| HEALING | INTEGRATIVE HEALING The Tao of Chinese Dietary Therapy by Wei Liu As we all know, China has produced one of the world's truly great cuisines. Along with this focus on the pleasures of food, the idea that food can be used as medicine is also deeply rooted in Chinese culture. In fact, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners have a unique way of assessing foods to determine how they can be used for health maintenance and healing. Not only do they look at the nutritional value, but they also consider the food's color, taste, texture and shape. Foods with specific colors and tastes are believed to nourish specific parts of the body and correct specific imbalances. Treating illness and maintaining health through dietary therapy is central to the philosophy and practice of TCM. While we in the West are just getting around to thinking that diet is a vital component of our health, TCM practitioners have known for centuries that many of our health problems are related to imbalances in our diet. In TCM, balance is really the most important aspect of life, both in regard to our health, and also 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. Chinese philosophers would be in complete agreement with the Greek philosopher who said, "Nothing in excess." Food fads and extreme diets of any sort are contrary to Chinese dietary principles. There is no bias toward a purely vegetarian diet, but 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. Turning to balance After dietary extremes are discarded, attention turns to balancing Yin and Yang and the Five Phases -- the fundamental, guiding principles of TCM. Two major dietary principles that 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, as well as on the direct experience of patients and practitioners. The Five-Phase theory and Four Properties theory as they relate to food are explained below. A guiding principle of TCM theory is the idea of "root and branch." When a patient complains of various symptoms such as headache, hot flashes or low back pain, these symptoms are considered the "branches" of health problems. The "root" cause of the problem ultimately involves excess, deficiency or imbalance of the Fundamental Substances, including Yin and Yang, Chi and Blood, etc. TCM focuses on treating the root cause of disease, rather than just suppressing or papering over the symptoms. Dietary therapy is used to balance Yin and Yang, nourish Chi and Blood, and restore the normal functioning of the organs and meridians. Dietary modifications and other lifestyle considerations are always discussed by TCM practitioners with their patients to promote optimum health maintenance and prevention of disease. The five tastes The "Five-Tastes" principle of Chinese herbal medicine also applies to Chinese dietary therapy. These tastes are sour, bitter, sweet, pungent and salty. The Five Tastes are part of the Five Element or Five Phase system of correspondences. The correspondences encompass a wide variety of natural phenomena that include taste, color, musical tones, internal body organs and their respective meridians, seasons of the year, and many other things. The food correspondences are guidelines, rather than inflexible rules, and they are applied both to foods and to medicinal herbs in similar ways. 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. Additionally, 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 Chi 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 serve to disperse, move Chi and invigorate 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 Chi, expelling dampness, strengthening the Spleen, increasing the appetite, clearing the mind and enhancing the spirit. The four energies The Four Energies of Chinese herbal medicine are cold, cool, warm and hot, and there is also an additional category of "neutral" for foods which have no energetic temperature property. For practical purposes, TCM 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 the 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 advice 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 Chi Deficiency. It can produce symptoms of fatigue, poor appetite, poor concentration, loose stools, cold hands and feet, and it 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. Yang foods Four Energies theory also explains why alcohol, sugar and greasy fried foods are so bad for us. These are very Yang foods, and when 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, which can be a precondition for many serious health problems including diabetes, menopausal symptoms, anxiety and insomnia. There is so much more to Chinese dietary therapy than can be covered here. I hope readers will be interested in exploring this subject in more detail. If you would like to request information on traditional Chinese medicine, please feel free to call TCM Health Center at the Southdale-Edina Clinic (952) 926-4011, the Grand Ave/St. Paul Clinic (651) 726-2459, the University-Dinkytown Clinic (612) 379-3583, the Uptown-Kenwood Clinic (612) 823-6650, or the AAAOM Faculty Clinic (612) 379-3590. Wei Liu, TCMD, MPH, is a doctor of Chinese medicine, a licensed nutritionist and acupuncturist, a diplomat in Chinese herbology. She is a practitioner, speaker, teacher and writer of Chinese medicine and nutrition. She is the clinical director of TCM Health Center. For further information about Traditional Chinese medicine, contact Dr. Wei Liu at (952) 926-4011. Copyright © 2001 Wei Liu |
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