Phillip

Chinese System of Food Cures / Diets

I. Introduction

A. 2 Differences Between Chinese and Western Diets

1) Western: focus is exclusively on weight loss

Chinese: focus is on the above as well treating other ailments

2) Western: focus is on proteins, calories, carbohydrates, etc. of foods

Chinese: focus is on flavors, energies, organic actions, etc. of foods

B. Outline of the Essentials in the Chinese Diet:

1) 5 Flavors of foods

2) 5 Energies of foods

3) Movements of foods

4) Common organic actions of foods

II. 5 Flavors of Foods

A. 1) Pungent – green onion, chive, clove, parsley

2) Sweet – sugar, cherry, chestnut, banana

3) Sour – lemon, pear, plum, mango

4) Bitter – hops, lettuce, vinegar, radish leaf

5) Salty – salt, kelp, seaweed, jellyfish

B. General Actions of Each Flavor

1) Pungent – helps the body perspire/promotes energy circulation

2) Sweet – slows down acute symptoms, neutralizes toxic effect of other foods

3) Sour – obstructs movements of foods, checks diarrhea, excessive perspiration etc.

4) Salty – softens hardness, treats tuberculosis, lymph nodes, muscles or glands

5) Bitter – cleanses and detoxifies the body

III. 5 Energies of Foods

A. Deals with sensation (hot or cold) in the body; does not refer to the present state of food (EX: hot tea is actually a generation of cold energy because it enters the body and cools itself, which cools down the body)

B. Foods making us hot is having hot energy, the same is for warm, cool and cold

(Food tip: cold from weather – drink a hot bowl of ginger soup because it has warm energy and a pungent flavor to cause perspiration)

C. 1) Cold – banana, bamboo shoot, crab, grapefruit, sugarcane

2) Cool – apple, eggplant, mango, mungbean, peppermint

3) Neutral – beef, carrot, pork, potato, honey, milk

4) Warm – brown sugar, coconut, coffee, chicken, shrimp

5) Hot – black pepper, ginger, peppers, radish

IV. The Movements of Foods

A. Body is Divided into 4 Regions, inside (internal), outside (skin/surface), upper (above the waist), lower (below the waist)

B. The 4 movements of food

1) Outward (peppermint) – inside to the outside, perspiration to reduce fever

2) Inward (banana) – outside to the inside, ease bowl movement for abdominal swelling

3) Upward (wine) – lower region to the upper, relieve diarrhea, falling of the stomach

4) Downward (salt) – upper region to the lower, relieving vomiting, hiccupping, asthma

C. Examples of how the Movement of Foods Relate to Flavors and Energies

1) Warm and hot foods having pungent or sweet flavors tend to move upwards or outwards

2) Cold and cool foods having sour or salty flavors tend to move downwards or inwards

V. Specific Actions of Foods on Internal Organs

A. Certain foods have specific actions on the 10 internal organs for dietary treatment (lungs, large intestines, small intestines, gall bladder, bladder, liver, kidneys, spleen, heart, stomach)

B. Foods can act on organs such as, celery (stomach/liver), carrot (lungs/spleen)

C. The energies and flavors of foods are what acts on the specific organs (EX: Tea – cool and bittersweet – acts on the heart, lungs, stomach), (some foods have 1 energy, 1 flavor but can act on many organs…some foods have many energies, many flavors but act on 1 organ)

D. How did they come to these conclusions?

Deductive method: they believed that the internal organs were related to the skin and 5 senses (eyes were associated with the liver), so through trial and error, when certain foods treated symptoms of the skin and 5 senses, they were then deemed to be associated with the corresponding organs

VI. Common Actions of Foods

A. Refers to the common actions of foods without referring to any specific organ

1) Check urination – raspberry

2) Promote blood circulation – brown sugar, wine, chestnuts

3) Relieve pain – honey, squash

4) Disperse cold – ginger, wine

5) Relieve drunkenness – apples, ginseng, strawberries

VII. Conclusion: Balanced Diet in Chinese Theory

A. 1) Eating foods of various flavors, energies, organic actions (common diet)

2) Selecting foods according to individual needs and physical constitutions

(individual balanced diet)

B. 1) The 6 types of physical constitutions: hot, cold, dry, damp, deficient and excessive

2) Physical constitution determined by key factors: subjective sensations, urine, stools, the tongue, etc.

3) EX: person with cold physical constitution – pale/whitish complexion, discharges clear urine and soft stools, tongue is light in color with thin whitish coating; Cure: should eat more hot or warm energy foods to balance themselves

C. Organic Balanced Diet

1) people have different strengths and weaknesses in organic conditions (some may have strong digestive functions but weak reproductive functions)

2) goal is to keep all internal organs in good condition to maintain balance

VII. Random Chinese Cure Tips

A. Green Tea – very good for weight control because it dissolves the fat and grease in the foods you eat

B. Eating certain animal’s corresponding organs strengthens your own (eat animal kidneys to strengthen your own)

C. Avoid water retention to stay slim – promote urination as a method to dry out the body (eat small red beans, corn silk, soybeans); absorb tissue fluids in the body (eat broad beans and hyacinth beans)

D. Honey relieves constipation