Vital energy flows through the channels in a well defined circadian rhythm. As the diagram overleaf shows, vital energy, or Qi, flows through the stomach channel in the early part of the day. A recent French survey showed that an accident driving to work is much more likely if breakfast has been missed. The ancient Chinese would explain this by saying that the energy required by the stomach, during the morning, has not been absorbed and therefore the body is not in a healthy state because it has 'missed breakfast'. Perhaps the idea of a large English breakfasts is more healthy than previously supposed.

The lung channel is dominant between 3.00 a.m. and 5.00 a.m. If there is a disease of the lung it should manifest itself at these times, as indeed it does; the worst time for a sufferer from bronchial asthma is usually in the early hours of the morning.

The circulation of Qi represents the traditional Chinese view of the biological clock within all of us, and, in the light of current medical knowledge, it is interesting to note how accurate are some of their observations.