Food as medicine - TCM approach
Both Hippocrates BCE 460 and Taoists medical practice considered nutrition therapy as their first line approach for optimum health and wellbeing.
The importance of good nutrition for optimum health should not be ignored. How true is the saying - we are what we eat? Virginia Woolf (1882 - 1941) once said that "one cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well"".
Eating well will not only enhance our wellbeing, the essential nutrients found in food, such as antioxidants have been shown in clinical studies to help buffer the detrimental effects of environmental pollutants and diseases caused by genetic influences.
More often than not, changing one's dietary needs to find a balance in what is the 'right' food to eat or diet to follow may not be as easy a task than expected and often, rather confusing, sometimes even unhealthy.
If we consider that each individual has a body constitution that is different to another, then eating in moderation a balanced diet of a wide variety of food would help to sustain a healthy body and mind. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), food therapy is known to nourish bodily substances such as blood, fluids and essence, which will in turn create qi as vital energy to circulate throughout the whole body reaching every organ including the mind, also known as the shen. The concept of yin yang balancing can be effectively practised by selecting food that have energetic principles for nourishing these vital substances and by restoring balance to the organs to promote good health. For instance, a well-nourished kidney would enhance fertility and sexual energy.
Whether hot or cold in temperature, sweet, salty, sour, or bitter, the flavour and temperature of food can have a subtle influence with distinct actions on the body and mind. For example, if you suffer from a 'hot' condition, you may choose to eat more cooling or neutral food rather than hot and spicy food. Similarly for a cold condition the way to help the body restore balance is to eat more warming food eg chicken soup cooked with garlic and ginger. The way food is prepared and cooked can also have a profound influence on the energy of the cooked food. For example, by grilling, baking or frying the energetic principle of the food would naturally alter to become warmer. For those whose digestive constitution is weak, cooked food is generally easier on the digestion for its absorption and assimilation.