The Energetics of Food from a TCM perspective

When reviewing the importance of diet, each person will clearly have to learn what works best for them. We are all so unique and there is no “one-size-fits-all” when it comes to diet!

An individual diet plan should focus on body constitution, metabolism, heritage, and local climate. With these keys, we can better understand which foods will be most beneficial.

There are also “foods” out there that I don’t consider food: highly refined and processed, man-made products with little to no nutritional value which do not serve the body and, if consumed over time, will be detrimental to all bodies. That will be another blog post, for sure…

The Digestive System Simplified

The digestive system can be pictured as a "soup pot". The pot contains the foods and drinks we consume.

The "fire" underneath the pot represents the metabolic energy available to break down the food.

The stomach and digestive organs, represent the "burner", and control the body's ability to metabolize and process nutrients from the ingested food.

Warm to hot-temperature foods break down easily since they are closest to our internal temperature of 98.6F (on average). Cold foods make the digestive system work harder. Continuously eating cold-temperature foods dampens the digestive system, like throwing water on a fire.

This theory also applies to cooked foods and raw foods. Cooked foods are considered pre-digested and so are easier for the body to assimilate. Raw foods take a strong metabolism to digest and are not recommended for those with weak digestive systems.

Our mothers were right when they told us to chew our food. Not chewing well enough makes it hard for our bodies to assimilate the nutrients from food.

Cold-------Cool -------Neutral-Cool -------Neutral -------Neutral-Warm -------Warm -------Hot

Cold & Hot

From a Chinese Medicine perspective, all foods are considered to have an energetic temperature on a spectrum of Cold to Hot.

Hot foods energetically are heating, circulating and dispersing. This includes many spices such as cayenne or cinnamon.

Cold foods energetically dampen the body, slow metabolism and end up cooling and stagnating the digestive processes.

It's recommended to eat foods in the neutral-warm to the neutral-cool range and to abstain from frequent consumption of either extreme of Hot or Cold.

Excess Cold affects the body by creating feelings of coldness, diarrhea/loose stools, poor appetite, clear discharges, no thirst, no sweating, a pale frigid appearance, pale tongue, and slow deep pulse.

Examples of excess Heat in the body include high fever, thirst, constipation, dark urine, craving for cold, blood in the nose/stool/urine, yellow mucus/stool/urine, red tongue, and a rapid body pulse.

Dampness & Dryness

In studying these dietary principles, we must consider the principles of Damp and Dry as well.

Continually eating damp foods will cause symptoms such as nausea, edema, watery stool, feelings of heaviness, distention in the head/chest/abdomen, heavy discharges or phlegm. Damp foods include fruits, fruit juices, raw and cold foods, dairy, soy, pork, duck, wheat, coconut milk, oats, potatoes, and flour products.

Excess dryness manifests as dehydration, dry, rough, cracked or chapped hair/skin/nails, dry cough, dry stools, dry tongue, and unusual thirst. Dry foods include poultry, red meat, lamb, legumes, grains (except oats and wheat), tuna, and dark leafy greens.

Empty & Full

In addition, the concept of Empty and Full must also be considered.

Empty foods are eliminating and consist of mostly water, completely lacking protein.

Full foods are protein-rich and building to the body. Meat and dairy are full foods, legumes and grains are neutral, vegetables are neutral-empty and fruit and fruit juices are empty.

These principles work dimensionally and give the ability to fully understand how each food works in the body. A food can be cold and full (such as tofu), cold and empty (watermelon), hot and full (meat), or hot and empty (cayenne).

Conclusion

Eating a balanced diet pertains to the correct usage of all of these theories. Consuming cool-natured things like watermelon and lemonade make sense on a hot summer day. Eating a hot nourishing soup or stew during winter also makes sense.

As always in Chinese medicine, we advocate for balance. You can consume small amounts of cool foods in the winter, or spicy things in the summer. Just be aware that our bodies don’t lie, and tipping the scales in either direction will eventually show as imbalance in some way or another.

If you’ve gotten this far, you clearly care about your digestive health! Keep the energy going by booking your free initial consultation with me and let’s work together to get you closer to an optimal state of health. You deserve it!