Traditional Chinese Medicine series #4

Food and Eight Principles:

Food can be used to clear the exterior and bring about diaphoresis. It can also be used to warm the interior and support Zang Fu function. Besides flavors, food have directions and thermal properties (in terms of their effects). Some foods are neutral while others are cool, cold, warm or hot. Hot conditions can be subdued with cool foods, while cold conditions can be warmed by hot foods. Deficiencies can be corrected with foods that support the body’s weakness. Excesses can be drained and the balance between Yin and Yang restored. Changes may not occur immediately; but, given time, food can be the most influential factor for maintenance of health of all forms of therapy. Foods also have energies capable of generating the sensations in the body upon consumption. The five energies of foods are cold, hot, warm, cool and neutral. These energies act upon the body in different ways and can be used to treat conditions which are caused by imbalances in the bodies energy. Symptoms caused by cold conditions can be alleviated by consumption of warm or hot foods, while hot conditions can be helped by cool or cold foods. Examples:

Cold	Cool	Neutral	Warm	Hot
Bamboo shoots	Apple	Egg Yolk	Brown sugar	Black pepper
Banana	Barley	Beef	Chicken	Cinnamon bark
Clams	Tofu	Carrot	Fennel	Ginger
Crab	Chicken egg	Peanuts	Garlic	Green pepper
Lettuce	Eggplant	White sugar	Green onion	Red pepper
Kelp	Wheat	Oyster	Shrimp	Soybean oil
Seaweed	Mushroom	Pork	Lamb
Sugar cane	Spinach	Rice	Ginseng
Watermelon	Mung bean	Egg Yolk	Raspberry

Excess conditions can be assisted by feeding foods which help control or counterbalance the abnormal energetics involved. Deficiencies can also be helped with food.

Actions of Foods:

ARREST BLEEDING: Black fungus, chestnut, Chicken eggshell, cottonseed, cuttlebone, guava, lotus plumule, spinach, vinegar

STOP URINATION: Raspberry

CLEAR TOXINS: banana, black soybean, clam (freshwater), cucumber, date (red & black), fig, honey, radish, aduki red bean, star fruit, vinegar

DISPERSE BLOOD STAGNATION: Brown sugar, chive, chive root, crab, saffron, vinegar

DISPERSE COLD: Ginger (fresh), wine

INDUCE BOWEL MOVEMENT: Castor bean, sesame oil

LUBRICATE DRYNESS: Tofu, chicken egg & yolk, honey, maltose, pear, pork, sesame oil, spinach, yellow soybean

LUBRICATE INTESTINES: Banana, peach, soybean oil, walnut, watermelon

LUBRICATE LUNGS: Apple, apricot, chicken egg white, ginseng, lily flower, loquat, peanuts, persimmon, strawberry, white fungus

PROMOTE BLOOD CIRCULATION: Black soybean, brown sugar, chestnut, peach, saffron, and sweet basil, wine

PROMOTE DIGESTION: Apple, coriander, ginseng, green & red pepper, nutmeg, papaya, pineapple, plum, radish & leaf, sweet basil, tomato

PROMOTE ENERGY CIRCULATION: dill seeds, dry mandarin orange peel, fennel, garlic, radish leaf, spearmint, star anise, tangerine,

PROMOTE URINATION: Asparagus, barley, Chinese cabbage, carrot, coffee, corn, cucumber, grape, kidney bean, lettuce, mandarin orange, mango, mung bean, onion, pineapple, plum, star fruit, water chestnut, watermelon

REDUCE FEVER: Muskmelon, star fruit, water chestnut

RELIEVE ASTHMA: Bitter apricot seed

TONIFY BLOOD DEFICIENCY: Beef, chicken egg & yolk, cuttlefish, oyster, spinach

TONIFY QI DEFICIENCY: Sweet apricot seed, tofu, beef, brown sugar, chicken, eel, maltose, potato, sweet rice, sweet potato

TONIFY KIDNEYS: Black sesame seed, string bean, sword bean, wheat, kidney

TONIFY LIVER: Black sesame seed, liver

TONIFY SPLEEN: Beef, ham, white rice, potato, string bean, sweet potato, yellow soybean

WARM INTERIOR: Black & white pepper, chicken, chive roots, clove, fennel, dried ginger, green & red pepper, nutmeg, sword bean

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