Patient resources · Guides
Eat well, sleep well, go well
In Chinese medicine, appetite, sleep and bowel habits are three of the first things a practitioner asks about. They are among the clearest everyday signs of how your body is coping, whatever else brings you in. This guide covers what to aim for in each, drawing on classical Chinese medicine texts and current research.
It's the same guidance as the printed handout I give patients in clinic, with more room to explain the reasoning behind it.
shí yǐn yǒu jié, qǐ jū yǒu cháng, bù wàng zuò láo
食饮有节，起居有常，不妄作劳
“[They were] moderate in eating and drinking, regular in working and resting, avoiding any overstrain.”
Huangdi Neijing Suwen, Chapter 1. Translated by Li Zhaoguo.
An idea that's 2,000 years old
The Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic) is the foundational text of Chinese medicine, compiled around 2,000 years ago. It opens with the Yellow Emperor asking his physician, Qi Bo, why people in ancient times stayed active into old age while people of his day were worn out by fifty. Qi Bo's answer is the line on the left.
He then contrasts this with the people of his own time, who drink to excess and live without any regularity. The language is old, but the pattern is familiar: steady meals, steady rest, and not running yourself into the ground.
Eat well
The Chinese medicine view
In Chinese medicine, the Spleen and Stomach sit at the centre of digestion. They break food down and transform it into the Qi (energy) and Blood the rest of the body runs on. For this reason they're often called the root of what the body builds after birth.
The Spleen is said to work best with warmth and routine. In his Treatise on the Spleen and Stomach (1249), the physician Li Dongyuan traced many illnesses back to irregular eating, overwork and emotional strain. His central advice still holds: eat at regular times and in moderation.
What the research says
Australian guidelines recommend 5 serves of vegetables and 2 serves of fruit a day, alongside wholegrains and legumes. A serve of vegetables is about half a cup cooked, so most meals need to carry some.
Fibre from these foods feeds the bacteria in your gut and keeps bowel motions regular.
What to aim for
- Regular meals. Eat at roughly the same times each day, starting with breakfast.
- Vegetables at most meals. Aim for 5 serves of vegetables and 2 of fruit across the day.
- Warm, cooked food most of the time. Eat sitting down, without rushing, and chew well.
What to go easy on
- Iced drinks and lots of raw, cold food. Chinese medicine sees cold as slowing the Spleen's warming, digestive work. This matters most if you bloat easily or your stools tend to be loose.
- Eating late. Try to finish dinner 2 to 3 hours before bed. Research links a short gap between dinner and bed with more reflux.
- Greasy, very sweet or heavily processed food, and alcohol. The Neijing notes that rich food breeds internal heat and sweet food causes fullness in the middle.
Sleep well
The Chinese medicine view
The Neijing describes Blood returning to the Liver when we lie down to rest. The physician Wang Bing expanded on this in his commentary (762 CE): when we're active, Blood flows out through the channels, and when we rest, it returns to the Liver. The Liver works like a reservoir, sending Blood out by day and restoring it by night.
The Liver stores Blood, and Blood in turn houses the Hun, often translated as the ethereal soul. When Blood is depleted, the Hun isn't anchored at night, which Chinese medicine links to trouble falling asleep and busy, vivid dreams.
This is why being asleep by about 11pm is a long-standing guideline in Chinese medicine. The Neijing also ties sleep to digestion, citing an even older text to say that when the Stomach is out of harmony, sleep is restless.
What the research says
Australia's Sleep Health Foundation recommends 7 to 9 hours a night for most adults. A regular wake time anchors the body clock, and daylight early in the day helps set it. In a 2025 study, people who spent more time outdoors before 10am reported better sleep quality.
Caffeine lasts longer in the body than most people expect. In a controlled study, caffeine taken 6 hours before bed cut total sleep by more than an hour, even though participants didn't feel their sleep had changed.
Alcohol works the other way. It can help you fall asleep faster, but it makes sleep lighter and more broken in the second half of the night.
What to aim for
- 7 to 9 hours a night, ideally asleep by about 11pm.
- The same wake time every day, weekends included, with some daylight soon after.
- A bedroom that is dark, quiet and slightly cool.
What to go easy on
- Caffeine in the 6 hours before bed. For a 10:30pm bedtime, that means no coffee after about 4:30pm.
- Bright screens and work in the last hour before bed.
- Alcohol in the evening, especially as a way to wind down.
Go well
The Chinese medicine view
Bowel habits are part of the Ten Questions, the classic checklist a Chinese medicine practitioner works through in a consultation. How often you go, what it looks like and how it feels all reflect how the Spleen, Stomach and Intestines are working.
Chinese medicine generally sees once a day, often in the morning, as the healthy pattern.
What the research says
Doctors use the Bristol Stool Chart, a 7-point scale, to describe stool form. Types 3 and 4, smooth and sausage-shaped, sit in the healthy middle.
Research finds a wide range of frequencies among healthy people, so a change from what's normal for you is often more telling than the number itself. Raising your knees with a small footstool has also been found to reduce straining.
What healthy looks like
- Once a day, often in the morning, is the ideal in Chinese medicine. Going less than every second day is worth mentioning at your visit.
- Soft, formed and easy to pass, like a smooth sausage (Bristol type 3 or 4).
- No straining, and a sense of being fully emptied.
Habits that help
- Fibre from wholegrains, legumes and vegetables, building towards 25g a day for women and 30g for men.
- Water through the day, enough to keep your urine pale yellow.
- Going when you feel the urge. A small footstool under your feet can make it easier.
If you notice blood in your stool, unexplained weight loss or a change in bowel habits lasting more than a few weeks, please see your GP promptly.
Start small
You don't need to change everything at once. Pick one habit from each section, give it a few weeks, then build from there. If you'd like help working out which changes matter most for you, you're welcome to book a consultation at my Castle Hill clinic.
References
- Drake, C., Roehrs, T., Shambroom, J., & Roth, T. (2013). Caffeine effects on sleep taken 0, 3, or 6 hours before going to bed. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 9(11), 1195-1200.
- Ebrahim, I. O., Shapiro, C. M., Williams, A. J., & Fenwick, P. B. (2013). Alcohol and sleep I: Effects on normal sleep. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 37(4), 539-549.
- Fujiwara, Y., Machida, A., Watanabe, Y., et al. (2005). Association between dinner-to-bed time and gastro-esophageal reflux disease. American Journal of Gastroenterology, 100(12), 2633-2636.
- Hirshkowitz, M., Whiton, K., Albert, S. M., et al. (2015). National Sleep Foundation's sleep time duration recommendations. Sleep Health, 1(1), 40-43.
- Lewis, S. J., & Heaton, K. W. (1997). Stool form scale as a useful guide to intestinal transit time. Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology, 32(9), 920-924.
- Li, D. Y. (1993). Treatise on the Spleen and Stomach (Pi wei lun) (B. Flaws, Trans.). Blue Poppy Press. (Original work published 1249)
- Li, Z. G. (Trans.), & Liu, X. R. (Modern Chinese Trans.). (2005). Yellow Emperor's canon of medicine: Plain conversation (Vol. 1). World Publishing Corporation.
- Maciocia, G. (2015). The foundations of Chinese medicine (3rd ed.). Elsevier.
- Menezes-Júnior, L. A. A., et al. (2025). The role of sunlight in sleep regulation: Analysis of morning, evening and late exposure. BMC Public Health, 25, 3362.
- Mitsuhashi, S., Ballou, S., Jiang, Z. G., et al. (2018). Characterizing normal bowel frequency and consistency in a representative sample of adults in the United States (NHANES). American Journal of Gastroenterology, 113(1), 115-123.
- Modi, R. M., Hinton, A., Pinkhas, D., et al. (2019). Implementation of a defecation posture modification device. Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, 53(3), 216-219.
- National Health and Medical Research Council. (2013). Australian dietary guidelines. NHMRC.
- National Health and Medical Research Council & New Zealand Ministry of Health. (2006). Nutrient reference values for Australia and New Zealand.
- Sleep Health Foundation. (n.d.). Good sleep habits. sleephealthfoundation.org.au
- Unschuld, P. U., & Tessenow, H. (2011). Huang Di nei jing su wen: An annotated translation of Huang Di's Inner Classic, Basic Questions. University of California Press.
- Wu, J. N. (Trans.). (1993). Ling shu, or the spiritual pivot. University of Hawaii Press.
- Zhang, J. Y. (1624). Jingyue quanshu [Complete works of Jingyue].