Diet

[bodhitree]

I posted a question like this on the Qigong forum, and nobody replied. Does anyone use any TCM diets? What does it consist of? Does TCM condem eating any particular types of foods? Does it encourage any? I know I've read some things like eating seeds from a fruit is good, because you get the fruits essence. Is there any other tips like this?

Peace, Love, and use this **** forum!

[Former castleva]

I certainly am not a practitioner but I feel macrobiotics comes the closest.
May someone else continue on that.


Eating the seeds to get fruit´s essence? :)
Ahem,I´ll just shut up now.

[bodhitree]

Could you please explain what macrobiotics means? Pardon my ignorance. Thank You.

[Former castleva]

Mediocre introduction;
http://www.richardseah.com/macrobiotics/macro.html

Basically an unscientific type of diet that circulates around same kind of taoist principles that TCM would.

[bodhitree]

Very interesting, thank you!

[bodhitree]

FC
are you a vegetarian?

[Former castleva]

No.

Why? :)

[bodhitree]

That site didn't mention meat, just curious. heping

[ZIM]

you know, i'm kinda curious on this too. i've been reading up on it all, but haven't gotten into it.

AFAIK, the diet breaks things into hot, warm, neutral, cool and cold groups. You're supposed to mainly eat foods that atre neutral or warm, but avoid extremes unless required for specific effects/healing. basically, anyway.

neutral foods: grains, rice, pasta, eggs, etc.

warm: pork, chicken, some veggies, etc.

cold: mushrooms, clams, shellfish

hot: beef, peppers, ginger

uh...cool: not too sure. :rolleyes:

like i said, just began reading into it. i think its related to your basic constitutionality, like if you're usually cold, you eat hot and vicey versey.

I think they don't condemn foods so much as discourage certain kinds, specifically: milk, caffiene, raw vegetables, fried foods, out-of-season foods, and overly-processed foods. but they encourage certain kinds too: green tea, congee, rice.

[Former castleva]

As I´ve often come to notice in my humble studies of sinology,it often boils down to symbols and association.
May it be macrobiotics,feng shui,medicine or even martial arts.

My personal view is that in many a case though,this kind of an approach is rather useless.
Since it all circulates around and eventually gets wrapped into the same package of unifying philosophy.

[ZIM]

i forgot to mention: there's another system that divides foods into categories like 'sweet' 'pungent' 'bitter', etc. These relate to the various zhengfu organs... this version/system i'm very unfamiliar with.

[bodhitree]

Thanks, keep it coming.

[BeiTangLang]

There is a book called "Chinese Natural Cures" by:Henry C.Lu that I have found very inormative. I have not yet started eating following his suggestions, but i goes very indepth pertaining to body size, natural body condition vs. the foods to nurish/correct your general health. A very cool book.
Best Wishes,
BTL

[bodhitree]

thanks BTL, let me know how you feel after you start.

[BeiTangLang]

Quite honestly, I bought the book for its herbal references.
I am doing the Atkins diet bit for my initial weight loss (-50 lbs so far).
I bought the book to help with things such as illness & making herbal mixes for sickness & injury.
I just thought I would share that the book contained elements similar to the thread topic.
Best wishes to all,
BTL

[ntc]

This is along the lines of what has been posted regarding the temperature elements (warming, cooling, etc.) and the taste elements (bitter, pungent, etc.) and their properties. TCM does NOT have any specific formularized diets, but suggestions are continuously made depending on the state of a person's health. For example, in the case of temperature, if your body exhibits "heat" symptoms (such as constipation, a full sensation, aversion to cold, skin irritation/rash, easy irritability, etc.), then foods/herbs that cool the body are recommended (eg, peppermint, pork, etc.) Also, if you have congestion in your body (eg, blood stasis, or swelling in certain parts of your body), then bitter type foods would be suggested for the taste's ability to disperse the stagnation. In addition, one would usually eat cooling foods (watermelon, for example) in hot climates and in the summer, and warming foods (lamb, for example) in cold climates and in the winter.

Last but not least, different foods have different effects on the organs and the Qi channels. So, depending on your particular situation, you will want to take certain foods that will help you alleviate the problems that you may be having pertaining to a particular meridian or organ.

[BeiTangLang]

Exactly. Energy& flavors of foods, movements of foods, common actions, diet theory, body types pertaining to yin-yang theory, ..etc., all pertaining to foods are noted & covered in the book. Anyway, best of luck.
~BTL

[bodhitree]

you guys think TCM would approve of the modern antioxidant diet?

I dont think TCM would like Atkins, what do you think?

[Former castleva]

"I dont think TCM would like Atkins, what do you think?"

All I can say is that science does not necessarily love Atkins either (this would depend on it´s use,of course).

[bodhitree]

Atkins is good for people who need to lose weight (for health not cosmetics) fast. It is definately not a diet for nutrition in the long run.

[Former castleva]

Exactly.

[vikinggoddess]

A very good book on Chinese nutrition is call "Recipes for Self-Healing" by Daverick Leggett. He gives a good introduction to Chinese Medicine, discusses the Chinese medicinal properties of various foods, and gives many recipes.

There are many Chinese medicinal food dishes and foods with medicinal properties, as well as Chinese medicinal food restuarants in China where the cooks check your tongue and pulse.

Some common Chinese medical dietary advice is eat well cooked foods (as opposed to raw vegetables), eat regular meals (3x / day), avoid icy drinks. More specific advice is given based on one's constitution and illness.

Here is are a couple of recipes from my website:

Chick Pea Soup Recipe for Chronic Poor Digestion AKA Spleen Qi Deficiency, Cold in Abdomen, Food Stagnation, Sneezing After Eating, and Wind Cold-EPI.
http://chinesetherapeutics.org/chickpea.html

Chicken with Lemon, Saffron and Olives for improving circulation:
http://chinesetherapeutics.org/andrewschicken.html

I also have a regular Chinese e-cookbook on my site if you are interested.