The Nature of Foods

Eating should be balanced for the body to function in health. In Chinese medicine, food is separated into either yin or yang in character, cooling or warming.  It is then broken into more specific of the two: cold, cool, neutral, warm and hot.  Generally speaking, vegetables are yin and meat is yang.  But as you will see a few below, spices (which are grown) are more yang than meat.  

 

 

Cold                  Cool                Neutral                Warm                   Hot

 

Bean Sprouts      Apples       Almonds               Beef                   Peppers

Clams                   Barley         Blueberries           Cherries              Dried Ginger

Mushrooms        Lemons      Cheese                  Garlic                 Cinnamon

Banana                Tofu            Olives                    Coffee               

 

 

Five Elements

 

Food is also distributed into the Five Tastes from the Five Elements.

 

Water/Salty foods are yin-cooling in nature.  It moves the energy down and inward which has a centering affect. It helps to moisten dryness to help digestion, detoxifies the body and helps clean the colon.

 

Wood/Sour foods are also yin-cooling in nature.  It causes contraction and gathering to help leakage of fluids and energy, and to dry and firm up tissues.

 

Fire/ Bitter foods are also cooling.  It helps the body’s energy to descend. People who are robust, extroverted, reddish in complexion… can benefit from bitter foods.  It clears heat and so it helps bowel movement and helps the heart.

 

Earth/Sweet foods are yang-warming in nature.  It helps push warmth to the extremities, and gives energy to persons who are weak and deficient in general.

 

Metal/Pungent foods are categorized as spicy, hot, acrid and aromatic in flavor.  These are the expansive, dispersing, and it has a warming energy to stimulate circulation of the qi and blood.  The energy is moved up and outwards to the periphery of the body.

 

This is just the basics of the natures of food.  There are books that are really good in explaining how these foods work and lists more foods.  I recommend that you investigate more into your diet to stay healthy.