Part 2. When Organ Balance Breaks Down: The Hidden Cause of Chronic Illness

What does it mean to be ‘healthy’ in ECM?

According to Eight-Constitution Medicine (ECM), true health isn’t about
perfect equilibrium or peak performance.

In fact, everyone is born with natural imbalances and has a specific blueprint—some of us have naturally stronger livers and weaker lungs, others stronger lungs and weaker livers.

This isn't a flaw--it's your body's intended organ configuration.

However, as long as these strengths and weaknesses maintain a functional balance, the body remains healthy. This is known as the ‘appropriate imbalance’ or harmonious innate imbalance.

How does illness begin?

So why do we get sick? The trouble begins when our natural imbalance becomes excessive.

Poor lifestyle choices, eating foods incompatible with your constitution, or prolonged use of medication, can disrupt your body's delicate harmony.

This leads to a pathological imbalance, or what ECM calls ‘over-
imbalance’:
-Strong organs become too dominant
-Weak organs get suppressed further
-This excessive imbalance weakens your immune system
-The result: reduced immunity and chronic illness

Real-life example — Hepatonia (Liver-dominant type)
When someone with this constitution consumes too many liver-stimulating foods like seafood, wine, and certain vegetables such as leafy greens, the liver becomes overactive, further suppressing the lungs and large intestine.

The result? Issues like arthritis, irritable bowel disease, dermatitis, and even depression can develop.

Another example — Pulmotonia (Lung-dominant type)
For those with naturally strong lungs, regularly eating meat and dairy products overstimulates the already dominant lung and large intestine function, pushing the liver and gallbladder function into decline.

This lays the groundwork for conditions like weakened immunity, allergies, atopic
dermatitis, digestive dysfunction, and fatigue.

A key insight from ECM
The foods that heal one person might harm another.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to diet.

Your ideal diet isn't determined by the latest trend - it's determined by
your specific constitutional makeup. When an article suggests that some
new thing is ‘good for health’, it may well be for some people but not
necessarily for everyone.

When the root is addressed, healing begins.

ECM doesn’t just suppress symptoms. It focuses on correcting the hidden imbalance, restoring natural immunity and function.

Next in this series:
[Part 3] The Liver-Gallbladder Dominant Types: When Meat Is Better
Than Vegetables