Diet? - What traditional Chinese Medicine says....

Diet Recommendations from a Traditional Chinese Perspective

Diet plays an important role in improving and sustaining your health. My dietary recommendations are based on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) approaches, which view diet as very specific to the individual patient and his or her condition. Rather than focusing on which foods to avoid, I will suggest foods to add or emphasize in your diet. As with medical herbs, food is classified by its nature, temperature, taste and indications for the treatment of diseases. Below are some categories that I might recommend for you and that you can reference whenever you are planning your next meal.
Food Categories
Each type of food has inherent energies; not the physical, objective temperature of the food, but the food’s own energy and its effect on body temperature. In general, cooked foods are more warming than raw foods and root vegetables are warmer than other parts of the plant.
COLD
Bamboo shoots, clam, crab, water chestnut, banana, kelp, grapefruit, watermelon.
COOL
Cucumber, barley, egg white, lettuce,mango, radish, strawberry, wheat, apple, tofu, eggplant, loquat, pear, spinach, tangerine, wheat bran.
NEUTRAL
Apricot, carrot, celery, corn, pork, peanuts, milk, almonds, plum, yams, beef, potato, whole eggs, grapes, kidney beans, pineapple, olive, papaya, rice, white sugar.
WARM
Cherry, chicken, dates, ginger, ham, peach, leek, pumpkin, vinegar, chestnut, chive, garlic, green onion, raspberry, nectarine, lamb, summer squash, sunflower seeds.
HOT
Black pepper, dried ginger, cayenne, cinnamon, bell peppers, soybean oil.
HEAT REDUCING
Asparagus, banana, elderflower, lettuce,mung bean sprout, salt, wheat, eggplant, chicken egg white, grapefruit, millet, peppermint, tofu, bamboo shoot, clam, lemon, potato, watermelon (In chronic conditions Heat is simply treated by the avoidance of hot foods and the use of more cooling foods and methods of food preparation. Where there is a pathogenic invasion, the pungent flavor is used to drive the hot invader to the surface of the body.)
Additional types of foods with actions I recommend.
RESOLVE DAMPNESS
Adzuki bean, barley, corn, green tea, Job’s tears, lemon, parsley, rye, umeboshi plum, alfalfa, daikon, horseradish, buckwheat tea, kidney bean, mackerel, mustard leaf, pumpkin, scallion, anchovy, celery, garlic, jasmine tea, kohlrabi, marjoram, radish, turnip, onion, white fungus, button mushrooms.
TONIFY SPLEEN
Squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, yams, turnips, onions, pumpkin, rice, oats, chicken, turkey, beef, cherry, honey, maple syrup.
CALM THE LIVER
Nori, plum, celery, mulberry.
COOL LIVER YANG
Celery, lettuce, watercress, kelp.
MOVE QI
Basil, bay leaf, beets, pepper, garlic, cabbage, leek, clove, carrot, orange peel, tangerine peel, caraway, cayenne, coriander, marjoram, radish, turmeric, cardamom, chive, dill seed,mustard leaf, star anise.
TONIFY QI
Beef, coconut, fig, grape, lentil, mackerel, oats, rabbit, sweet potato, sturgeon, cherry, date, ginseng, ham, licorice, octopus, rice, shiitake mushroom, tofu, chicken, eel, goose, herring, longan, molasses, potato, royal jelly, squash, yam.
LUBRICATE THE INTESTINES
Apple, milk, walnut, pear, peach, honey, peanut oil.
MOVE BLOOD
Eggplant, safflower oil, chestnut, basil, brown sugar, crab, onion, sturgeon, vinegar, hawthorn berry, peach, chili pepper, chive, mustard leaf, scallion.
TONIFY BLOOD
Adzuki beans, beets, cuttlefish, dark leafy greens, grape, longan, octopus, sardines, watercress, apricot, bone marrow, dandelion, date, kidney bean, algae, oyster, spinach, beef, chicken egg, fig, liver, nettle, parsley, sweet rice.
RESOLVE PHLEGM
Mushroom, string bean, pumpkin, ginger, mustard greens, papaya, radish, tuna, strawberry, potato, garlic, watercress, almond, daikon, lemon peel, olive, pear, persimmon, seaweed, walnut, apple peel, onion, plantain, tea, clam, marjoram, peppermint, shrimp, thyme.
DRAIN WATER
Adzuki bean, barley, celery, frog, kelp, sardines, alfalfa, black soybean, clam, grape, lettuce, seaweed, anchovy, broad bean, fenugreek, Job’s tears, mackerel.
TONFIY YANG
Basil, chive seed, dill seed, garlic, lamb, pistachio, sage, star anise, cassio fruit, cinnamon bark, fennel seed, dried ginger, lobster, raspberry, savory, thyme, chestnut, clove, fenugreek seed, kidney, nutmeg, rosemary, shrimp, walnut.
TONIFY YIN
Apple, chicken egg, honey, malt, oyster, pineapple, rabbit, tomato, asparagus, clam, duck, kidney bean, mango, pea, pomegranate, string bean, watermelon, cheese, crab, duck egg, lemon, milk, pear, pork, tofu, yam.