The basic substances are Qi, Blood (Xue), Essence (Jing), Spirit (Shen), and Body Fluids (Jin Ye). I will be sharing some ideas about the Body fluids or Jin Ye, what they are, their functions, symptoms of imbalance and tips on how to maintain their health.

 

The TCM basic substances are those which are essential for health and for life itself as life cannot be sustained if one of them is missing. These substances are not only the building blocks of the physical body but also encompass the human dimensions of the mind, emotions and spirit.

Body fluids are more than just water

Body fluids are pure Yin energy: They are the juice that enables every bodily process to occur and every organ to function. These fluids can be thin and light or thick and nourishing and their composition is much more than just water: Depending on the specific functions of the fluid and its location in the body, it may contain different minerals and nutrients. Body fluids moisten and lubricate every tissue, and provide nourishment to all our cells as well as facilitating the flow of substances throughout the body.

Every single organ, sense organ and tissue of the body needs Body fluids to be able to perform their functions. Without fluids, everything becomes dry and brittle and the body crumbles. Besides this, Jing Ye conform everything in the body that has liquid form such as gastric juices, tears, saliva, semen, vaginal fluids, synovial fluid, cerebrospinal fluid and of course the Blood. Just think of any part of the body, it will inevitably need some form of fluid to be healthy or do its job. In addition, Body fluids enable the excretion of waste and toxic products out of the body.

 

FUNCTIONS OF JIN YE

Body fluids are generally separated into Jin – the thinner fluids, and Ye – the thicker and richer fluids. These are two expressions of Yin energy, the difference between them being that Ye fluids are comparatively more Yin and Jin fluids comparatively more Yang. This means that Ye fluids are thicker and more nourishing, work at deeper levels of the body, and if they are insufficient our health will be affected more severely.

The main functions of Body fluids are:

• To moisten and lubricate- These two functions are slightly different from each other. On the one hand, providing moisture prevents dryness and brittleness, on the other hand lubrication is like a coating that prevents friction, provides protection, and facilitates the smooth passage of substances and food. Thus, the skin, muscles, tendons, ligaments and sensory orifices are mostly moistened while the internal organs, hollow tracts, joints, the spine and brain are mostly lubricated. Moistening is mostly done by Jin – the lighter more Yang fluids, while lubricating is done by Ye- the richer more Yin fluids.
• To nourish- Body fluids provide the deep nourishment that organ tissues need to be healthy and perform their functions. This includes the brain and the sense organs. Severe deficiency of Body fluids can result in poor organ function, cognitive impairment, and decline in our ability to see, hear, smell. This doesn’t mean all of these things will happen at once. The affected areas will depend on different factors such as our constitutional make up, our lifestyle, environment, and the level of the deficiency of Body fluids.
• To transport- Body fluids provide the transporting platform for many substances from nutrients, neurochemicals and hormones to waste products.
• To conform the Blood- Body fluids conform the liquid part of the Blood, which could be likened to Plasma.

 

BODY FLUID PRODUCTION

Body fluids depend on a healthy diet

Body fluids originate in the digestive system. A healthy digestive system will break down everything that we eat and drink and convert it into Qi, Blood, and more Body Fluids. Body Fluids are the substances least spoken about but they are actually the most essential. The reason for this is that without plentiful Body fluids the digestive system cannot perform its functions of transforming food and drink into Qi, Blood and Body fluids and transporting these substances throughout the body. Qi and Blood are the resources that we use up every single day when we perform our daily activities. These substances depend to a large extent on a healthy digestive system which in turn depends on plentiful Body fluids – which are also produced by the digestive system.

While the digestive system can continue working relatively well when we are Blood deficient, and can still somewhat function when we are Qi deficient, without enough Body fluids its ability to process food and drink will be impaired. As a result, there will be a decline in Qi, Blood and Body fluid production. This vicious cycle can rapidly spiral down and create systemic dysfunction. 

In relation to Qi and Blood, Body fluids are the most Yin substance. For this reason, Qi deficiency is much easier to treat than Body Fluid deficiency, and the latter implies a more severe level of depletion.

 

BODY FLUID DISHARMONIES

Not having enough body fluids results in dryness and poor organ function anywhere in the body. Just think of what happens when things dry out: eyes become sore and unable to be used without their natural moisture, a dry mouth is unable to facilitate the passage of food down the upper digestive tract, a dry throat is unable to swallow and doesn’t allow us to speak fluidly, a dry stomach can become painful and acidic, dry intestines cannot move the stools, dry joints become painful and stiff.

Everything starts in the Stomach and Spleen. When the Body fluids of the Stomach reach a level of deficiency, the impact of this deficiency can be transferred to different parts of the digestive system- the mouth, oesophagus, intestines. If the deficiency is not corrected and becomes more severe, it can start to impact other internal organs to eventually reach the Kidneys, the Heart and the Brain. The increasing lack of Qi, Blood and Body fluids resulting from a deficient Stomach will eventually manifest at a systemic level with symptoms such as low immunity, low energy, hormonal imbalances, poor organ function or organ failure, and neurological symptoms. Having worked for decades with people with immune and neurological conditions, I have very often seen how the severe systemic issues were rooted in a severe Body fluid deficiency of the digestive system.

As Body fluids conform the liquid part of the Blood, the two substances have a strong influence on each other. Generally speaking, the Blood has to do with nourishing the substance of the body such as the muscles, the heart muscle, the brain mass itself, etc; while Body fluids have more influence on the actual function of the organs and systems. However, because of the close relationship between the two substances, a severely deficient Blood will quickly create Body fluid deficiency and vice-versa.

The table below, shows symptoms that may appear in different parts of the body as a result of Body fluid deficiency based on how Body fluids are regarded in Jing Fang Classical Chinese Medicine. The treatment for all of these will invariably involve a nourishing diet consisting of easy to digest foods (such as soups and stews), plenty of rest and sleep and an adjustment of the level of daily activity to the level of available energy. Beside this, specific herbs to nourish the Stomach and the specific area of the body that is affected can be used:

 

ORGAN	BODY FLUID DEFICIENCY SYMPTOMS
BRAIN	Low cognitive function: Difficulty learning, inability to focus or concentrate. Bleak mood, no motivation. Feeling as if the brain is empty Note: The Blood nourishes the brain mass and has an effect on memory and sleep
SENSORY ORIFICES	Dryness/malfunction: Severe dryness of the eyes, mouth, ears, nose. Loss of smell, taste, hearing, eyesight Note: The Blood nourishes the eyes but not so much the other orifices
LUNG	Dryness and low function: Severe dryness, inability to breathe, shortness of breath, weak voice, dry tight chest, organ failure
HEART	Low function: Irregular heartbeat, weakness, organ failure Note: Blood disharmony will affect the strength of the heartbeat and can cause pain
STOMACH	Low function: Low or no appetite, inability to digest with pain/bloating after eating, poor absorption, organ collapse Dryness: low gastric juice production, tightness in epigastrium, acid reflux/nausea/pain on an empty stomach
INTESTINES	Low function: Forceless stools, multiple stools per day, severe constipation, diarrhoea with indigested food, watery stools, waking at night to pass stools, organ failure  Note: The Blood has some effect on moistening the stools
KIDNEY BLADDER	Low function: Easily getting UTIs from not drinking enough, not able to pass urine due to weakness, need to press abdomen to empty bladder, nocturia several times per night, organ failure
GENITALS	Milder effect on quantity of Blood and Sperm quality.  Blood disharmonies have a strong effect on menstruation, reproduction, and sperm quality and quantity
EXTERIOR	JOINTS: pain worse for movement, dry joints, loss of cartilage LIGAMENTS: shrinking, tightness, hyperextension, weak and easily injured/inflamed  Note: The Blood impacts the muscle mass, muscle strength, and bone density

Excess of Body fluids is often mentioned as a type of disharmony. However, given that the fluids that we refer to as basic substance are only the pure, refined, nutritious type of fluids, I would argue that what is normally seen as excess Body fluids is nothing but Damp. Dampness refers to an accumulation of turbid fluids of varied consistency which are a result of either poor metabolism – i.e. an inability of the digestive system to transform food and drink into usable substances which results in an accumulation of unprocessed matter- or poor diet- the consumption of foods that are considered damp forming such as processed foods, excessive dairy, gluten, refined sugar, etc. Damp is therefore what may result from a digestive system that is deficient in Qi and/or Body fluids. Having an abundance of the healthy Body fluids in our body would translate as more health and vitality rather than constitute a disharmony causing ill health.

 

HOW BODY FLUIDS BECOME DEFICIENT

Body fluids can become deficient when the body doesn't produce enough, we use up more than we have, or when there is excessive leakage. The main sources of deficiency are:

• Not enough Body fluids being created by the digestive system: This can happen for various reasons including:

-        Not consuming enough food and drink for our needs – this can happen because there isn’t enough food available, there is an eating disorder, or our level of activity is very high and our consumption of food and drink is not high enough to cover our needs.

-        Consuming food and drink that are not nutritious, have a high level of toxicity, or are difficult to digest: this includes poor quality food, processed foods, food that is too rich, high in sugar, high on harmful chemicals, excessive dairy and wheat, excessive alcohol consumption.

-        Constitutional weakness in the digestive system. Qi or Yang deficiency of the Spleen/Stomach

• Excessive physical activity:  This means doing more physical activity than our body’s resources can afford to do- i.e. an optimum amount of rest and nutrition cannot restore the internal resources needed for long-term health. An example of this is the activity performed by professional athletes: Studies such as this one from Poland and this one from Harvard University, have shown that their increased expenditure of energy leads to accelerating aging which is a manifestation of Body fluid deficiency.
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  Over sweating depletes the Body fluids

  Leakage of fluids: When the normal and necessary excretion and secretion of fluids become uncontrolled and large amounts of fluids continuously leave the body, the internal production cannot keep up and the result will be a depletion of internal Body fluids. There are “five leakages” that affect the Body fluids. To these we can add excessive bleeding as this can cause severe Blood depletion which will in turn deplete the Body fluids. The five leakages are:

           Excessive sweating: When we frequently sweat profusely

           Excessive crying: Crying often and profusely

           Excessive urination: Copious urination over 8 x day and 2 x night

           Excessive drooling: Constant drooling, excess salivation

           Excessive runny nose: Constantly losing water through the nose

When there is excessive leakage of any fluids, the treatment priority becomes to stop the leakage. This can be done by the intake of specific herbs as well as acupuncture and moxibustion on specific points depending on the particular leakage. Once the leakage is under control, treatment will focus on restoring the lost Body fluids and addressing the internal imbalances that led to the leakage in the first place.

 

HOW TO PREVENT BODY FLUID DEFICIENCY

 In order to have plentiful Body fluids we need to:

•  Look after our Body fluid production, which means taking care of our digestive system, keeping it strong through the regular intake of appropriate food and drink and as free from toxic burdens as we possibly can. More information on how to do this can be found in my previous post about diet and nutrition according to TCM and the post about the main organ of digestion in TCM.
• Make sure we don’t over spend our Body fluid resources by resting and sleeping enough in relation to our energy expenditure. Generally speaking, we will know that we need more rest when we feel exhausted or weak as a result of our normal activities.
• Take time to recover after illness before increasing physical activity. This has become more obvious since the Covid 19 pandemic as many people have become chronically ill after returning to normal activities and exercise too soon following an infection with this virus. We need to be vigilant of our strength and energy levels before returning to normality.

 Once the Body fluid deficiency becomes severe, changes in the diet and lifestyle will not be enough to restore health. Although changes will be necessary to avoid worsening the situation, only treatment that strengthens organ function and nourishes the Body fluids will be able to reverse the situation. Moxibustion and Chinese herbal medicine are often important parts of this process.

Our Body fluids are the most essential substances for our vitality, health and longevity. In addition, they are the juice behind our creativity, our ability to be in the world with full perception and our capacity to learn and be productive. Looking after them is the best way to ensure we can enjoy life and good health into the last stage of our lives.