你曾有牙痛的經驗嗎？你有定期洗牙的習慣嗎？當牙齦發炎時，牙醫師是否曾認真為你進行衛教？

因為看得到，也觸摸得到，牙齒保健理論上應該是最容易在自己能力範圍內完成的事。可是，事實並非如此，我們仍然需要牙醫師協助定期檢查，也需要在一次又一次的看診中，學會如何照顧自己的牙齒。

牙醫師真正重要的角色，不應只是替病人治療牙病，更應該教育病人如何在平日做好牙齒保健。回顧年輕時的我，看牙的心態也只是「哪裡痛，就治哪裡」，卻不清楚如何正確刷牙。

牙齦發炎的背景，往往是有異物停留在齒縫。異物引來細菌滋生，細菌進一步引起白血球的關注，發炎反應也就隨之展開。牙線、牙間刷與正確刷牙習慣，看似只是日常小事，真正的功能在降低發炎發生的機率。

只要有一些細節沒有做好，牙齦發炎便會在身上反覆出現。除了牙齒與食物接觸的機會太高，也證明我們對身體防禦機制的認識仍然有限。

只要有異物留在身上，免疫系統的偵測能力一秒鐘都不會耽擱。從牙齒保健的經驗往外推想，我們或許也能理解身體其他部位的發炎處境。

 

現代人只要有過生化檢查的經驗，對於肝指數大概都不陌生。當你被告知肝指數異常，某種程度上，就是身體正在提醒你：肝臟可能正承受某種負擔或轉換（可能不是壞事），而處於發炎狀態。

很多人對肝指數異常感到狐疑，因為自己完全沒有任何不適。這或許正是肝臟的包容度，它不急著讓你知道它的承受，卻默默承擔著內部滿坑滿谷的髒汙。

毒垢，是肝臟的異物。它可能來自長年累積的重金屬污染，也可能來自飲食、環境與生活習慣所留下的代謝負擔。當毒素累積到相當程度，肝臟的發炎便可能浮現，只要異物持續存在，發炎現象就不會真正退場。

於是，「慢性發炎」成為我們越來越熟悉的名稱。與其說是發炎現象持續不斷，不如說是異物長期占據了身體的空間，而身體因為無法讓它們順利退去，只好不斷發出警告。

「慢性發炎」四個字並不難理解，困難的是，我們往往不知道發炎到底發生在哪裡。導致發炎的異物可能遍及身體各處，除了根據疼痛點做出有限判斷，對於身體實際上的發炎狀況，我們經常一無所知。

所謂「無所知」，是大腦停留在狀況之外。事實上，身體一清二楚。這就是為什麼，我們需要把「平衡的主導權」歸還給身體；這也是為什麼，「斷食的日常」必須成為無法妥協的養生方向。

 

「斷食的日常」對於和斷食保持距離的人而言，肯定陌生。可是在癌症時鐘持續縮小的社會脈動中，身體長期沒有機會移除內臟脂肪，早已是現代人的警訊。

因為那不只是燃料轉換的問題，也是身體代謝多餘脂肪異物的重要機會。每天固定三餐、不斷進食的人，沒有機會認識身體的時間軸。當身體長期只以葡萄糖作為主要燃料，也就失去了切換燃料的訓練。

人體在同一時間只能使用一種燃料，這是身體為我們做的機會教育。當內臟空間囤積過多脂肪，終有一天，這些脂肪也可能成為危害健康的異物。

如果只是把斷食連結到脂肪消耗，其實是小看了斷食。身體清除異物的最佳時機，就是斷食。這裡所謂的異物，泛指所有在身體的眼界範圍內，不應該長期存在於體內的物質與負擔。

斷食的意義很深遠，絕不是不吃飯、空腹這麼淺薄的概念。它是我們和自己的身體培養默契，讓身體重新熟悉動用脂肪的能力，也讓身體有機會持續運送異物離開。

你可以盡情思考，身體裡那些不應該存在的發生，到底從何而來。它們經常來自不佳的生活習慣與態度；經常來自動不動就糾纏不清的壞情緒；也經常來自不尊重身體的熬夜習慣。

當身體記錄了憤怒與焦慮，當脂肪接收了無從釋放的糾結，在身體的脈絡裡，不尋常的組織發展，就可能在某些指令中悄然展開。由於能量長期耗損在處理食物上，身體只能在慢性發炎的處境中靜候時機。

 

試著把所有可能留置在身體裡的異物列出來。如果你是那位堅持每天一定要吃三餐的人，不妨想一想：一個長期能量低迷的身體，要如何有能力啟動異物的輸送？

異物的所在，可能從血管走到器官組織，從腸道走到脂肪組織，從黏膜走到息肉與骨刺，從宿便走到肝膽毒垢，從怒氣走到癌症腫瘤。

如果你理解身體需要一段真正屬於自己的時間，再把斷食的天數與異物的清運做對比，或許會對身體產生深深的歉意。因為很多該做的事，似乎一直都還沒做。

你可以從牙齦輕微發炎，一路連結到癌症末期的宣告，重新思考免疫系統的動線。那些看得到的與看不到的，觸摸得到的與觸摸不到的，我們都應該想得到：免疫系統早已做了它該做的努力。

為什麼我們總是在理所當然的日子裡，突然被告知情況不太樂觀？我們必須明白，身體的養護，從來不該由別人來下最後的指令，那是你的身體和你之間的事情。

一個異物的存在，可以逐漸發展成一堆異物的盤踞；一個小小的忽略，也可能成為日後難以回頭的負擔。

而你很有可能仍然在肚子餓與肚子很飽的輪迴中，享受著忙碌帶來的成就感，卻忘了問身體一句話：「你是否還有時間，替我清出一條路？」

 

（仇恨與恐懼對身體的毒害，並不亞於任何有毒化學物質。）

 

Foreign Matter

Have you ever experienced a toothache? Do you have the habit of getting your teeth cleaned regularly? When your gums became inflamed, did your dentist ever take the time to offer you proper health education?

Because teeth can be seen and touched, dental care should, in theory, be one of the easiest forms of self-care within our own ability. Yet the truth is not so simple. We still need dentists to help us with regular checkups, and through each visit, we gradually learn how to take better care of our teeth.

The truly important role of a dentist should not be limited to treating dental disease. More importantly, a dentist should teach patients how to maintain proper dental care in daily life. Looking back at my younger years, my attitude toward seeing a dentist was simply, “Wherever it hurts, treat it.” I did not truly understand how to brush my teeth correctly.

The background of gum inflammation is often the presence of foreign matter lodged between the teeth. Foreign matter invites bacterial growth; bacteria then attract the attention of white blood cells, and the inflammatory response begins. Dental floss, interdental brushes, and proper brushing habits may appear to be small daily matters, but their real function is to reduce the likelihood of inflammation.

As long as certain small details are not done properly, gum inflammation may repeatedly appear in the body. This is not only because teeth are so frequently exposed to food, but also because our understanding of the body’s defense mechanisms remains limited.

As long as foreign matter remains in the body, the immune system will not delay its detection for even one second. From the experience of dental care, we may also begin to understand the inflammatory conditions occurring in other parts of the body.

For modern people who have undergone biochemical testing, liver indexes are probably not unfamiliar. When you are told that your liver indexes are abnormal, to some extent, it is the body reminding you that the liver may be carrying a certain burden or undergoing a certain transformation—which may not necessarily be a bad thing—and is therefore in a state of inflammation.

Many people feel puzzled when they are told their liver indexes are abnormal, because they feel no discomfort at all. Perhaps this is precisely the liver’s tolerance. It does not hurry to let you know what it is bearing. Instead, it silently carries the overflowing filth within.

Toxic deposits are foreign matter to the liver. They may come from years of accumulated heavy metal pollution, or from metabolic burdens left behind by diet, environment, and lifestyle. When toxins accumulate to a certain degree, liver inflammation may begin to surface. As long as the foreign matter continues to exist, the inflammatory state will never truly leave the stage.

Thus, “chronic inflammation” has become a term we are increasingly familiar with. Rather than saying inflammation continues without end, it may be more accurate to say that foreign matter has long occupied space within the body, and because the body cannot smoothly remove it, it has no choice but to keep issuing warnings.

The four words “chronic inflammation” are not difficult to understand. What is difficult is that we often do not know where the inflammation is actually taking place. The foreign matter that triggers inflammation may be scattered throughout the body. Apart from making limited judgments based on where pain appears, we often know almost nothing about the body’s true inflammatory condition.

When we say we “know nothing,” it means the brain remains outside the situation. In truth, the body knows everything clearly. This is why we must return the leadership of balance to the body. This is also why the daily practice of fasting must become a non-negotiable direction in health cultivation.

For those who keep their distance from fasting, the idea of “fasting as a daily practice” must feel unfamiliar. Yet in a society where the cancer clock continues to tick faster, the fact that the body has long lacked the opportunity to remove visceral fat has already become a warning sign for modern people.

Because this is not merely a matter of fuel switching. It is also an important opportunity for the body to metabolize excess fat as foreign matter. People who eat three fixed meals every day and continue eating without interruption have no chance to understand the body’s timeline. When the body relies primarily on glucose as its long-term fuel, it loses the training required to switch fuels.

At any given moment, the human body can use only one type of fuel. This is the lesson the body offers us. When too much fat accumulates in the visceral space, one day, that fat may also become foreign matter that harms health.

If fasting is connected only to fat consumption, then we have underestimated fasting. The best timing for the body to clear foreign matter is during fasting. The “foreign matter” referred to here broadly includes all substances and burdens that, from the body’s perspective, should not remain in the body for long periods of time.

The meaning of fasting is far-reaching. It is certainly not as shallow as simply not eating or having an empty stomach. It is a way for us to cultivate a tacit understanding with our own body, allowing the body to become familiar once again with its ability to mobilize fat, and giving the body the opportunity to continuously transport foreign matter out.

You may think deeply about where those things that should not exist in the body truly come from. They often come from poor lifestyle habits and attitudes. They often come from bad emotions that remain endlessly entangled. They also often come from the habit of staying up late and disrespecting the body.

When the body records anger and anxiety, when fat receives unresolved entanglements that have nowhere to be released, abnormal tissue development may quietly begin under certain signals within the body’s context. Because energy has long been consumed in the processing of food, the body can only wait quietly for its opportunity within the condition of chronic inflammation.

Try listing all the possible forms of foreign matter that may remain in the body. If you are someone who insists on eating three meals every day, you may wish to think about this: How can a body that has long remained low in energy possess the ability to initiate the transport of foreign matter?

The location of foreign matter may move from blood vessels to organs and tissues, from the gut to adipose tissue, from mucous membranes to polyps and bone spurs, from retained waste in the intestines to toxic deposits in the liver and gallbladder, and from anger all the way to cancerous tumors.

If you understand that the body needs a period of time that truly belongs to itself, and then compare the number of fasting days with the clearing of foreign matter, you may develop a deep sense of apology toward your own body. Because many things that should have been done seem to have remained undone all along.

You can begin with mild gum inflammation and extend the connection all the way to the announcement of late-stage cancer, rethinking the movement of the immune system. Whether visible or invisible, touchable or untouchable, we should all be able to imagine this: the immune system has already made the efforts it was supposed to make.

Why is it that, in days we take for granted, we are suddenly told that the situation is not very optimistic? We must understand that the final instruction for caring for the body should never be given by someone else. That is a matter between your body and you.

The existence of one piece of foreign matter can gradually develop into the occupation of many. One small act of neglect may also become a burden that is difficult to reverse in the future.

And you may very likely still be moving through the cycle of hunger and fullness, enjoying the sense of achievement brought by busyness, while forgetting to ask your body one question:

“Do you still have time to clear a path for me?”