(...continuation from the Introduction to Chinese Dietary Therapy)
Treating illness and maintaining health through dietary therapy is central to the philosophy and practice of Chinese medicine. It is thought that many, if not most, of our health problems are related to imbalances in our diet. As you may have noticed in the discussion of Chinese medical theory, balance is really the most important aspect of life, both in regard to our health, and also in respect to our ability to live harmoniously in the world.
It is in the area of diet and food preparation that this concept of balance is most concretely expressed. In the first place, there is an aversion in Chinese thought to any kind of excess – Chinese philosophers would be in complete agreement with the Greek philosopher who said, "Nothing too much." Food fads and extreme diets of any sort are contrary to Chinese dietary principles. There is not a philosophical bias toward a purely vegetarian diet, as there would be in Hinduism. Neither do Chinese people sit down to eat huge slabs of meat. In Chinese cuisine, small amounts of animal protein and seafood are combined with generous amounts of vegetables and grains in endless variation.
After the extremes are discarded, attention turns to balancing Yin and Yang and the Five Phases. Two major dietary principles which relate to balancing Yin and Yang are the "Four Energies" or "Four Properties" of food (cold, cool, warm, and hot), and the direction, or "bearing," that the food’s energy takes in the body (upward or downward). The "Five Tastes" of food, the seasonal aspects of food, and the "meridian propensities" of food are tied to Five Phase theory. The specific functions that foods can have to tonify, cleanse, and regulate the body are based on these principles and on direct experience.
Traditional Chinese medicine focuses on treating the root cause of diseases, rather than just wallpapering over the symptoms. The root cause of any disease ultimately involves excess, deficiency, or imbalance of the Fundamental Substances, including Yin and Yang. Dietary therapy is used to balance Yin and Yang, nourish Qi and Blood, and restore the normal functioning of the organs and meridians. In the following paragraphs, we will discuss Chinese dietary therapy principles in more detail, with examples of how they affect our health. Dietary modifications and other lifestyle considerations are always discussed by Chinese medicine practitioners with their patients for optimum health maintenance and prevention of disease.
The Five Tastes of Food
The "five taste" principle in Chinese herbal medicine pertains also to Chinese dietary therapy. If you review the Five-Phase chart near the beginning of this article, you will see that the five tastes of sour, bitter, sweet, pungent, and salty correspond to colors and to the internal organs and their respective meridians. The correspondences are guidelines, rather than inflexible rules, and they are applied to foods in the same way that they are applied to medicinal herbs. For example, salty-tasting foods such as seaweed enter the Kidney meridian and affect the Kidney, as do certain black-colored foods such as black sesame seeds and black mushrooms. Orange and yellow-colored foods like yams and carrots are often sweet-tasting, and they are used to strengthen the Spleen.
More specifically, each taste has a functional effect, and these effects are taken into account when recommending foods or types of food. Sour-tasting foods have the function of constraining sweating, stopping cough, and relieving diarrhea. Bitter foods have the function of causing Qi to flow downwards, drying dampness, expelling toxicity, purging fire, and clearing heat. Sweet foods have the function of harmonizing and tonifying, and relieving both pain and spasms. Pungent foods have the function of dispersing, moving Qi, and invigorating Blood. Salty foods soften masses and nourish both Blood and Yin. In addition to the traditional five tastes, there is a category of "aromatic" foods such as mint and cilantro. These have the function of moving Qi, expelling dampness, strengthening the Spleen, increasing the appetite, clearing the mind, and enhancing the spirit.
The Four Energies of Food
The Four Energies (Si Qi) of Chinese herbal medicine are Cold, Cool, Warm and Hot. There is also a category of "Neutral" for foods which have no energetic temperature property. For practical purposes, traditional Chinese medicine practitioners classify Chinese foods into three energetic groups: Cold/Cool foods; neutral foods; and Warm/Hot foods. Cold/Cool foods, such as watermelon and salad greens, have the medicinal functions of clearing heat and fire, cooling the blood, and eliminating toxins. Warm/Hot foods such as garlic and chicken have the medicinal functions of warming meridians, strengthening Yang, invigorating Blood, opening collateral meridians, and eliminating cold. Neutral foods are used to serve as bridges, harmonizers, or neutralizers to bring about a balanced state.
It is easy to see how the Four Energies of food can be used to achieve balance in the body. If a person suffers from a Cold-induced condition, he will be advised to avoid cold (and raw) foods, and to eat warming foods. The opposite advise would be given to a person with too much Heat in his system.
One of the most common conditions a Chinese medicine practitioner sees is a pattern called Spleen Qi Deficiency. It can produce symptoms of fatigue, poor appetite, poor concentration, loose stools, cold hands and feet, and is often accompanied by weight gain and water retention. The natural fire and "cooking ability" of the Spleen has been overwhelmed by cold and dampness. To treat this condition, the Spleen must be gently warmed and drained of dampness. The worst kinds of food to eat in this case are cold and raw foods and liquids because they force the Spleen to expend its dwindling reserves of energy on the process of warming and "cooking" the food inside the body. Lightly-cooked, warming foods, and liquids that are room-temperature or warmer are what the Spleen requires to regain its strength.
Four Energies theory also explains why alcohol, sugar, and greasy fried foods are so bad for us. These are very Yang foods. When they are consumed in excess over a period of time, they deplete the Yin of our bodies, drying up the body fluids and producing a pattern called Yin Deficient Empty Heat.
Meridian Propensities of Food
Medicinal herbs and foods, because of their intrinsic nature, have an affinity for, or propensity toward, specific energy meridians. Some herbs and foods have an affinity for one particular meridian; others may enter several meridians. The therapeutic implication of this is that specific foods, or classes of food, can be used to treat the internal organ system that is out of balance by using the organ’s associated meridian as a conduit to the organ itself (Zang/Fu).
Meridian propensities are an aspect of Five Phase theory. The chart which follows this section (Properties of Common Foods and Their Applications) is based on Five Phase correspondences. In Chinese medicine, sour-tasting and/or green-colored foods are associated with the Liver and Gallbladder meridians; bitter-tasting and/or red-colored foods are associated with the Heart and Small Intestine meridians; sweet-tasting and/or yellow-colored foods are associated with the Spleen and Stomach meridians; pungent-tasting and/or white-colored foods are associated with the Lung and Large Intestine meridians; and salty and/or black-colored foods are associated with the Kidney and Urinary Bladder meridians.
If meridian propensities are combined with the Four Energies, specific therapeutic results may be achieved (refer to the following chart on properties of common foods). Pears can be used to clear Heat from the Lungs because pears are cool-property and enter the Lung and Stomach meridians. Bananas are cold-property and enter the Stomach and Large Intestine meridians, so they are given to relieve lower-intestinal heat (hot diarrhea, foul-smelling stool, hard dry stool, etc.).
Walnuts are an example of a food with several meridian propensities. They are associated with the Lung, Liver, and Heart meridians, and are used to relieve asthma, nourish Blood, and enhance mental function.
Bearing of Food
The bearing of a food refers to the direction of that food’s medicinal actions in the body. Besides the two principle directions of upbearing (ascending to the upper body), and downbearing (descending to the lower body), there are also "floating," which designates an effusive or dissipating activity, and "sinking," which indicates a draining activity, similar to clearing a clogged drainpipe. Upbearing and floating foods, which move upward and outward, have the medicinal functions of raising Yang, releasing the exterior, and dispersing cold. Downbearing and sinking foods, which move downward and inward, have the medicinal functions of subduing Yang, clearing heat, stopping cough, and draining and percolating dampness. As a general rule, light foods are upbearing, aromatic foods are floating, and heavy, strong-tasting foods are downbearing and sinking.
Seasonal Diet
Chinese medicine developed in a society that was largely agricultural, and in a region of the world that experiences pronounced seasonal changes. Chinese medicine theory follows Taoist thought in believing that the closer we stay to the rhythms and cycles of nature, the healthier and more balanced we will be. Even though the inhabitants of industrialized countries have distanced themselves from nature in many ways, it is a mistake to think that natural cycles have ceased to be important. The effect of millions of years of evolving within nature cannot be erased in a few decades.
The natural seasonal rhythm of Qi in our bodies follows a predictable pattern: Qi rises and migrates outward in spring; it circulates freely at the surface of the body in summer; it migrates inward and downward in autumn; and it gathers in the core of the body in winter. An optimum diet takes this seasonal flow into account, and foods are emphasized which pertain both to the Five Phase correspondences and the Four Energies. Spring, the windy season, is associated with the Liver. Foods that are nourishing to the Liver and Blood while eliminating Wind are most beneficial. The nature of summer is to be hot, which depletes energy and body fluids. Cool-property fruits and vegetables are most helpful. The Lungs are associated with autumn, which is cool and dry. Neutral foods can be used to moisten the dryness this season brings. Winter, the storage season, is cold and is most closely associated with the Kidneys. In winter it is essential to tonify the Kidneys, which tend to become more depleted with age. Yang should be tonified for Kidney Yang deficiency, whereas Yin should be tonified in cases of Kidney Yin deficiency.
Tonifying, Cleansing and Regulating
When foods and herbs are used in accordance with the principles of Chinese medicine, they can achieve therapeutic effects in the body. The commonest therapeutic benefits of foods and herbs are to: tonify and nourish; clear and purge; and regulate the flow of Fundamental Substances. A list of the possible beneficial effects include: nourishing Qi, Blood, Yin or Yang; promoting the production of body fluids; generating Essence (Jing); releasing the Exterior; clearing Heat and fire; drying dampness; promoting urination; resolving phlegm; eliminating toxicity; invigorating or cooling Blood; relieving Blood stasis; balancing Yin and Yang; and harmonizing the internal organs.
A few specific examples of food therapy would be using chicken soup to treat chronic fatigue in elderly women, mutton soup to treat Blood deficiency after childbirth, garlic for dysentery, hawthorn for food stagnation, and Job’s tears for dampness.
Food/Herb Combinations
In China, the principles of Chinese medicine are widely accepted and practiced by the general population. Medicinal herbs are stocked as a matter of course in every household’s kitchen, and the concept of using foods therapeutically is well understood. When foods and/or herbs are combined, five concepts are utilized: strengthening; assisting; reducing; subsiding; and counteracting. Strengthening (Xiang Xu) is when two foods or herbs enhance each other’s medicinal function. Example: watermelon juice and tomato juice together strengthen each other’s function of clearing heat. Assisting (Xiang Shi) is when one food or herb assists the main food or herb’s function. Example: adding wine to ginger/egg soup to assist ginger’s function of warming the Middle Burner and eliminating Cold. Reducing (Xiang Wei) is when the side effect of one food or herb can be lessened by another food or herb. Example: the odor and allergic reaction from crab and shrimp can be reduced by using ginger/vinegar. Subsiding (Xiang E) is when one food or herb’s function can be mitigated by another food or herb. Example: when ginseng’s function of tonifying Qi is reduced by daikon radish’s function of invigorating Qi. Counteracting (Xiang Fan) is when two foods or herbs in combination produce an undesirable effect, and should not be used together at all. Example: carrot and Fo-ti counteract one another when taken simultaneously.
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