The energetic movements of food

The four movements of food: upward, downward, outward and inward.

LIFTING

TCM food movements: Lifting    

Actions: To move from lower region towards upper region   

 Effects: The upward movements arrest diarrhea, and hold internal organs in their proper places (to prevent them prolapse or sinking)   

 Food samples: Wine    

 Associated properties of food: Warm or hot in energy, pungent or sweet in flavor

FLOATING

TCM food movements: Floating    

Actions: To move from inside towards outside  

  Effects: The outward movements induce perspiration and dissipate body heat    

Food samples: Ginger

Associated properties of food: Warm or hot in energy, pungent or sweet in flavor

LOWERING

TCM food movements: Lowering    

Actions: To move from upper region towards lower region   

 Effects: The downward movements relieve vomiting, hiccupping, coughing and panting   

 Food samples: Salt    

Associated properties of food: Cool or cold in energy, sour or bitter or salty in flavor

SINKING

TCM food movements: Sinking   

 Actions: To move from outside towards inside 

Food samples: Vinegar  

Effects: The inward movements slow down bowel movements and relieve abdominal distention

Associated properties of food: Cool or cold in energy, sour or bitter or salty in flavor

The five flavors of food

      
Flavors : Pungent    

Organs affected : Lung, Large intestine    

   Effects: Promote distributions and circulations, and stimulate appetite.    

Food samples: Fresh ginger, onion, leeks, green onion, Sichuan peppercorn, garlic, celery, coriander, Chinese chives, fennel, spearmint, Chinese radish, radish leaf, chili pepper, sweet peppers, turnips, taro, leaf mustard, Shanghai cabbage, cinnamon, tangerine peel, kumquat, mustard seed and wine. 

      
Flavors : Sweet    

Organs affected : Stomach , Spleen    

Effects: Slow down acute reactions and neutralize the toxic effects of other foods, and also lubricate and nourish the body.    

Food samples: Honey, dates, shiitake mushroom, taro, sweet potato, potato, pumpkin, carrot, glutinous rice, peas, soybean, rice, wheat, corn, sugar cane, peanut, milk, apple, pears, cherry, chestnut, grapes, lotus seed, longan aril, carps and abalone.
      
Flavors : Sour    

Organs affected : Liver, Gall bladder    

Effects: The astringent character helps to arrest abnormal discharge of fluids and other substances from the body, such as diarrhea, emission and heavy sweating.    

Food samples: Lemon, tomatoes, pineapple, apple, strawberry, papaya, pears, loquat fruit, oranges, tangerines, peaches, hawthorn fruit, olives, pomegranate, plums, pomelo, mango, grapes, vinegar and royal jelly.
      
Flavors : Bitter    

Organs affected : Heart, Small intestine    

Effects: Clear heat, dry dampness, stimulate appetite, and promote lowering effects like urination and bowel movements.    

Food samples: Bitter gourd, Indian lettuce, wine, vinegar, lotus leaf, tea leaf, turnips, apricot seed, lily bulb, gingko, plum kernel, peach kernel, seaweed, pig's liver, bergamot, arrowhead, asparagus, wild cucumber and coffee.
      
Flavors : Salty    

Organs affected : Kidney, Bladder   

Effects: Dissipate accumulations, soften hardness, nourish blood, and lubricate intestines to induce bowel movements.    

Food samples: Amaranths, millet, barley, laver, preserved jellyfish, seaweed, kelp, sea clams, sea shrimps, oyster, crabs, sea cucumber, field snail, pork, pig's bone marrow, pig's blood, pig's organs, razor clam, dried mussel, ham, pigeon's egg, abalone, duck meat and cuttlefish.

The five energies of foods

        

Yin    

Energy generated: Cold 

  

 Food examples:

 Bamboo shoot, chrysanthemum, bitter gourd, lotus root, water chestnut, root of kudzu vine, wild rice stem, angled luffa, sugar cane, tomato, watermelon, banana, pomelo, grapefruit, persimmon, mulberry, star fruit, preserved jellyfish, seaweed, kelp, cuttlefish, crabs, sea clams, snails, pig's bone marrow, sprouts, water spinach, watercress, lettuces, arrowhead, salt and soya sauce.
 

Yin    

Energy generated: Cool    

Food examples:

Millet, barley, wheat, buckwheat, coix seed, eggplant, cucumber, wax gourd, loofah, Chinese radish, lettuce root, celery, peppermint, broccoli, cauliflower, leaf mustard, spinach, Peking cabbage, Chinese cabbage, amaranth, Indian lettuce, lily bulb, pea, mung bean, pears, muskmelon, apple, pineapple, coconut, strawberry, orange, tangerine, loquat fruit, mango, papaya, water caltrop, tea leaf, bean curb, mushrooms, lily flower, duck egg, egg white, pig skin, rabbit meat, conch, frogs, sesame oil, cream, yogurt and cheese.

Balanced yin and yang   

Energy generated: Neutral 

Food examples:  

Round-grained rice, corn, taro, sweet potato, potato, turnips, carrot, cabbage, radish leaf, beetroot, fuzzy melon, soybeans, adzuki beans, peanut, cashew nut, pistachio nut, lotus seed, black sesame, sunflower seed, plums, fig, grapes, lemon, olives, white fungus, black fungus, shiitake mushroom, sea shrimps, loach, pork, duck, goose, oyster, beef, quail, sea eels, egg yolk, quail egg, royal jelly honey, milk, soybean milk, rock sugar and sugar.

Yang   

Energy generated: Warm   

Food examples: 

 Coriander, Chinese chives, onion, leeks, green onion, asparagus, sweet peppers, sword bean, spearmint, Garland chrysanthemum, pomegranate, apricot, peach, cherry, litchi, longan fruit, raspberry, chestnut, pumpkin, glutinous rice, dates, walnut, pine nut, mussels, fresh water eels, sea cucumber, carps, abalone, hairtail, lobster, fresh water shrimps, chicken, mutton, sparrow, venison, pig's liver, ham, goat milk, goose egg, sparrow egg, maltose, brown sugar, cumin, clove, fennel, garlic, ginger (fresh), dill seed, nutmeg, rosemary, star anise, Sichuan peppercorn, sweet basil, sword bean, tobacco, coffee, vinegar, wine, vegetable oil, rose bud, osmanthus flowers and jasmine. 

 

Yang    

Energy generated:Hot    

Food examples: 

Black pepper, cinnamon, ginger(dried), chili pepper, and mustard seed.

Black Rice

Black Rice is one of several black-colored heirloom plants producing rice variants such as Indonesian black rice, of which Forbidden Rice is a strain. High in nutritional value, black rice is rich in iron. Unlike other black rice from Asia, it is not glutinous or rough. This grain is high in fiber and has a deep, nutty taste. 

Black forbidden rice is so named because originally it was considered the Emperor's rice and was literally forbidden for anyone else to eat it.

It is a deep black color and turns deep purple when cooked. Its dark purple color is primarily due to its high anthocyanin content. It has a relatively high mineral content (including iron) and, like most rice, supplies several important amino acids. 

According to a study presented at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), "one spoonful of black rice bran contains more anthocyanin antioxidants than a spoonful of blueberries and better yet, black rice offers more fiber and vitamin E antioxidants, but less sugar."

Preserving health and energy in winter

Step 1
Try to go to bed early each night and wake up early to get a jump on your day. Aim for 8 hours of quality, undisturbed sleep. Try walking or stretching before you get in bed to get more sleep.

Step 2
Avoid unneeded stress in your life and complications that bring about negative emotion. They will drain you of your energy levels. This is not good as you naturally have less energy in the winter anyways.

Step 3
Eat more warming and nutritious foods in the winter like soups and hot, hearty meals. These foods are best for the winter months. Eat more fruits and vegetables as well.

Step 4
Drink more warming tea during the cold months. This will do wonders for your body and can help you prevent colds and sickness. It will also warm up your kidney and adrenal system which can have health benefits.

Step 5
Be sure to dress warmly and focus especially on warming your core. The core is the powerhouse of your body and keeping it warm will have extreme health and immunity benefits for your body.

http://www.spikenardandmyrrh.com/2012/05/tcm-dietary-advice-for-each-season.html 

Ways to see off that cough this winter

 

IN winter, coughing becomes rife and everyone is at risk, especially children.
A cough can have many root causes such as bacterial or virus infections, asthma, diabetes, air pollution, dry air, temperature difference or loud speaking, just to name a few.
We also know that frequent coughing is a symptom of the presence of a disease. As the classification of a cough is diverse (acute, chronic, dry, productive, day or night cough), the identification of the root cause is often a real challenge to doctors.

In the Western world, coughing is mostly treated with medication that will stop the symptoms quickly without even looking at the underlying causes.
Traditional Chinese medicine, however, examines the body in more detail.
In general, coughing is caused by the imbalance of the body's energy and the abnormal qi activity inside the lungs.

What is helpful is that in most cases coughing is not the only symptom of the patient at that time. Accompanying symptoms help TCM practitioners identify the part of the body where the coughing originates.
For example, if coughing is accompanied by nausea, the root cause will often be found in the liver.
Rib pain is also an indicator of the disease being located in the liver area.
If the patient needs to urinate while coughing, the kidneys are the root area.
And the symptoms of a common cold indicate the origin of the coughing in the lungs.

According to this in-depth analysis, TCM doctors tailor a specific combination of treatments to cure coughing which can include: acupuncture, herbal formulas and specific beneficial nutrition, such as honey, pear, mushrooms and licorice.
Oranges, tangerines and any chicken-based products should be avoided.

Many root causes can be healed by using these TCM treatments so that the patient's cough will be cured permanently.
In the long run, a good diet and a balanced lifestyle will support a healthy throat as well.

Congee for Autumn

 

WITH autumn coming, it's time to nourish the organs and keep them moist in the cool, dry season. Experts in traditional Chinese medicine suggest congee cooked with various ingredients, from chrysanthemum to chestnuts.

As the season changes and the temperature drops, the body must adjust, and digestive upsets, diarrhea and constipation are common. Foods that are easy to digest and easily absorbed are recommended.
Congee, a rice porridge or gruel made with lots of water, reinforces the digestive system and nourishes other organs. Since it's made with white rice that has been milled, it's quickly converted to energy. Whole grain brown rice with the hulls, though not as popular, is more nutritious and converts to energy more slowly, so there's no spike in sugar levels.

Zhang Zhongjing, a famous TCM doctor in the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD), attached great importance to the medical benefit of congee in his "Treatise on Colds. Pathogenic and Miscellaneous Diseases." He suggested that eating some hot congee right after taking herbal decoctions like guizhi tang (Ramuli Cinnamomi Decoction) can help reinforce the medical function in promoting sweating and getting the pathogenic energies out together.
"Compendium of Materia Medica," one of the most extensive herbal classic by herbalist Li Shizhen in Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), recommends a big bowl of congee as the best breakfast in all seasons, as taking in grains in the way of congee can help fill the empty stomach tenderly but sufficiently.

Eating congee in the morning can help warm the stomach and nourish organs, providing energy for the day's work, says Qian Hai, professor of Shanghai University of TCM. Other ingredients are frequently added to restore the energy balance and treat weakness and specific conditions.

Ingredients commonly added in the fall include pears, turnips, sesame, white fungus, lily root and chrysanthemum; all are cooling (containing yin, or cold energy) and moistening.
The Yellow Emperor, the legendary founder of TCM and many elements of Chinese culture, is said to have invented congee more than 4,000 years ago by steaming rice and then boiling it. He did that after he invented the cooking pot.

Congee then became part of TCM food therapy. Many Chinese people make certain kinds of congee to achieve certain results and treat minor problems. There's a rhyme about congee that goes: "Add jujubes to congee for perfect skin, add lotus seeds for insomnia, add walnuts to strengthen kidneys and blacken hair, and add reed rhizome to relieve fever."
Congee provides both nutrition and medicine and is easily absorbed, making it a widely used reinforcing therapy for people with weak digestion.
Eating low-calorie congee regularly can decrease the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and other cardiovascular problems, he says.
He recommends hot reinforcing congee in the morning and congee with different ingredients at night for insomnia.
It's not advised to eat congee three times daily, since it contains less energy than rice of the same weight.

After eating congee people feel full but quickly get hungry again.
Diabetics shouldn't eat too much white rice since it quickly raises the blood sugar.
Sweet cold congee, though tasty, is not recommended for the elderly, children and those suffering "pathogenic cold" (yin energy) problems. Too much cold congee undermines the digestive system.

Note: to have any medicinal effect, it must be eaten regularly.

http://www.spikenardandmyrrh.com/2012/05/tcm-dietary-advice-for-each-season.html