Originally published December 28 2007
Prevent Cancer By Letting Go of Excess Fire Energy (Acidity)
by Richard Stossel
(NaturalNews) An article released by a group of top scientists from around the world presents "convincing" evidence that excess body fat along with alcohol and red and processed meat consumption lead to an increased risk for many types of cancer, including those affecting the breast, bowel and pancreas.
The article also stated that a "diet's relationship to cancer risk is complex and not well understood." While that may be true from the western mechanistic view, the Chinese view, which is simpler but at the same time far more exact and clear, makes it plain that it's an excess of "fire" energy in the body which leads to cancer, premature aging, fatigue, weakness, lack of concentration and many other symptoms and Illnesses as well.
While such terminology and language is very foreign to the average westerner, once these concepts are understood, many people are easily able to diagnose themselves with these simple yet powerful tools of understanding and can help themselves to rebalance their own internal energies. When this happens, symptoms simply disappear. This is often confusing and "not acceptable" to the western allopathic mindset which doesn't accept anything as "valid" until it can be explained in very minute detail right down to the 'how and why' of every process in the healing stage. This is a mentality that stops learning and growth since, as the Chinese proverb states, "some things cannot be explained, only sensed".
Red meat is known to keep you warmer than white meats, again that would be an increase in "fire" energy. Same for alcohol which is one reason that people in colder climates often drink more: such as people residing Russia, certain homeless people, and other groups. Excess body weight also causes the body to hold in more heat than people who are thinner. This is not only because of the fact that the excess body fat is holding in existing heat, but also because the person is physically working harder to simply have that weight on their bodies. Even if a person with excess body fat is at rest, the heart and other organs are working much harder than a person of normal body fat, so more heat is being generated. This, again, follows the same "Fire/Water" or "Kan/Li" principle of Chinese medicine.
I've taught acolytes and friends alike to use this basic understanding to help rid themselves of many ailments. Let's take a simple headache for example. A headache is caused by "Fire chi (energy) ascending", up to the head in particular. I teach this to all my acolytes when instructing them on health and basic Chi theory. Dizziness, nausea and vomiting are also all caused by the same "Fire chi ascending". I taught one of my students who had a headache a simple visualization technique to use his mind to bring the "Fire" energy down to the abdomen area where Chi begins and resides in the human body. Within thirty seconds, his headache was gone and he was amazed that he could use his own mind to rid himself of a headache.
For years this person had simply put up with the headache or occasionally took an aspirin when the pain was too much. This is a simple example of how powerful the Chinese chi theories and yin/yang principles are. This is not some esoteric, metaphysical theory as many think, but a solid scientific principle dealing with the balance of universal energies that are at work in the human body, the earth and the universe itself.
This is why in Chinese medicine the Kidneys are considered a "water" organ, as they regulate water metabolism throughout the body. Most Chi-gung research has focused on dozens of ways to strengthen the kidney energies as it has subjective control over the heart (fire) and helps balance the liver and spleen as well. Any Chronic disease of sufficient acuity is going to involve the kidneys to some degree. In Chinese medicine, practitioners will almost always give herbs or prescribe exercise both physical and mental to strengthen these organs and help effect healing.
One reason why drinking sufficient amounts of water is so important is that the easier we make things on our kidneys, the easier they'll make things on us. Avoiding polluted, toxic foods and foods that make our digestion work much harder: anything packaged and processed, red meat and "unclean" meats such as pork, most shellfish and such (bottom feeders) are keys to keeping the fire energies in the body down and in balance and preventing our cells from either mutating or not dying as they should. This helps us to avoid many types of cancer and scores of other illness and "dis-eases".
This is why more fruits and veggies, drinking more water, eating less red meats, getting extra sleep and keeping the mind calm and relaxed are all things that cancer patients must do to avoid relapse. It's not coincidence many of these same basic guidelines also apply to heart patients as well, since heart troubles are often caused by the same excess of "fire" energy in the body. Autopsies of people who have died from heart disease often demonstrate that the heart appears as if it was "burned up from the inside/out". This is very telling and gives strong validation to the Fire/Water understanding of Chinese Medicine.
A more western way to understand this is the "Acid/Alkaline" balance in the body. Using this analogy, the Fire or Yang state would be equivalent to the "Acid" state where as the Water or Yin state would be equivalent to the "Alkaline" state. It's known that people with heart disease, cancer, and numerous other degenerative diseases have too much acid in their blood. This is most often from a combination of an acidic diet: "soda, red meats, processed foods high in refined sugars" and an acidic mind. What's an acidic mind? One that is in a constant state of worry, fear, anger, bitterness, hatred. These emotions can literally turn the blood and body in to an acidic (Fire/Yang) state in a matter of seconds. They over-activate the parasympathetic nervous system which is the "Flight or Fight" response of the body. This causes the body to waste large amounts of adrenaline, other hormones, and neurotransmitters and wears down our own reserves of energy, which further weakens immunity and leaves us more vulnerable to dis-ease in the short and long term.
Since exercise strengthens all organs of the body, including the heart and kidneys, it helps the body to self regulate those energies, as well as helping to flush out toxins and poisons in the system. Doing this increases water energies. It also helps keep our weight down by reducing the amount of body fat, which in turn allows greater cooling of our organs and prevents excess fire energies from building up in the system. Exercise also helps the body to burn off excess stress and allows it to switch over from the parasympathetic nervous state to the healing sympathetic state which allows for greater relaxation, the release of stress and nervous energies. This allows the body to switch into the healing state so conducive to spiritual and physical regeneration.
Western medicine is always looking for the super complex explanations to physiological processes with their fancy words, terminology and "theories". But that whole system of medical terminology was invented for the precise reason of keeping people confused; making them feel ignorant so that they would no longer try to help and "cure" themselves. Since only the doctor could explain your symptoms, only he could effect a "cure".
Chinese medicine is just the opposite and employs simple language to explain what's truly going on in the body in a way that everyone can easily understand and use to self diagnose their own problems and effect relief. It does this in a way that does not diminish it's incredible accuracy and effectiveness in understanding the cause of our illnesses and helping us to rid ourselves of it.
The bottom line is to avoid excessive amounts of alcohol or eliminate it altogether, drink more water, keep red meat consumption down to a few times per week at best, preferably once a week and make sure to purchase organic meats as much as possible. Try to eat an overall diet where at least 50% of your calories are from raw, unprocessed foods, again organic is best. Drink more water if you tend to get most of your liquids from soda or other processed sugary drinks. Exercise every day to keep the organs and the body chi stronger and more abundant while also helping the body to flush itself of toxins and pollutants that, over time, drag the system down and invite disease into our bodies and lives.
Deep breathing exercises such as the "Eight pieces of Brocade", "Tai Chi", and many other chi-gung sets use the breath and movements of the body to draw in cooling energy from the air to increase, rebalance and cool the excess fire energies of the body. This is one of the ways in which illness is prevented and relieved. Western medicine is only now learning that breathing involves much more then the simple exchange of gases and that it has strong metabolic regulating effects, helps to detox the body, boosts immunity and much more. So get outside in the fresh air every day and take at least ten good deep breaths, inhale to about 70% of full lung capacity, then slowly exhale. You'll notice that your mind is calmer, clearer, more focused and overall you'll feel good. Make this a daily practice to increase lung capacity, boost immunity, strengthen the heart and very importantly - to cool down the excess fire "heat energy" of the body. It works!.
For a solid introduction to these principles, ideas and much more, I recommend Dr.Yang Jwing-Ming's book "The Root of Chinese Qigong" and these fantastic works by Daniel Reid "The Tao of Health, Sex and Longevity" and "The Complete Book of Chinese Health and Healing". These two pretty much go together and the second expands more upon the principles of the first, but either can be read alone.
About the author
Richard is a network engineer and longtime practitioner of Chinese martial arts, medicine and chi-gung for over twenty six years. Having learned many Chinese health and healing arts from old world gung-fu and healing masters and practitioners, he has helped many people to overcome their health issues and achieve their fitness goals. Through diligent study and experience he has taken this knowledge even further over the years including reading scores of books on Chinese medicine, health, chi theory, science, physics, nutrition, supplements, meditation, martial arts, and many other subjects. Utilizing the web, health and fitness videos, newsletters, articles, teachings and lectures, Rich is passionate about spreading the true knowledge of health, healing, fitness and spiritual truths. I'm proud to be writing articles for NaturalNews.com You can read many articles, hear audio interviews, and learn more about the highly praised Chinese Health and Fitness video by visiting Chinese Health and Fitness.com
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml