Qi Deficiency
氣虛 · qìxū
Your body’s energy production can’t keep up with life’s spending — everything works, but everything costs too much.
Classic signs of Qi Deficiency
- Tiredness that rest only partly repairs
- Breathless on stairs or when talking at length
- A quiet voice; conversation feels like expenditure
- Daytime sweating without heat or exertion
- Catching every cold going round; slow recovery
- Poor appetite, or exhaustion after meals
- Loose stools or easily upset digestion
- A pale, "washed out" look
- Tongue: pale and swollen, often with scalloped tooth-marks along the edges
An account overdrawn — not a character flaw
Qi is made by the Spleen (脾 — the digestion system that transforms food into energy) and governed by the Lungs (肺 — which draw in the qi of air). When these two run low — through overwork, irregular meals, illness, or simply constitution — the classic trio appears: fatigue, breathlessness, weak defences.
Lifestyle
- Gentle, consistent movement over intense bursts — walking, tai chi, qigong. Move enough to glow, never enough to pour with sweat: sweating is how qi escapes
- Guard a rest pocket after lunch — ten quiet minutes; digestion is the Spleen's biggest daily job
- Sleep before 11pm — qi is rebuilt in sleep
- Say fewer yeses. Qi deficiency and over-commitment are the same condition described by two professions
Food therapy — feed the Spleen, warm the middle
- More: warm, cooked, regular meals — rice and congee, oats, sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot, Chinese yam (淮山), chicken, red dates, lentils, a little ginger
- Less: raw salads and smoothie breakfasts, iced drinks, heavy greasy food — cold and raw force your digestion to spend qi warming them first
One to try: the classic qi congee — rice simmered soft with Chinese yam, red dates and ginger. Breakfast for a week. Notice the afternoon difference.
Acupressure — 60 seconds each, morning and afternoon
Zusanli · ST36
Four finger-widths below the kneecap's lower edge, one thumb-width out from the shin bone. The most celebrated point in Chinese medicine for building qi — 「若要安，三里常不乾」: "for lasting wellness, keep Zusanli often warmed." Press with a firm, comfortable ache.
Qihai · CV6
Two finger-widths directly below the navel — its name means "Sea of Qi". Warm palm, slow circles, unhurried breath.
The Restore 氣
Our practitioner-formulated botanical blend for this constitution: Panax Ginseng root (42%), Astragalus root (33%) and Goji berry (25%). Ginseng (人參) and Astragalus (黃芪) are the two most treasured qi-tonifying botanicals in the Chinese materia medica — partnered for centuries in the classical formulas, here as one warm daily cup. One 3g serving in warm water, once daily.
In the treatment room, this constitution is where acupuncture with moxibustion earns its ancient reputation — and where a tailored herbal consultation goes further than any off-the-shelf blend.
Food supplements support general wellbeing and are not a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment, nor for a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.
Asked across the treatment couch
Is Qi Deficiency the same as being anaemic?
Should I stop exercising?
Is this a medical diagnosis?
Can my constitution change?
When to seek more than a webpage
- See your GP first for red-flag changes: unexplained weight loss, persistent unexplained pain, blood where blood shouldn't be, chest pain, breathlessness at rest, new severe headaches, or anything rapidly worsening.
- Pregnancy changes the rules: some acupressure points on this page are traditionally avoided in pregnancy (marked above), and supplements should be run past your midwife or GP.
- On medication? Check with your pharmacist or GP before adding botanical supplements.
This guide supports general wellbeing and is not a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment. Always consult your GP for medical concerns. Food supplements should not be used as a substitute for a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.
Not quite you? Meet the other constitutions
Most people are a blend — a primary pattern with one or two supporting actors. If parts of this page fit and parts didn't, your answer is probably two doors down.
Take this page's advice for a season — then tell us what changed
Constitution work is gardening, not surgery. And if you'd like the professional reading — tongue, pulse, history, the full craft — the treatment room is where your pattern gets read properly.
Cheuk's Wellness & TCM · ATCM-registered practitioner (FM 0220069) · 96a High Street, Staple Hill, Bristol