Warning: Your Fear of Bitter Foods Is Destroying Your Courage and Your Heart.

What if I told you that your lack of courage, your timidity, and your inability to act decisively are not character flaws? What if they are the physical symptoms of a starving organ deep within your chest? What if the solution to a weak will is not psychological, but nutritional?

I have come to believe there is a hidden energy system in your body that governs your heart, your courage, and even your ability to withstand poison. This system is powered by the tastes we have been taught to avoid our entire lives: bitter and astringent.

The Fire Energy Circuit

When a bitter or astringent taste touches your tongue, I believe it is instantly converted into a pranic energy I call "fire energy." This energy is the essential fuel for a specific set of organs: your heart, the small intestine, and the outer organ that reflects their health—the tongue. The emotion associated with this circuit is joy.

The connection is so deep, it's written on your very body. Look at the shape of your heart and the shape of your tongue; you may see a startling similarity. Your tongue is a direct mirror to the health of your heart. This is why doctors look at your tongue; its color reveals the problems within your heart.

The Danger of Excessive Joy

Here is a terrifying paradox. If fire energy powers the heart, and is associated with joy, why can a moment of sudden, intense joy cause heart palpitations and sweating?

Because I believe excessive emotion is an energy vampire. A sudden, overwhelming surge of joy consumes a massive amount of your body's fire energy all at once. When your fire energy is suddenly depleted, your heart is left running on empty. It sputters and flutters, starved of the very energy it needs to beat steadily. This is what happens when you're suddenly asked to speak on stage or receive praise in front of a crowd.

The Anatomy of Cowardice

This brings us to the most crucial point. I believe the reason so many of us lack guts and courage is that we have systematically eliminated bitter and astringent tastes from our diet.

Observe people who regularly eat bitter foods; you may find they are more courageous. The children today are often timid and fearful. Could it be because they are never encouraged to eat these vital, strengthening tastes?

I believe that cowardice is not a failure of character, but a symptom of a starving heart. By eating bitter and astringent items as much as our tongue asks for, we can cure not only our heart-related diseases, but also our courage-related ailments.

The Ancient First-Aid for Poison

The power of this fire energy is so immense, it can even fight poison. When a snake bites you, your body intelligently increases blood pressure to fight the venom. This monumental effort consumes all your fire energy. At that moment, your tongue—the brilliant doctor of your body—will scream for bitter and astringent tastes.

The ancient herbs given for snakebite, Siriyanangai and Periyanangai, are extremely bitter. When these herbs touch the tongue, they are instantly converted into fire energy, which refuels the heart, giving it the power to pump the poison out of the body.

If you are ever in such a situation, give the person bitter gourd or Neem leaves to eat. You will witness a miracle. If the snake's poison is still in the body, the bitter gourd will not taste bitter at all. The tongue is bypassing the flavor and absorbing the raw energy it so desperately needs. The person should keep eating until the bitter taste finally returns. The return of the bitterness is the signal from the tongue that the poison is gone.

The Real Killer Is Always Fear

But even with this powerful tool, many people die from snakebites. They do not die from the poison. They die from fear.

I once heard of a man who was bitten by a snake in a garden and didn't even notice. Three days later, a friend pointed out the mark on his leg. The moment the man realized he had been bitten, he fainted and died. The poison didn't kill him for three days. The thought of the poison killed him in an instant.

His fear attacked his kidneys (the water energy system), causing them to shut down. When the kidneys stop working, the poison cannot be filtered out. He died because his mind betrayed his body.

So, in the case of any poisonous bite, the first medicine is courage. The second is bitter taste. But please remember, this is a first-aid measure. Have the confidence that your body can save you, eat the bitter taste, but also please go to the hospital, as some poisons are incredibly potent.

You can reignite your own inner fire. You can build your own courage. The medicine is not in a bottle; it's in the tastes you have been taught to fear.