Weight Loss and Mental Well-being: Music Therapy and Music Recommendations for People with High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, and High Blood Sugar

Wake Up Your Ears—Listen to Music to Open the Window to Your Soul
Music can have various effects on the human body, such as calming, relieving pain, lowering blood pressure, stabilizing, and regulating emotions. Music can influence a person's emotions. From the perspective of modern medicine, the effect of music on emotional activity is closely related to the endocrine system, the autonomic nervous system, the hypothalamus, and the limbic system. The rhythm, intensity, melody, and harmony of music can affect a person's mental and psychological activities to varying degrees. Appropriately arranged rhythm and speed can soothe the body and mind, reduce mental and emotional stress, improve heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature, and adjust the physiological functions of the cerebral cortex and limbic system, thereby adjusting the physiological functions of the internal organs of the human body, making music have the effect of treating hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia. Music appreciation varies from person to person, but Chinese classical music is a good choice. Here are some Chinese classical pieces suitable for patients to listen to:

(1) "Fisherman's Song at Dusk"
"Fisherman's Song at Dusk" is a Shandong zither piece with a classical style. The music depicts the beautiful scene of the setting sun reflecting on the vast blue waves, fishermen leisurely enjoying themselves, and fishing boats drifting away with the waves. The music is beautiful and melodious, relieving anxiety and relaxing the mind and body, making it suitable for people with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar (the "three highs").

(2) *Spring River Flower Moon Night*
The ancient piece *Spring River Flower Moon Night* is a beautiful and melodious traditional Chinese instrumental piece, a gem in my country's musical treasure trove. It depicts the majestic grandeur of mountains and rivers, the fragrant beauty of flowers and trees, and the ever-changing interplay of light and shadow. Regular listening to this piece is beneficial for relaxation and is also suitable for people with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar (the "three highs").

(3) *Three Variations on Plum Blossom*
*Three Variations on Plum Blossom* is also a beautiful and melodious Chinese classical piece for the guqin. The entire piece expresses the noble qualities of plum blossoms—their purity and resilience against snow and frost. This piece uses the plum blossom's whiteness, fragrance, and cold resistance to praise people with noble character. Suitable for patients with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and hyperglycemia who are experiencing pessimism and despair.

(4) *Yangchun Baixue* (Spring Snow in the Sun)
*Yangchun Baixue* is one of the ten most famous ancient Chinese melodies and one of the ten most famous guqin (Chinese zither) pieces. It depicts the beauty of early spring, with winter ending and spring arriving, the earth reviving, and all things flourishing. The melody is fresh and smooth, and the rhythm is light and lively. Regularly listening to this piece can help relax the mind and invigorate the spirit, making it suitable for patients with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and hyperglycemia who are experiencing pessimism and despair.

How to Choose Music Suitable for Hypertensive Patients
Music selection for hypertension music therapy should be based on syndrome differentiation.

(1) Liver Fire Rising Type/Liver Yang Rising Type: Calming music can be chosen, such as Brahms's "Lullaby," Haydn's "Serenade," and Chinese folk music like "Fisherman's Song at Dusk," "Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake," and "Autumn Moon over the Han Palace." These pieces have beautiful, lyrical melodies, are simple and smooth, elegant and refined, with a steady, melodious, broad, and gentle tempo, a soft and soothing tone, or a deep and tranquil style. Regular listening can have a significant blood pressure-lowering effect.

(2) Liver Wind Internal Movement Type: Music selection is the same as above based on syndrome differentiation.

(3) Phlegm Turbidity Internal Accumulation Type: Folk music such as "Flowers Bloom and the Moon is Full," "Joyful," "Fresh Flower Tune," "Raindrops on Banana Leaves," and "Full Garden of Fragrance" can be chosen. These pieces have pleasant melodies and brisk rhythms, which can uplift emotions, relieve depression, resolve phlegm, soothe the liver, and lower blood pressure.

(4) Liver and Kidney Yin Deficiency Type: Traditional music such as "Three Variations on Plum Blossom," "Moon Reflected in the Second Spring," "Flowing Water," "Pastoral Song," and "A Trip to Suzhou" can be selected. These melodies are gentle and the rhythm is slow, which can refresh the mind, relieve dizziness, invigorate the spirit, and replenish and lower blood pressure.

(5) Yin and Yang Deficiency Type: Ancient music such as "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix," "Birds Singing in the Empty Mountains," "Partridge Flying," "Listening to the Pines," "Spring River Flower Moon Night," "Yangguan Sandie," and "Wild Geese Descending on the Sandbank" can be selected. These gentle, delicate, beautiful, graceful, and flowing pieces can regulate the nerves, replenish both Yin and Yang, and lower blood pressure.

How to Choose Music Suitable for Diabetic Patients

Music therapy for diabetic patients must be selected according to their age, condition, and mood.

For example, when a patient feels tired, listening to some rhythmic and emotionally exuberant fantasy pieces can help the brain rest and quickly restore a refreshed feeling. For diabetic patients with anorexia, playing simple, delicate, and melodious improvisational music during meals can help them eat calmly, increase appetite, and promote digestion by increasing the secretion of digestive juices. When diabetic patients feel listless or depressed, listening to fast-paced, energetic scherzos or lively, melodious waltzes can help them relieve stress. As diabetic patients age and lament the passing of time, listening to elegant, romantic nocturnes or melodious barcarolles can uplift their spirits, improve blood circulation, and invigorate them. If diabetes is accompanied by hypertension, listening to calm, soothing, and natural pastoral songs daily can help lower and stabilize blood pressure.