Nutritional counseling and the
Chinese energetics of Food.
Chinese Dietary Recommendations
In order to get the most out of acupuncture or Chinese herbal medicine, it is very important to support you treatment with the proper diet and lifestyle. In Chinese medicine there is the saying “Seven parts nursing, three parts treatment.” Nursing here means proper diet and lifestyle modifications.
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) every food has both a nature and flavor(s). A food's nature is its effect on the temperature of the body. A food can be either hot, warm, neutral, cool or cold. Since Chinese medicine works on the basis of restoring balance to the body, if one suffers from a cold disease they should avoid cold foods and eat more hot and warm foods and vice versa.
Each food has one or more of the five or six flavors. These are sour, bitter, sweet, spicy (acrid, pungent), salty or bland tastes. Each flavor is associated with one of the main organs and leads the effects of that food to that organ. For example, sour is the flavor associated with the liver. In excess, sour flavor can damage the liver. In addition, each flavor has a general effect on the body’s metabolism. Sour astringes, spicy causes upward and outward movement, salty leads downward and softens, bitter clears heat and also astringes, sweet supplements and also moistens and bland tasting foods tend to cause urination and seep water.
Whether a food is good or bad for a person is entirely dependent upon that person’s TCM pattern diagnosis and the nature and flavor of that food. A qualified practitioner of Chinese dietary therapy can rationally decide on the food best for a person based on a professional understanding of TCM disease and pattern diagnosis, and the nature and flavor of food.
Everyone should try to eat fresh food, freshly prepared, with a minimum of chemicals, preservatives, or additives. Grains should be cooked thoroughly to allow for easy and complete digestion. Vegetables on the other hand should not be overcooked so as to conserve valuable vitamins and enzymes. Sugar, salt, oil and fat consumption should generally be kept low. Most people should try to eat large amounts of roughage and fiber. Dietary changes for chronic disease should be implemented slowly over a period of time but made a continuous part of one’s lifestyle. In addition to a healthy diet it is vitally important to get adequate exercise and rest. These are three free therapies which are the basis of good health.
In our office we have several sources for more information on the energetics of food & TCM. Some of these are:
Prince Wen Hui’s Cook: Chinese Dietary Therapy, by Bob Flaws and Honora Lee Wolfe
- The Energetics of Food (Chart, Book and article), by Daverick Leggett
- The Tao of Nutrition, by Mao Shing Ni
- Between Heaven and Earth, by Harriet Beinfield and Efrem Korngold
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