Healing the Middle

Healing the Middle first appeared in German in 2011 as Die Heilung der Mitte and has since become the best-selling book on Chinese medicine in the German-speaking world. Now available in English for the first time, it opens up one of the most practical ideas of Traditional Chinese Medicine: our health depends to a remarkable degree on the Middle the Spleen and Stomach, which in Chinese thinking turn our food into Qi and Blood, energy and substance, every single day. When the Middle is strong, we have strength and clarity; when it grows tired from stress, cold food and a hectic life, the whole body feels it.Dr. med. Georg Weidinger begins with the foundations: the Shen, the divine in us; the Tao; our instincts; living by the Five Elements; acupuncture and the Chinese herbs, and how these differ from Western medicines. He explains the hollow organs, the concept of the spirits (Wu Shen) and what happens when the Spleen is tired. A vivid interlude on the Smooth Flow shows how Qi, Blood, fluids, food, Phlegm and Heat should move freely through the body and why pain is always a sign that something is not flowing well illustrated by the memorable image of Qi sitting on the Blood like a rider on a horse.At the heart of the book are ten simple points for being kind to the Middle: food should give you joy; everything that arrives in the stomach should be a body-warm soup; eat a warm, cooked breakfast regularly; eat and drink warm as a general rule; eat an apple every day; choose good carbohydrates and good plant protein; do not be afraid of fat; eat as little industrially processed food as possible; and do not eat too much. Along the way Georg Weidinger compares the Asian and the Western way of dividing foods, discusses the Framingham Study, triglycerides and cholesterol, and devotes interludes to healthy bones, vegetarian and vegan diets, the idea of karma, the ethical side of eating and the question of how to grow old well.The final chapters widen the view beyond the plate: the breath and the Lung, our emotions, the night as the time in which the Middle sleeps, the Hun, stress and the Wind, addiction, and finally the Shen, happiness and meaning.Georg Weidinger is a doctor of general medicine and Chinese medicine with a TCM practice in Bad Sauerbrunn, Austria, and has taught Chinese medicine for more than twenty years. He writes in a warm, personal and easily understood voice and keeps stressing what readers can do for themselves. In her foreword Prof. Gertrude Kubiena describes the book as Traditional Chinese Medicine for the ordinary man and woman. It is written for everyone who wants to understand digestion, energy and well-being through the eyes of Chinese medicine and to find practical everyday suggestions for a healthier and happier life as a complement to medical care, not a replacement for it.