The Four Primary Humours
[akh.laat]
An individual Temperament and their ideal qualities are maintained by what Traditional Persian Medicine (TPM) refers to as The Four Humours Akhlaat. These bodily fluids are Blood, Yellow Bile, Black Bile and Phlegm, and are produced during the liver’s digestion of the food and drink we consume. Our Humours are infused and interconnected to every organism in our body and are essential in:
- Providing nutrition for the maintenance of the body’s complex structure by restoring tissues and organs.
- Providing the energy required for every-day living.
Each Humour has its own qualities of heat, coldness, moistness and dryness, which exists both at a physical and metaphysical level. Just as each person has a unique Temperament, each person has a unique ratio of Humours and qualities to match their Temperament. For example, a person who is dominant sanguineous will have slightly more of the Sanguineous Humour to maintain the ideal heat and moisture associated with that Temperament.