The food as medicine approach in traditional Chinese herbal medicine (TCM)

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the food you eat is said to play a central role in maintaining your gut and overall bodily health. Hence food is often used as a form of medicine, where each food has specific properties that can either support or disrupt your body’s natural balance. Ginger, for example, is well known to calm the stomach, reducing nausea and diarrhoea.

By working with an experienced Chinese Herbal Medicine practitioner, like Brendan (via a telehealth appointment), who can help tailor your diet, you can begin to address specific gut health, fatigue and chronic illness issues – the negative effects on your body can often be seen on your tongue.

The gut is often associated with the spleen, liver, gall bladder and stomach – all organs that are crucial for digestion and nutrient absorption. And fatigue is often linked to deficiencies in Qi, which is the life force that maintains your overall health. Foods that are cold, raw, overly processed or ‘damp’ can weaken the digestive energies, leading to issues like bloating, indigestion, and sluggish metabolism which can leave you feeling less than your optimal self.

Taking such a holistic approach to food/diet can not only benefit gut health, but also contribute to overall wellness by promoting a balanced lifestyle. There is also an emphasis on the importance of eating according to the seasons and one’s personal constitution, which helps maintain harmony with nature and supports optimal health.

In practice, incorporating Chinese herbal medicine dietary principles into daily life can be straightforward. For example, starting the day with a warm herbal tea, tailored to your specific needs, can help stimulate your digestive energy and including a variety of seasonal vegetables and fruits (appropriate for your individual constitution) in meals ensures a balanced intake of nutrients and flavours, crucial for maintaining whole person health and wellness.

What’s involved in a Chinese dietary telehealth consult?

In our 15 minute Chinese dietary telehealth consult, Brendan will review your current diet and make suggestions for you and send you a list of plus and minus foods via email for you to keep on hand.

Book your Chinese dietary telehealth consult appointment by clicking the big green button above.

H2 – The Five Elements,  Five Flavours and Energy Level of Food

The Five Elements Theory

This is a central concept in Chinese herbal medicine. It suggests that the universe and human body are composed of five elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. Each element corresponds to specific organs, emotions, and seasons

Five Flavours Theory

This is closely related to the Five Elements and involves the tastes of food and herbs: sweet, sour, bitter, salty and pungent. In Chinese herbal medicine, each flavour is associated with specific organs and elements:

• Sweet: associated with the Earth element and the spleen and stomach. It can nourish and tonify the body, providing energy.
• Sour: linked to the Wood element and the liver and gallbladder. It is said to calm the body and aid digestion.
• Bitter: related to the Fire element and the heart and small intestine. This element is said to clear heat and aid digestion.
• Salty: associated with the Water element and the kidney/bladder. It can soften hardness and dissolve stagnation within the body.
• Pungent: Tied to the Metal element and associated with the lungs and large intestine. Pungent flavours are said to promote circulation.

Energy Level of Food

Foods have an ‘energetic’ nature which is best described as either;

Yang: ‘warming’, ‘heating’ or ‘neutral’ or

Yin: ‘cold’ or ‘cooling.’

Despite whether a chilli has been in the refrigerator, we can all relate that the chilli has a ‘heating’ energy despite being physically cold. The energy theory of food is entirely unique to Chinese medicine and represents an important contribution to dietary therapy. For example:

Yang foods

• Hot: very energizing – chilli, lamb, pepper etc
• Warming: mildly energising – coffee, beef, etc

Yin foods

• Cold: Very energy sedating – fish, celery etc
• Cool: mildly energy sedating – spirulina, sugar

Neutral foods

• Neither overly energising nor sedating – grains, eggs.

All three  theories are integral to traditional Chinese herbal medicine diagnosis and treatment. Experienced traditional Chinese herbal medicine practitioners, like Brendan, use them to understand the body’s internal balance and to tailor your dietary advice and herbal ‘prescriptions’. These theories then guide the selection of foods based on their therapeutic properties, helping to balance your body’s energy production and support organ function.

Chinese herbal medicine is a very personalised approach, where foods are selected based on your specific health needs and constitutional type. This personalised diet can help address underlying imbalances that contribute to chronic conditions, promoting healing and recovery.

For example, in the case of chronic digestive issues, a Chinese herbal medicine approach may recommend avoiding damp-forming foods (like sugar) and focusing on warm and cooked foods to support the spleen and stomach. For inflammatory conditions like arthritis, foods that reduce inflammation, such as turmeric and ginger, might be beneficial.

Having spent nearly three decades in clinical practice means Brendan’s advice is concise, easy for you to implement and effective. As so many of our clients have shared with us over the years, the best changes are often the simplest ones. They’re also usually the ones that will surprise you with their effectiveness in delivering the positive outcomes you require.

Book your Chinese dietary telehealth consult appointment by clicking the big green button above.