For most elderly people, because of the reduction in physical consumption and decreased function, the sleep time is relatively shorter than that of adults. The average is around 5 to 6 hours. But on the other hand, some elderly people have surprisingly short sleep times, often waking up at 2 to 3 a.m., which has a big impact on normal life rules. Especially in winter, the elderly wake up early at 2 or 3 o'clock, and it will be more common.
Chinese medicine believes that "sleep is a symbol of the harmony of the five internal organs of the body", if the body's internal organs are coordinated smoothly and the physiological situation is stable, the quality of sleep can naturally be improved. On the contrary, if the body's internal organs are not well harmonized, there are conflicts with each other, and the symptoms of discomfort are frequent, and it is difficult to guarantee the natural sleep situation. In the five internal organs of people, the heart and kidneys, there may be a greater potential conflict, the elderly age, organ function decline, the occurrence of "heart and kidney incompatibility", and then lead to frequent early awakening in winter, it will become very common.
What is "heart and kidney non-intercourse", and why is the early awakening of the elderly related to it?
The so-called "heart and kidney incompatibility", as the name suggests, actually refers to the conflict between the heart and kidneys. In the record of the "Su Qing And Six Micro Purposes", "Under the fire, water and gas inherit it", which refers to the main symptoms of "the heart and kidneys do not intersect, and the water and fire are not good".
What does the conflict between the two have to do with the early awakening of the elderly? As we mentioned above, Chinese medicine believes that the sleep state of the human body is closely related to the harmony of the internal organs. The heart is in charge of the rising sun and blood, is to the sun, to the organ of fire, the heart qi downward, the blood qi and yang qi into the various organs of the body to provide basic operating energy.
The main yin of the kidney has the effect of dredging up the water and metabolizing the palm, in order to run the body's jin liquid water more efficiently, the kidney qi should "go up".
Under normal circumstances, the heart qi descends and provides yang, the kidney qi rises and nourishes the yin, and the two yin and yang are combined to form a body harmony, and the quality of people's sleep will also be improved.
But for the elderly, because of the increase in age, the function of body organs declines, the so-called "heart qi does not fall, kidney qi does not rise, the two do not intersect with each other", resulting in the body's yin and yang imbalance, can not get enough reconciliation, negative symptoms accumulate, discomfort symptoms appear, sleep quality will also decline, and then cause early awakening symptoms to appear. Zhou Zhigan, a famous Chinese medicine doctor in the Ming Dynasty, also mentioned in the "Testament of Shen Zhai": "The intersection of the heart and kidneys depends on the rise and fall." And the descent of the heart qi, due to the rise of kidney qi; The rise of kidney qi is also descended by the heart qi. "It's a similar story.
In winter, the environment is dry and cold, and the cold air enters the body, which will not only lead to the loss of jin liquid in the body, but also further affect the formation of yin and yang harmony. The process of "lowering the heart and raising the kidney qi" of the elderly will also suffer further obstacles. Therefore, the situation of early awakening of the elderly in winter will also be more common.
Therefore, the situation that causes the elderly to be out of balance with yin and yang, and then wake up early, is more than the elderly who grow older, and their mental and kidney strength are insufficient, and there is a close connection. I want to try to avoid waking up early again. It is very important to do a good job in nourishing the heart and kidneys.
In daily life, how to effectively nourish the kidneys and strengthen the heart?
First of all, the kidney is the main water conservancy, in charge of the jin liquid, therefore, the kidney should be more to water-based, increase the intake of water on weekdays, help the body's hydraulic circulation regulation, you can reduce the burden of the kidneys, promote metabolism, to achieve the effect of health.
In addition, some foods that are conducive to dredging and dredging water are also good choices for kidney nourishment, such as fungus, yam, black beans, etc., and it is highly recommended that the elderly try it in their daily diet.
Speaking of strengthening the heart: the heart is the source and aggregation of the body's blood qi and yang qi. Nourishing blood and yang is actually the main way to nourish the heart.
In the daily diet, supplement foods such as lean meat, mutton, red dates, goji berries and other foods to nourish blood and enhance the heart. And develop a good habit of proper exercise, "moving is yang", yang and blood qi have a strong phase, and the effect of nourishing the heart will be better.
Not only that, the heart is also a link between emotions, and too many negative emotions in daily life will also affect the operation and activity of the heart. Therefore, in daily life, the elderly can not forget to be optimistic, maintain an open-minded, happy mood, but also very important.
Finally, it is still necessary to remind everyone that "yin deficiency is yang, water is fire deficiency", if you want to be healthy, completely eliminate the occurrence of early awakening, the balance of yin and yang in the body of the elderly is also the key. Therefore, in the process of nourishing the heart and kidneys, do not find excessive compensation, but too much. Finding the balance of yin and yang regulation in daily life and planning health maintenance is the best choice.
Resources: [1]: Zhou Zhigan, "Testament of Shen Zhai" [2]: Discussion on the Theory of "Heart and Kidney Non-Intercourse", Chinese Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine Information, Yao Tao; HU Zhixi; LI Lin; ZHONG Senjie; Yang Meng, 2019-010