“Unhealthy” Body Constitution Presentations and Food Intake in Persons with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus from a Perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine

“Unhealthy” body constitution (BC) occurs in persons with an imbalance of Yin and Yang [1]. From a perspective of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Yin and Yang are two opposite poles or forces in the universe [2]. In order to make the meaning of Yin and Yang clearly, Chinese people signify Yin and Yang with “water” and “fire” respectively [3]. Water is cold, dim, passive and sinking; while fire is warm, bright, active and up-flaming. TCM practitioners of ancient times described Yin to be “cold” in nature while Yang in “hot” nature [4]. In contemporary TCM, the Yin nature of BC is characterized by its cold-dampness nature while Yang nature of BC by its nature of heat-dryness [5,6]. With a balance of Yin and Yang, the person acquires “healthy” BC with equilibrium of temperature and humidity inside the body [7]. In contrast, a subnormal or above-normal body temperature and humidity would result in an imbalanced Yin and Yang leading to “unhealthy” BC, such as Yin-deficiency with heat-dryness and Yang-deficiency with cold-dampness. Persons with Yin-deficiency usually present with complaints, including such as feeling excessively warm in all seasons; dry mouth, throat, eye and lip; feeling hot in palm and arch; involuntarily sweating at night; crimson red face and cheek and/or constipation [8]. Yang-deficiency presentations usually include feeling excessively cold in all seasons; feeling cold with the four limbs and body; chronic diarrhea especially with the intake of cold food; bland taste in the mouth; white sputum in the throat; and/or cold pain on my knee, loin, shoulder and/or back etc. [8]. BC is a result of congenital factor [9,10], which governs the strength and weakness of a person before and after birth [9,11-13]. However, BC can be changed by acquired factors [9,13,14]. These Volume 3 Issue 1 2016