Heat Symptoms, Headache, Insomnia, Night Sweats Are Not Necessarily Menopause

In this newsletter, I am going to write about how heat in the body can cause you headaches, insomnia, and hot sensations, and what the source of the heat is. This information applies to both men and women.

Many women who have experienced the hot-flashes of menopause will know exactly how uncomfortable the "heat" of menopause can be. However, menopause is a natural cycle for women and occurs because of the rebalancing of powerful hormones during that period. It can be a difficult time for some women because it can expose all those internal energy imbalances.

But here I want to write about heat in general in the body and where it comes from.

Believe it or not, in the body we have a balance of stored warming and cooling energies. In Traditional Chinese Medicine these are called the Yang, and Yin energies respectively.

Thousands of years of observing the energy imbalances that created symptoms in people advocated their existence. And the Chinese learned to use herbs to cure the heat signs.

Where the Heat Comes From:

The most common cause of heat signs in the body is the heating foods we eat. It's because we do not balance the warming foods or nourish our own yin energy that eventually imbalances show up as symptoms.Onions and Garlic Are Heating

In the winter we should be eating more garlic and onions, to keep the body warm, because these two foods impart an "injection" of yang or warming energy to the body. A replenishment if you will. Yes. They warm the body up, but they also increase metabolism. 

If you continue to eat these two foods in the summer just as often, and your body cannot balance them then you will eventually have heat signs. The heat will be stored in the body. It's not a coincidence that the heat signs manifest or return in May and June, as the summer heat commences.

The most obvious heat sign is the flush of heat in the head, a very uncomfortable sensation. Another is sweating easily when you go out and exercise. You can also sweat easily upon even minor exertion.

Because heat in the body is a complicated diagnosis, just saying you have "heat in the body", does not tell you the source, nor does it preclude you from feeling chills, or feeling a cold abdomen and legs.

At night time, you may have sweats, full body sweats, or just sweat at the top of the head, or forehead. Your pillow may be moist and full of sweat in the morning, and you may also have sweat just at top of your chest beginning at night.

Another sign is hot palms or hot feet at night time.

You can even have a hot to the touch skin, but no real “temperature”.

The heat that rises can clog your thinking, and produces headaches. You could also have flushed cheeks. The Tylenol or the Aspirin won't work, when the source of the headaches is the imbalances of energies created in your body by the foods you eat.

One of the most interesting signs of heat in the body is the Tidal Fever that is felt.

The Tidal Fever means your body gets hot as the day progresses, and then suddenly getting towards the night, it disappears. Sometimes breaking magically at midnight. The heat or fever sensation is like a tide that comes in from the ocean, and then crashesWoman Cooling Herself with Fan and disspears. Then tomorrow a new tide comes in again. But whether you feel relief at night can depends on how strong your yin-energy is and what season you are in too! Night sweats usually become more pronounced as the summer starts.

The reasons for the heat breaking at night, is because there is a intertwining cycle of yang and yin energies during the day, where one waxes the other wanes, and the peak of the cooling or yin energy is at midnight.

Having a Tidal Fever, because of excess heat in the body, can make you feel like you are riding a roller coaster of hot to cold, and cold to hot. You feel better for a few hours, and then you feel heat suddenly. Again, these are not sensations experienced only by a woman, whether or not she is in menopause.

Of course, eating other hot spices, or warming spices, can create more heat in the body, but if your body's kidney's can balance it then there is usually no issue.

The straw that usually breaks the camels back is the stress that people experience in their lives and at work for many many years.

The other difficulty is that as we age, we loose that ability to recharge our kidney-yin, or we detoxify too much, do not rest enough, and do not sleep enough and create the imbalance. We have experienced years of stress. The solution is simple. Nourish the yin energy, nourish the kidney deficiency, and rest more. Sometimes rebuilding the adrenals are necessary. In a period of 2-3 months of supplement work you will take back your years.

Onions Can Cause Insomnia: Really?

Onions are one of those warming or "yang" foods. A couple of years ago, I was talking to an Aunt with whom I was speaking to about these warming foods. I wondered whether she knew which ones to use in the winter and which ones in the summer. She blatantly said to me, "Eating Onions can cause insomnia." I was really astonished at her knowing this. I already knew that.  She said that it was in a magazine that she read it.

So, in excess these warming foods can cause insomnia, because heat rises to the top of the head, and disturbs the sleep.

Heat in the body also causes puffy gums, excess stomach acid, pain, and also heat sores in the mouth, or even the throat.

Woman Feeling Ill Ease

It is worth mentioning that contrary to popular belief, oregano oil, despite its spicy "pungent" taste is not a warming spice. The pungency of oregano oil is deceiving. Once you use wild oregano oil for a long-term, imbalances can result.

Other warming spices that come to mind are cloves, and ginger.

Common foods that are warming are butter, lamb (very warming), beef, and chicken (especially the chicken thigh).

Other spice mixtures such as curry powders can cause heat in the body eventually if not balanced.

The most warming common spice is "cinnamon twig". Cinnamon Bark is just as hot. A common nut which is warming is the Walnut!

Another way to get sick from excess heat is to take the wrong Ginseng, and then have heat signs. The different kind of Ginseng's have different energetic properties.

Parasites a Little Known Cause of Heat

The other little known cause of heat in the body is harboring intestinal parasites. A proper parasite cleanse must take into account the heat generated and the season it is done in. Parasite cleansing requires the yin energy, the moistening energy to be strong, as well as strong kidneys.

Just having intestinal parasites on a long-term basis can cause an imbalance manifesting as heat symptoms. So, sometimes even taking cooling foods like oranges because of their strong alkalizing effect can cause heat symptoms even though oranges are cooling. This is because of the disturbance of parasites caused by the alkalizing effect is taxing on your kidney-yin.

In addition because of the heating effect of fried foods, frying foods, or stir frying will also increase the heating effect of the foods on your body. This is one of the reasons that fried foods are contraindicated during a parasite cleanse. Broiling or grilling, or baking would naturally be more acceptable.

Nothing will make you more irritable than excess heat in the body which is not balanced. In reality it is not prudent to deprive yourself of nutritious food when there is heat in the body, and the warming foods keep your digestive fire in top order too. What is necessary is a balance. You balance the warming energies with the cooling energies of other foods. Greens are a common cooling balancing food.

Eggs to The Rescue

Although you may not understand how it works, or understand the yin and yang energies right now, one of the temporary food cures for a yin and yang energy imbalance is eating eggs, in particular the egg yolks, in a watery form. So, soft boiled eggs with runny egg yolks can help bring down the heat. However, even if eating egg yolks helps, it may not be a long-term cure.

When simple food cures do not work, there are potent and effective formulas in the Systemic Formulas line to help with heat.

Many people suffer from excess heat in the body? Are you one of them? The issue is that even some heat can manifest sooner or later.