"The body constitution is determined at birth and does not change."
-Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dong-gu Lim
The philosophy of Shagen is emphasized by Dr. Dong-gu Lim, who explores Eastern and Western health practices and seeks to globalize the Sasang constitutional theory. Dr. Lim is also the first Korean to earn a PhD in food engineering in Brazil. He published a book titled “8GEN: The Secret of Genes That Change the Future”, highlighting the global potential of Sasang constitutional types (Taeyang, Taeum, Soyang, and Soum).
In this work, Dr. Lim categorizes genetic structures into eight types and offers personalized health suggestions based on genetic analysis. As a natural sciences academic, Dr. Lim collaborated with researchers at a medical school in Brazil to study and compare Eastern and Western constitutional systems.
“I worked with researchers at a medical school in Brazil for seven years. What I felt during that time was how structurally different Eastern and Western people are. Because people differ, we looked at their individual strengths in health. I was confident that by combining and analyzing these differences, I could achieve optimal health results.”
-Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dong-gu Lim
Dr. Lim’s journey into the Sasang constitution began with a personal anecdote. In 1996, he lost nearly 4 kilograms after consuming a liquid food that was incompatible with his body constitution. After reading a bestselling book by academic Lee Myeong, he realized that “no matter how good a food is, if it doesn't suit your body, it can be toxic.” At the age of 30, he traveled to Brazil to study body constitution.
“The body constitution is determined at birth and does not change,” says Dr. Lim, who also proposes the theory: “Every substance has its own wave, and that wave carries information.”
According to Dr. Lim, some people instinctively feel hungry when they see red, while others lose their appetite when they see blue. “You can observe how these waves influence human appetite,” he says. “Current science cannot explain the energetic structure of Sasang.”
Dr. Lim believes that the world can be fundamentally divided into four Shagen constitutional types. By breaking down these four into more specific subtypes, he defines “8GEN” (Eight Genes). In his research, he also emphasizes that this constitution is inherited genetically from parents.
