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Food as Medicine

© Matthew Scott

There is a saying in Chinese medicine that, " The superior doctor first attempts to cure disease with food and if that fails only then should other means be used".

This illustrates the power of food as not only a source of energy but also as a therapeutic tool. Obviously though serious conditions require more than a change in diet. Poor diet does however continue to be a major cause of disease in Western countries. The solution is for people to take charge of their bodies and learn to adopt healthier eating habits. One reason for the poor eating habits of Western people is that Western doctors receive virtually no nutritional training and therefore aren't able to advise their patients in this most essential area.

In TCM prevention of disease is the primary underlying objective of which a healthy diet obviously plays a major role. For this reason TCM doctors, unlike their Western counterparts, always inquire about the dietary habits of their patients regardless of their complaint.

The TCM system of food classification also differs that of the West. Unlike in Western nutrition where food is measured by its calorific, vitamin and mineral content, food in TCM is classified according to its energetic properties and its flavors. Foods and liquids are either warm, hot and yang in nature or cool, cold and yin. By "warm" and "hot" I'm referring not to their temperature when cooked but to the effect they have on the body when consumed.

Warm and hot foods such as garlic, chili and beef generate body heat and are best consumed in winter. Cool and cold foods such as watermelon and pears have the opposite effect and should be consumed in summer. Foods are also used therapeutically. During a fever (a yang, hot condition), eating yang type foods will only add more heat to an already hot condition. Cooling yin foods should be consumed in order to counteract the excess yang energy, cool the heat and restore the yin-yang balance in the body.

Five main food flavors are also recognized in TCM dietary therapy; sweet, salty, pungent, bitter and sour. Each flavor has therapeutic qualities too, for example garlic (pungent), a natural anti-biotic, helps to detoxify the body. Good dietary practice therefore involves eating a variety of fresh foods containing balanced combinations of the above energetic properties and flavors. Just as importantly though, as the seasons change so too should your diet to reflect this.