The Heart & Mental Clarity

In TCM, the heart not only regulates blood circulation but also controls ones consciousness, sleep, memory, and houses the spirit and mind (called the ‘Shen’). Mental clarity is a central attribute of those with a harmonious ‘heart-mind.’ The Shen requires enough blood to be ‘settled’ and if there is blood deficiency the Shen ‘escapes’ causing the symptoms mentioned yesterday plus mental healthy related symptoms.

Symptoms of heart disharmony include:

• A foggy brain with unclear scattered, confused thoughts & sometimes irrational behaviour Insomnia with excess dreaming, not necessarily nightmares but anxiety/weird, vivid dreams, waking up easily and difficulty falling back to sleep

• Memory loss

• Speech problems such as stuttering, excess verbiage and confused speech

• Depression and mental illness - eg anxiety, nervousness

• Poor circulation - an irregular or racing heartbeat

Many studies indicate that the heart and nervous system are related to calcium metabolism + that magnesium is very healing to the heart. Magnesium itself also allows calcium to function properly in the heart and nerve tissues. it also restrains the ‘anxiety peptide’ a complex of amino acids which appear to contribute to anxiety. spinach pumpkinseeds, dark chocolate and almonds contain lots of magnesium.

Foods for ‘calming the mind/shen’:

• Whole wheat products (pasta/bread etc), brown rice, oats - contain magnesium + B vitamins and have a ‘bitter’ taste which in TCM is healing to the heart. Also as already discussed, carbohydrates help get tryptophan into the brain where it can be turned into serotonin.

• Mushrooms

• Dark green leafy vegetables blood building + also rich in magnesium (as magnesium is contained in the centre of chlorophyll molecules described above).

• Cucumber, celery, lettuce - contain silicon which improve calcium metabolism and strengthen the nerve and heart tissue

• Lemons and mulberries

• Chia seeds (have a sedative action)

• Dill and basil both in teas or used in foods

• Camomile, valerian, lemon balm, hawthorn and rose hip teas

Avoid:

• Too complex meals (i.e. mixture of too many ingredients)

• v. spicy or rich foods

• Refined sugar

• Bananas are full of magnesium but also v. high sugar, so if you suffer from insomnia, eat them earlier in the day.

• Late night eating/ large evening meals

• Too much animal protein

• Calcium metabolism is affected by intoxicants such as coffee, alcohol, tobacco, refined salt/sugar/flour, aluminium, pesticides + marijuana.