YIN AND YANG HEALING

by Lawrence Wilson, MD

©January 2010, The Center For Development

The ancient Taoists believed that all physical phenomena arose by a splitting of the primordial oneness into two, which they called the yin and the yang. This is basically identical to the verses at the beginning of the Hebrew bible, in which God divided the “void” or oneness into the sky and the earth, dark and light, male and female, and so on.

Definition of yin and yang. While these concepts are quite complex, I will give a basic definition of yin and yang that should suffice for this article. Before doing so, it will help to understand them by seeing them as follows:

· Qualities of frequencies of energies.

· Indicators of the direction of movement of energy.

· Dynamic states of movement or motion of energy. It is never static or unchanging.

· Nothing is purely yin or pure yang. That cannot exist in a balanced universe. In fact, if it does begin to occur, the one changes to the other, at times. This is the basis for atom bombs, for example, as energy literally changes state from yang to yin, or nuclear power generation that produces intense heat used to make steam to run a power plant.

Yang is a quality of matter on the physical plane in which the direction of motion is downward toward or into the earth, and toward the center of any physical object. The direction is also toward the more physical or lower octave or frequency. It is thus centripetal or condensing in its direction of movement. It is also in the direction of increasing mass, density, dryness and internal heat. In the sexual arena, it is more male, hard, solid, compact or compressed.

Among foods, salt is the most yang of foods, while meat, eggs, poultry and cooked food is more yang. Among the chakras, the first chakra and lower chakras are most yang in a human being. Among colors, red and orange are hotter and more yang. The darker colors, in general, are more yang.

Yin is a quality of matter on the physical plane that tends to be more expansive, ethereal, energetic rather than physical, upward and outwardly moving, excited or centrifugal in nature. It is also a direction of higher frequency or toward a higher octave. Yin also is colder, and more damp or humid. It also tends to be more ethereal, floating, split apart and expanding.

In the sexual arena, it is more female in nature. Among the chakras, the seventh chakra is most yin or ethereal. The subtle human bodies are even more yin. Among colors, the refined color of white, lighter colors and pastels, and the bluish-purplish colors of the upper chakras are more yin.

YIN-YANG BALANCE AND HEALING

The early Taoist monks took the concept a step further. They found that an extremely valuable concept in healing was to balance these qualities in the human form. Examples of ways to do this are to eat foods that are yang and foods that are yin in the right proportions.

They found many health benefits from doing this, such as reducing stress on the body. It is as though the body is like a seesaw and extremes of yin or yang energy unbalance it, like swinging wildly to one side or the other side. This places tremendous stress on the body and leads to illness. Keeping oneself balanced, on the other hand, reduces stress, in general.

Grounding and centering. Another thing they were aware of is that yang energy is very grounding and centering. Yin energy, by contrast, is centripetal or tends to unground, unbalance and split one apart, so to speak. This is another very important concept. Both ideas, it turns out, are critical for what I call mental or spiritual development of the subtle human bodies, the ultimate goal of human existence at one level of thought.

Other examples are to balance heat with cold and avoid extremes that are hurtful to both the human body and the mind. In fact, the mind, in ancient Chinese formulations, is yin while the body is yang. Similarly, the head is yin and the lower part of the body is yang. In this way, everything was classified as either yin or yang, or some combination.

Metabolic typing is about yin and yang. The ideas of yin and yang is the most comprehensive system available regarding metabolic types. It is the precise basis for typing system of fast and slow oxidizers. Fast oxidation is much more yang, while slow oxidation is more yin. In general, the more extreme the oxidation rate, the more extreme the yin-yang imbalance. Dr. Eck only spoke of this peripherally, but I have checked with acupuncturists who assess yin and yang, and they confirmed the truth of the correlation between yin and yang and the oxidation rate, as determined via hair mineral analysis using Dr. Eck’s ratios as standards.

Mineral ratios and yin and yang. A higher Na/K ratio is more yang, while a lower ratio is much more yin. Other ratios are less clear, although most likely a higher Ca/Mg ratio is more yang, while a lower one is probably more yin.

Also, all vitamins, minerals and indeed, all products we eat, touch or with which come into contact are either more yin or more yang. In many regards, nutritional balancing is based on this ancient typing system of all bodies, all foods, all supplements and all types of other procedures, whether they be sauna therapy, meditation or others.

Toxins. Most toxins are extremely yin because they disrupt life. This includes toxic metals, and toxic organisms such as bacteria and viruses. Their effects on the body can be either yin or yang, but generally their effect is yin. Fungi and parasites such as worms and amoeba in the body are even more yin.

Most medical drugs, most herbs, most isolated vitamins and isolated minerals are yin, especially homeopathic remedies. For this reason, all should be used sparingly.

Chemicals may be yin or yang in their effects, although most are extremely yin. Electromagnetic fields generally have a very yin effect, as does ionizing radiation from nuclear power plants and A-bomb fallout. Yin is generally harmful on planet earth, although too much yang occurs, at times, in fast oxidizers and is not helpful, either.

Let us now explore how this idea is incorporated and used throughout nutritional balancing science to optimize healing.

BASIC DIETARY CONCEPTS OF YIN AND YANG

Balance in Food Type. This is not the same as a “balanced” Western diet consisting of all four food groups. This is not a bad idea, but it is a purely biochemical or nutritional concept, whereas the ancient idea of yin-yang balance has to do with qualities of energy that may not be reflected in the chemical components of the food.

Macrobiotics is the basis for this approach to dietetics. An excellent starting point, but not the ultimate end, is a science called macrobiotics. This fascinating subject was introduced to America by Mr. Michio Kushi in the 1960s from Japan. However, I have changed some of Mr. Kushi’s recommendations today based upon hair mineral analysis research. An entire article on this website discusses these very important, though simple modifications to Mr. Kushi’s work. Click here to read Macrobiotics, And Modifications For Nutritional Balancing Science.

Macrobiotics is a very ancient science, dating back thousands of years to the ancient Japanese and Chinese Taoists. It divided food into those that are more yin in nature, versus those of a yang nature. The chart below depicts the way foods tend to fall on a scale from yang to yin:

Salt Eggs Red Meat Poultry Fish Grains Vegetables Fruit Sugar Drugs/Alcohol

YANG NEUTRAL YIN

Yang foods. The most yang foods are salt, meat, eggs, poultry, fish and cooked root vegetables. Plants that grow beneath the ground are more yang, while those that grow up in the air such as most fruit, are more yin. Cooked grains, cooked beans and cooked vegetables are in the middle.

Yin foods. Raw vegetables, and especially fruits, juices, sugars, alcohol and drugs are more yin (watery and expansive). Also, anything made with water is much more yin such as soups, smoothies, and watery foods such as eggplant and all fruits. Dried fruits are less watery, but are still extremely yin due to their sugar content. Most raw plants and herbs are also very yin. Anything that is powdered or cut into tiny parts or ground up also causes the substance to become much more yin in nature. In contrast, whole foods that are not chopped up are more yang.

Meats. Among animal products, the most yang is egg, followed by lamb and beef. The next most yang are rabbit, chicken, and turkey. Fish tend to be more yin, especially today as they contain more mercury and other toxins due to contamination of the oceans. Cooking the meat and adding some salt makes it even more yang. Of course, eating it raw or sprinkling it with sugar or tomato sauce would make the meat more yin.

Grains. Grains that are most yang are millet and buckwheat. Oats, rye, barley and wheat are less yang due to hybridization. These are not as healthful today due to their gluten content, which a lot of people cannot tolerate. Rick and millet are excellent, however, and tolerated well. Corn is less yang, but blue corn is a superior product and well-tolerated in many cases. Amaranth, quinoa, kamut and other grains are slightly more yin, and can be eaten by most people. Cooking the grains and adding some salt makes them more yang. Fermenting or sprouting grains makes them more yin.

Vegetables. Those that grow below ground are more yang, such as rutabaga, turnip, parsnip,)carrot, onion, garlic, and ginger if used as a food. Those with leaves are less yang but also excellent. These include cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, spinach, turnip greens, mustard greens, kale and others.

Note that the nightshade family are more yin. These include white potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant and all peppers, both sweet red and yellow and green ones, and hot peppers. Also, all the squash family, cucumbers and any vegetable containing seeds tend to be much more yin as they are really fruits, not vegetables.

Fungi, such as mushrooms, are very yin and not too nutritious.

Fruits: The very sweet fruits (figs, dates, bananas) and citrus fruits (orange, lemon, lime, tangerine and grapefruit) tend to be most yin. Grapefruit is best of these as it is less sweet, but all fruit should be eaten sparingly, if at all, in this system of understanding food.

Food Processing. Cutting up vegetables, grinding grains, refining food, juicing it or eating food raw is more yin. Eating foods whole is much more yang.

Herbs. Herbs may be yin or yang in their effects. In Chinese medicine, herbs are applied based on this and other qualities. Needling and the application of moxa are yang techniques.

YIN AND YANG SUPPLEMENTS

All isolated food supplements tend to be more yin than whole foods. This includes all powders, liquids tablets and capsules. Water-soluble vitamins are much more yin than fat-soluble ones. So, for example, fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K are more yang.

Synthetic supplements ones such as ascorbic acid, MSM, and synthesized B-complex vitamins tend to be more yin. Herbal extract made with alcohol are also more yin due to the alcohol. Glycerin is less yin, but most herbs are quite yin in all forms.

Products derived from bacteria and fungi, such as yeast-based vitamins or fungally-derived vegetable enzymes, tend to be much more yin, in general. This is not helpful in almost all cases.

Most mineral supplements tend to be a little more yang than vitamins and other types of products, in most cases. All-natural products tend to less yin, though not necessarily. The most yang supplements tend to be animal-derived products such as glandulars, and fatty substances such as vitamins A and D. Kelp has a lot of salt in it, so it is a lot more yang than most other mineral supplements. It has some mercury in it, however, which is a little more yin. Algae such as chlorella, spirulina and blue-green algae is much more yin.

Cooking And Food Preparation. This is a very important area, as it changes the quality of foods dramatically. Cooking makes food “hotter” or more yang. The higher the cooking temperature and the duration of cooking, the greater the effect.

Raw food, by contrast, is far more yin. One can sometimes feel the effect of yin versus yang in this area, as it is so profound. Yin food preparation, such as soaking in water, causes food to expand, while cooking causes it to contract and dry out eventually.

These are primary yin and yang characteristics that apply to all foods and other items in one’s life. For example, salt contracts and dries so it tends to be very yang. Sugar absorbs water so it tends to be yin.

Cooking with salt adds yang energy. Cooking with wine, vinegar, sugar, honey or sweet spices adds yin energy. This is an entire science all itself. It is important, but there is much more, as you will see. Fermenting foods tends to make them a little more yin, because the ferments are fungi, which are very yin.

Food Quality. Food quality alters the yin-yang balance drastically. Below is a chart showing the effect of food quality.

Generally the best quality today Most food chemicals and sugars

YANG NEUTRAL YIN

This is vital today, when most prepared and processed food has been stripped of its natural nutrients and other components, and hundreds of chemicals have been added. As shown on the chart, most of these chemicals are very yin. Roughly ninety percent are yin in their effect. A few, however, such as salt are yang. Another that is yang is MSG or monosodium glutamate, sometimes sold as Accent. It is, of course, related to salt.. So it is possible to have yang refined food when it is full of these additives.

EATING NEAR ONE’S YIN-YANG BALANCE POINT

One must eat foods that are somewhat near one’s own yin-yang balance point. This means that if the body is very yin, for example, as most are, then eating a lot of red meat, for example, will tend to cause sickness. It would simply stress the body too much. Similarly, if a body is more yang, as most healthier people are, then sugars often do not even appeal to the person. They are too yin and do not feel good. However, they feel very good to people who are very yin, often. These people are more like sugar, inside, or more yin, so sugars are more compatible with them energetically. This does not mean that sugar is healthful for anyone, just that sugars are a food frequency, and thus appeal to some people more than others.

MEN AND WOMEN MAY NEED TO EAT DIFFERENTLY

The above means that men and women may need to eat a little bit differently, and they often do. Men are less attracted to sugars, generally. Women tend to prefer more sweets, salads and fruits than men, while they tend to eat a little less red meat.

Once again, this does not mean these differences are always healthful or helpful, but they are tendencies that differentiate men and women, that can be explained in terms of the differences in yin and yang energy in men and women.

FOOD QUANTITY

Another modifier of the yin-yang idea is that of food quantity. The more food one eats, the more yin one becomes. This means that a very small amount of sugar, for example, is not too bad. More than a little, however, and sugar has a very damaging effect due to its unbalanced qualities of yin and yang.

For the same reason, one can eat a lot of vegetables, especially if cooked, or even a lot of rice or blue corn chips without causing much upset in the yin-yang balance because these foods are quite balanced to begin with. This concept is very important for Western people who tend to eat a lot of the extreme foods – red meats, salt and sugars. These are okay in small amounts once in a while. When eaten every day, however, they can stress the body. Western science is coming to this conclusion as well. That is, too much red meat or any meat, and too much sugar are harmful for health. However, more vegetables and whole grains are fine.

This is one reason nutritional balancing stresses eating large quantities of cooked vegetables only. Large amounts of vegetable juice, for example, or salads, will tend to be too yin and unbalance the body. We would like to have people eat more whole grains, but most people cannot handle them, at least not at first. This brings up another quality related to yin and yang.

The effect of food quantity is illustrated by the chart below:

The right amount and type of food Excessive Food

YANG YIN

Eating too much, even of a good thing, therefore makes one more yin. This is helpful for those who are too yang. It is not helpful if one is yin, as are almost all Americans, for example, and much of the world. By overeating they become more yin, even if they eat eggs with salt or meat and other yang foods all day long.

In contrast, fasting is extremely yangizing in its effect. However, fasting easily depletes the body of nutrients, at times in a few hours on a total fast, so care must be taken with fasting. A day or two is okay. More is generally not good today due to the extreme nutritional depletion of most people. Books about fasting written 50 or 100 years ago simply do not apply today. I have some experience with this as I was the medical director at a Natural Hygiene fasting spa for several years, and was sorely disappointed in the results of this procedure.

EXAMPLES OF DIETS

Most people do not realize how yin their diets are today. For example, one may have a smoothie for breakfast consisting of water or fruit, or fruit juice, with green superfood powder, herbs, isolated vitamins or minerals and perhaps raw or pasteurized milk. This is extremely yin.

Lunch and/or supper may include a salad, more water or teas, white refined flour products such as bread, and perhaps a potato, or other nightshade product such as peppers (fresh or dried hot peppers), ketchup, mustard with sugar in it, cola drinks, perhaps, or prepared foods that include sweeteners, even stevia or xylitol. All of this is quite yin.

Snacks might include nuts, seeds, (especially if raw or raw nut butters), crackers with sugar in them, fresh or worse, dried fruit, fruit juice, cereal with milk, or other extremely yin products.

In addition, many people are taking handfuls of vitamins, herbs, chlorella, superfood powders or pills, mushrooms that are extremely yin, isolated protein powders, meal replacement bars or powders, and other extremely yin products. High-dose vitamins such as high-dose vitamin C are the worst of the supplements due to its high quantity of a yin substance. I realize these have benefits, but in terms of yin and yang, they are extremely yin.

PSYCHOLOGY AND YIN-YANG BALANCE

Another powerful factor that modifies the yin-yang balance as much as food in all cases is psychology. This means that certain approaches to life, attitudes, emotions and such, are yin and others are yang.

Here is where a total approach to healing is so important, rather than just diet, or just lifestyle, or just some therapy. Without this total approach, many factors will invariably be missed by the practitioner. It may not be necessary to consider all the lifestyle, dietary and other factors in the beginning, but eventually they matter a lot.

Here we also see why in ancient Chinese holistic medicine the doctor was taught to look at many things, from the shape of the head, the hands and other body parts, to the color of the skin, the tongue, the pulse, the excretions and more. We must do some of this, too, though the hair analysis offers a remarkably simple means to evaluate a person’s overall condition, though it does not always tell us why one is the way he or she is. Along with a few other simple items we will discuss later, it will suffice in most cases.

Yang Psychology = fast oxidizer psychology. The fast oxidizer mentality is yang. People with these traits tend to be more confrontive, more engaging, more expressive emotionally, and more aggressive, arrogant, tight or uptight, angry overtly or easily angered, and in extreme cases paranoid. The voice tends to be higher, and the person more extroverted, positive in outlook, fun and happy, usually physically stronger and future-oriented rather than past-oriented. There is usually more interest in sex, especially among the men. They are “hot”, to use a teenager term, meaning they have higher hormone levels and are more interested in being social and sexual. These traits are understood chemically very well and explained in the book, Nutritional Balancing And Hair Mineral Analysis and other articles.

Other yang psychological qualities are groundedness, centeredness, reality-based rather than fanciful, hard-nosed, domineering, controlling, practical, business-like, on time, detail-oriented, mentally sharp and basically present in this reality. In excess, they are too grounded and self-centered, closed to new ideas, selfish or self-centered, and too hard-nosed.

Yin Psychology = slow oxidizer attitudes and traits. These traits tend to include being more relaxed, slower-moving, weaker, more emotional, often more fearful and depressed, apathetic, cloudy or mentally foggy, ethereal, and not nearly as well grounded or centered. They tend to be less confrontative, and more repressed or suppressed emotionally. Their general demeanor is more “shattered”, which is a very yin tendency or direction of movement.

They are often eccentric in a different way, with lower energy, more confusion, less interest in the opposite sex and perhaps more homosexually oriented, or just less interested in sex. They are often more serious, definitely more negative in their outlook, and more often think and live in the past or what they believe was a happier, more glorious past. They are more likely to use yin drugs such as marijuana, and are more dependent and often more child-like. Children, however, are actually more yang than most adults because they are healthier and their bodies are more compact. Hippies, for example, are much more yin in their attitudes and behavior than are most blue collar and physical laborers, who tend to be far more yang in their attitudes.

Most people, of course, are a mixture of these traits, just as their body chemistry is a mixture of various imbalances both yin and yang. However, one or the other usually prevails. A hair mineral analysis is often amazingly accurate to help one to know which set of traits is more likely present. Note that many adult fast oxidizers are just slow oxidizers under a tremendous amount of stress, even if the mineral ratios appear good. Telltale signs of to tell whether a fast oxidizer is really a slow oxidizer under stress include:

· Sodium/potassium ratio less than about 2.5

· High levels of toxic metals

· Zinc above about 15 mg%

· Phosphorus less than about 13 mg%,

· Elevated copper

· Elevated calcium and/or magnesium level

· Aluminum less than about 0.6 mg% on a first chart

The effect of stress. This brings us to an interesting aspect of yin and yang. Stress, for many people, tends to be yangizing. That is, it makes the person much more yang. Stress, in this regard, tends to be a compressive force.

This is seen on hair tests in which a person is in a four highs pattern and appears like a fast oxidizer in many ways. However, when the person relaxes, he or she changes to slow oxidation and the attitudes and attributes change to a more yin tendency.

Too much stress, however, destroys the body and thus makes it far more yin. However, some stress is always yang in its effect.

Also, in slow oxidizers, when more stress is applied, they tend to become slower oxidizers in some cases. This has to do with the type of stress and the general condition of the body. While some stress elicits a yang response, other types or in some people it elicits a more yin or dissociative effect. For example, a calcium shell pattern is extremely yin and represents a dissociation of splitting off of the personality, which we say is a withdrawal from society psychologically. This is very yin or hiding or running away. Four highs is a more confrontive response to stress or more yang or male response.

Muscle tension is also very yangizing. Tension, as used here, is related to stress on the body. Both are compressive forces so they make one more yang.

Health, in general is far more yang. Disease tends to be yin. However, there are exceptions. In macrobiotics and Chinese medicine, there are yin and yang physical and emotional health conditions. The same is true in nutritional balancing science, as it would have to be this way if balance is truly the key to health.

Other Major Influences On Yin And Yang. These include, but are not limited to the time of day, the amount of rest a person has received that night and in general, the amount of water one drinks and the kind of water (distilled is most yin because of less minerals, whereas spring water is more yang). Open water is extremely yin and, for this reason, is only suitable for some people.

Personal habits matter, such as answering the call of nature quickly. Otherwise one becomes quite depleted and yin. Other factors are the colors one wears, aloneness versus being more social, one’s companions and partners, and more. These may be discussed in a later article.

People who live in the Oriental nations tend to be more yin. Middle Eastern people, both Jews and Arabs, tend to be more yang and somewhat more aggressive in nature.

SYMBOLS OF BALANCE OF THE FORCES OF NATURE

It is interesting that the symbols of most major religions are those of balancing the forces of yin and yang. This applies to the Christian cross, the Jewish star, the Taoist circle of yin and yang, and some others. The Muslim symbol is not one of balance, interestingly.

Environmental Yin And Yang. Colder and wetter climates are more yin, while tropical or hotter and drier areas are far more yang. Yin climates require more yang foods. This can be why Eskimos do well on a diet of mostly meat and fat, two yang foods.

In contrast, people who live in tropical climates often eat more fruit and less cooked food, in general. When people in a hot country eat more meat, they become too yang and often ill. This often translates into aggressiveness, for example, as seen in a hot area – the Middle East. Similarly, Eskimos would not fare well on a diet of fruit and would become ill. Even the US army discovered this during World War II and had to alter its rations for the soldiers depending upon where they were fighting and living.

People in tropical climates often eat more hot peppers, in such nations as Mexico, India, Thailand and many other nations. At first, this might seem strange since the peppers are “hot” in their taste. However, peppers are, in fact, very yin foods although they may taste spicy or hot.

Altitude and other environmental factors. A higher altitude is more yang, while a lower altitude is more yin. This has to do with air pressure, specifically of oxygen, a very yin element. So, for example, living by the ocean in sunny, warm California is quite yin. One notices the attitudinal differences here, compared say to living in cold, high altitudes of Asia or even America.

The elements. Solid, heavier matter is more yang, while lighter elements are more yin. So Uranium is very yang in this regard. However, radioactivity is extremely yin, so uranium is not more yang. But mercury, cadmium and lead, the heavy metals, are more yang. Lighter elements such as lithium, zinc, selenium, magnesium, and even calcium are more yin elements. They also happen to be more alkaline-forming as well.

This is confusing, however, because although as one becomes healthier one removes the heavy metals, replacing them with the lighter, more yin elements, the body becomes much more yang, overall. The reason is that the heavy metals, while more yang, are also incorrect for the body and cause total chaos, which is a very yin trait. Reducing their amount and effect in the body thus reduces chaos and this has a very yangizing effect.

Weight and yin-yang balance. An overweight body tends to be more yang in some ways because it is more massive. However, in most cases today, the overweight people are far more yin because they are more ill, chaotic, “expanded” and toxic with too much sugar, water and other yin material. Often, overweight people look waterlogged or “puffy” and expanded.

It is very different from a body that is large but muscular only. This body is much more yang, as muscle is more yang and dense than fat and water.

The shape of the body is also related to yin and yang, as is everything. Tall and slender is yin, generally, while short and stocky is much more yang. This has to do with glandular effects, diet, genetics and other factors. Not surprisingly, I have mentioned in other articles that fast oxidizers tend to have a shorter, stockier build. Slow oxidizer often have a tall and more slender build.

YIN AND YANG HEALING

Western medicine largely ignores the concept of yin-yang balance in healing, but is still a central idea in many Eastern systems of healing, particularly acupuncture. It creeps into Western medicine as normal ranges for blood sugar, blood pressure and many other functions. One knows that too much or too little of these are indicative of disease.

About ninety-five percent of bodies today are yin in Chinese medical terminology. Many are extremely yin. Yin is associated with the qualities of being cold, still, expanded and chaotic. This corresponds exactly to slow oxidation on a properly performed and interpreted hair mineral analysis. The hair must not be washed at the laboratory and the oxidation rate is determined by calculating the calcium/potassium and the sodium/magnesium ratios. Yin or slow oxidation is defined as a calcium/potassium ratio greater than 4:1 and a sodium/magnesium ratio less than 4/17:1.

WHY ARE SO MANY BODIES YIN?

Traditional Chinese medical practitioners would say the reason for so many yin bodies is deficient chi or vital energy. Many factors can deplete the chi including one's diet, lifestyle, stress and other factors.

In particular, since 1940 or so, several factors have combined to render most bodies extremely yin.

· Ionizing radiation. The atomic bomb, through testing and accidents, has spread radioactive fallout all over the planet. Low-level emissions occur from nuclear power plants, smoke detectors, computer monitors, television sets and fluorescent lamps. Widespread medical and dental use of x-rays, radioactive dyes and radiation therapy add to radiation exposure. Uranium mining is another source of low-level contamination. Fortunately, humanity has learned a lot about radioactive fallout and the safety is improving. However, the problem of rogue nations developing weapons and using them remains a serious problem.

· Electromagnetic pollution. This is also very yin and growing at an astronomical rate with the advent of cell phone towers everywhere, computers in every home, especially laptop computers and hand-held devices like portable telephones. These all give off fields that are very yin and chaotic. Riding in airplanes with large spinning turbines in them near your head, and even riding in automobiles with large alternators spinning nearby also give off electromagnetic waves of varying degrees of chaos. Even house wiring and common radio and TV signals are quite yin, though not nearly as bad as cell phone radiation.

· Toxic metals and chemicals everywhere. Industrial development and growth of the chemical industry has spread thousands of yin toxic chemicals throughout the environment. These include toxic metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, aluminum and beryllium. It also includes thousands of toxic chemicals such as solvents, pesticides, plastics and many other classes of compounds.

· Changes in the food supply. These have been massive in the 20^th and 21^st century, and almost all are more yin. They include: soils depleted of minerals due to soil mining, essentially, use of hybrid crops, use of pesticides, use of superphosphate fertilizers. For example, wild fruit, like crab apples, are small, hard and not too sweet. Cultivated fruit is often larger and sweeter (more yin).
Also, food is grown far away and transported thousands of miles in many cases to get to you. Also, some is irradiated, another very yin procedure.

· Food refining. Most food processing and refining have made food far more yin. This includes refining of wheat, sugar, rice and other grains. It also includes adding thousands of toxic chemicals to prepared food, most of which are yin or have a yin effect.

· Dietary changes. The diets have also become more yin, with the consumption of much more white sugar, white flour instead of whole grains, and less red meat and fat consumption. Items like soda pop, beer and wine are also far more yin than water, tea or coffee. Sugar-eating is probably the most important of all of these dietary shifts.

· Medical drug use. This is a more yang approach to health care than some types, but now has turned yin because it is so overused. Especially the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in America in 1967 and similar socialized programs in other nations, have resulted in tremendous use of yin chemicals as medicines. Almost all prescription drugs are yin. This includes most popular drugs such as antibiotics, anti depressants and many others. Surgery and radiation therapy are also extremely yin.

· Recreational drug and alcohol use. This includes marijuana, heroine, alcohol, tobacco, ecstasy and other psychedelics, all of which are very yin.

· Planetary pollution. This has caused a mixture of more yin and more yang conditions. As explained earlier, toxic metals are yang, of themselves, but they cause chaos in the bodies, making them much more yin. Oxygen in the air is reduced in the cities, which is more yang. However, this also causes disease that is yin. Polluted air, water and food, overall, has a very yin effect on mankind today.

· Planetary cycles play a role. "The age of Aquarius" is not just the name of a song. It is a planetary position in the 25,000-year cycle of our solar system through the Milky Way as the galaxy revolves around our central sun located in the Pleiades. It will last about 2000 years. Its qualities are a time of change, reflection, questioning and the chaos that goes with it. It began around 1940 and will last until about 3100.
It is a time when a more yang approach to life and yangizing influences are needed to offset new ideas and concepts which tend to be yin. It is also an age of information which is yin and it is a radioactive age – with nuclear weapons and so on, which is also very yin and these must be balanced with a more yang diet and lifestyle and attitudes that are more yang such as taking responsibility for oneself. The former age, the Piscean age, by contrast was a more yang time with lead in the environment, for instance, and required more fruit and juices and salads in the diet than is required today.

With these rather severe changes have come new diseases, while some older ones such as tuberculosis and typhoid fever are not as prevalent. This is how yin and yang, as well as nutrition, interact with disease states, another complex topic for another article.

YIN AND YANG ILLNESS

Illness may be classified anatomically as yin or yang. For example, osteoarthritis is characterized by deposition of calcium and other substances in the joints and may be said to be yang. Rheumatoid arthritis is a degeneration of the joints and is more yin. Solid tumors are more yang, while blood cancers such as leukemia are more yin. This can get quite complex.

More important is whether the cause is yin or yang. Many times the same symptom can have either a yin or a yang cause. In hair analysis interpretation, one finds that the same symptom may be due to fast oxidation or slow oxidation. Osteoporosis, for example, may be due to a calcium or copper deficiency in a fast oxidizer. Part of the sympathetic nervous system response is excretion of calcium. However, the same symptom may be due to biologically unavailable calcium in a slow oxidizer.

Since most bodies today are yin, most illness has a yin cause at its basis. The symptom may appear yang - hot, hard or contracted. However, the underlying cause is usually a yin imbalance. A yin therapy such as surgery, radiation or chemotherapy may eliminate a hard tumor, but the long-term effects are less curative and usually harmful.

YIN AND YANG HEALING METHODS

Yang therapies. Among healing methods, the most yang are those involving heat and dryness. Dry saunas, hyperthermia, fever therapy, sweating, heating herbs like ginger and burdock, coffee enemas, hot baths, exposure to the sun, heat lamps and fasting are examples. Other are chiropractic manipulation, biofeedback, acupuncture, acupressure, meditation, psychotherapy, hands on healing, massage, body work and some color therapy with reddish, orange or yellow light.

Yin therapies include raw foods, juices, cool or cold baths, colonic irrigation and Epsom salt baths. Others are homeopathy, visualization, imagery, psychedelic drugs and the use of electrical machines. Still others include most pharmaceuticals, surgery, radiation therapy and the use of most herbs and nutritional supplements.

Detoxification. Yin detoxification methods flush toxins with cool and watery energy. They slow down overheated metabolism and reduce congestion. Yang detoxification methods tonify and energize the system, and contract the cells, forcing poisons out. The principles of yin and yang healing apply equally to conventional as well as holistic therapies.

A need for yang therapies today. As more people become yin, they require more yang therapies. This is one reasons for more common problems occurring with antibiotic overuse and vegetarian diets.

For example, a friend is a cancer counselor who has observed the results of many alternative cancer therapies. She reports poorer results with the Gerson therapy and related approaches that rely on raw foods and juices. This therapy used to offer excellent results. Most likely this is because more bodies were yang at the time Dr. Gerson developed the therapy in the 1920s and 1930s. Yin therapy can often get rid of tumors which are yang, but cannot fully rebuild a body if it is yin.

YANG HEALING

This is the approach I suggest for most people. It involves a diet of kelp, sea salt, meats and especially cooked yang root vegetables. One avoids yin foods such as sugar, sweet juices, most fruit, most raw food, and the nightshade vegetables and other vegetables that are botanically fruits.

To this are added food supplements and herbs that are primarily yang or less yin. We do not use most herbs, most green drinks, or high doses of vitamin C or other vitamins, for example.

More yang herbs include ginger, burdock, dandelion, milk thistle, skullcap, nettles and black radish.

Mineral therapy is somewhat yang and very necessary today due to congenital nutrient deficiencies, refined food diets, poor quality food, stress and other factors that deplete nutrients.

Yang procedures. Nutritional balancing may also involve dry sauna therapy, infrared lamp therapy and red light therapy. Red light assists the first chakra and organs such as the liver, kidneys and adrenal glands. This is exactly what most people need.

Some say light therapy should focus on the upper chakras - blue, green and violet. However, I find that most patients I see live in those upper chakras most of the time. Copper toxicity, which is very common, has the effect of speeding up mental processes and enhancing emotions and analytical thinking.

Rest and sleep, and other lifestyle factors. Another vital yang therapy is rest and sleep. Most people do not get nearly enough rest. I also suggest spending about half an hour a day in the sun, if possible, another yang therapy. Also excellent is to let go of all victim thinking, as this is very yin and disempowering. This includes all political philosophies that endorse and promote the concept of victims and victimhood. Feeling sorry for some group or other, and offering them special benefits is extremely popular today, but not particularly beneficial for anyone.

Much better are political and moral belief systems that support people learning to help and govern themselves, rather than accepting 'benefits' or 'entitlements' of any sort. This view promotes personal empowerment and is more yang. Unfortunately, this perspective is not so popular today.

Yang therapy is appropriate for about 95% of adults and a somewhat smaller percentage of children. The others require less cooked vegetables, less animal products, fewer saunas and more fruit and juices.

Many who appear yang are not really so. They are merely toxic in a certain way that appears yang. Certain toxic metals such as cadmium are either so yang themselves or they cause changes in the nervous system that make a person appear very yang. However, they are weak underneath, often extremely so. When toxins such as cadmium, lead, mercury and others are released, the person’s true yin condition becomes obvious.

Understanding yin and yang detoxification helps explain why a particular therapy may work for a while, but then stops working. It also explains why a therapy may have worked well one hundred years ago, but is less helpful today. It can also explain why a therapy or approach such as drug medicine helps some people, but not others.

MORE ABOUT YIN AND YANG

There is some disagreement among acupuncturists and those who study oriental philosophy regarding what is yin and what is yang. Most agree, however, that yang is contracted, hot, masculine, active, aggressive, salty, loud, red in color and under the earth as opposed to above. Yin is cold, damp, still, receptive, feminine, grows above ground, blue or purple in color and more ethereal.

Hollow organs are considered yin such as the lungs, intestines, heart and stomach. Solid organs are considered yang such as the liver, kidneys, spleen and pancreas.

For more about acupuncture and nutritional balancing science, read Acupuncture on this website.

References

Nickel, D., 1995, Int. J. Acupuncture and Oriental Med, 6:1-4; p 26-29. (this article explores how supplements used in nutritional balancing science correlate with acupuncture herbs in their mineral content. The latter are based on assessing yin and yang with the acupuncture pulses and many other methods of assessment.

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