5/21/2019 Properties of Food from a TCM Perspective

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What are the energies, flavors and other properties of food?

In Western diet, foods are evaluated for proteins, calories, carbohydrates, vitamins,
and other nutritional contents. However in Chinese diet (and that includes herbs), one
looks for not only vitamins and minerals but also the energetic properties of food like
energy, flavor and movement. Other less importance aspects include meridian tropism
and common and organic actions. These refer to specific internal organs or the
meridians on which the foods can act. For example, celery acts on the stomach and
lungs, carrot on the lungs and spleen.
According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), foods are just as herbs that can be
selected and prepared appropriately to tonify, cleanse and regulate the body.

1.The five energies of foods

The energies of foods refer to their capacity to generate
sensations - either hot or cold - in the human body. The five
kinds of energy are cold, hot, warm, cool and neutral, and
this refers not to the state of the food but its effect on our
bodies. For example, tea has a cool energy, it means that
when we drink hot tea, it generates cool energy and it is
therefore considered a cool beverage. Shortly after you have
drunk hot tea, the heat begins to fade quickly and it begins to Chinese tea is considered to
have "cool" energy even
generate cool energy internally, allowing your body to cool though it is a hot drink.
off.

Here are some food samples with different energies.

Energy Food samples

generated
Yin Cold Bamboo shoot, chrysanthemum, bitter gourd, lotus root, water
chestnut, root of kudzu vine, wild rice stem, angled luffa, sugar cane,
tomato, watermelon, banana, pomelo, grapefruit, persimmon, mulberry,
star fruit, preserved jellyfish, seaweed, kelp, cuttlefish, crabs, sea
clams, snails, pig's bone marrow, sprouts, water spinach, watercress,
lettuces, arrowhead, salt and soya sauce.
Yin Cool Millet, barley, wheat, buckwheat, coix seed, eggplant, cucumber, wax
gourd, loofah, Chinese radish, lettuce root, celery, peppermint,
broccoli, cauliflower, leaf mustard, spinach, Peking cabbage, Chinese
cabbage, amaranth, Indian lettuce, lily bulb, pea, mung bean, pears,
muskmelon, apple, pineapple, coconut, strawberry, orange, tangerine,
loquat fruit, mango, papaya, water caltrop, tea leaf, bean curb,
mushrooms, lily flower, duck egg, egg white, pig skin, rabbit meat,
conch, frogs, soybean milk, sesame oil, cream, yogurt and cheese.
Balanced Neutral Round-grained rice, corn, taro, sweet potato, potato, turnips, carrot,
yin and cabbage, radish leaf, beetroot, fuzzy melon, soybeans, adzuki beans,
yang peanut, cashew nut, pistachio nut, lotus seed, black sesame, sunflower
seed, plums, fig, grapes, lemon, olives, white fungus, black fungus,
shiitake mushroom, sea shrimps, loach, pork, duck, goose, oyster,
beef, quail, sea eels, egg yolk, quail egg, royal jelly honey, milk, rock
sugar and sugar.
Yang Warm Coriander, Chinese chives, onion, leeks, green onion, asparagus,
sweet peppers, sword bean, spearmint, Garland chrysanthemum,
pomegranate, apricot, peach, cherry, litchi, longan fruit, raspberry,
chestnut, pumpkin, glutinous rice, dates, walnut, pine nut, mussels,
fresh water eels, sea cucumber, carps, abalone, hairtail, lobster, fresh
water shrimps, chicken, mutton, sparrow, venison, pig's liver, ham, goat

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milk, goose egg, sparrow egg, maltose, brown sugar, cumin, clove,
fennel, garlic, ginger (fresh), dill seed, nutmeg, rosemary, star anise,
Sichuan peppercorn, sweet basil, sword bean, tobacco, coffee,
vinegar, wine, vegetable oil, rose bud, osmanthus flowers and jasmine.
Yang Hot Black pepper, cinnamon, ginger(dried), chili pepper, and mustard seed.

It is important to know about the energies of food because

different energies act upon the human body in different ways
and affect our state of health. If a person suffers from cold
rheumatism and the pain is particularly severe on cold winter
day, eating foods with a warm or hot energy shall relieve the
pain considerably. Or if a person suffers from skin eruptions
that worsen when exposed to heat, it is beneficial to eat
Ginger is pungent in flavor, foods with a cold or cool energy to relieve the symptoms.
warm in energy and tends to
move upward and outward.
To seek a balance in diet, we can define food as
predominantly yin or yang. If you eat predominantly yin foods, your body will be
capable of producing more yin energy - darker, slower-moving and colder. In
contrast, eating predominantly yang foods will produce more yang energy - faster,
hotter and much more energetic. It's helpful to remember certain rules to determine
the type of energy a food produces:

If it grows in the air and sunshine, it is probably yang;

If it grows in the earth and darkness, it is probably yin;
If it is soft, wet and cool, it is more yin;
if it is hard, dry and spicy, it is more yang.

2.The five flavors of foods

The Chinese think flavor is very important because it helps to
send nutrition via the meridians to the corresponding
organs. If we eat a balanced meal with many tastes, we feel
satisfied and don't binge. The five flavors of food include
pungent (acrid), sweet, sour, bitter, and salty.

Bean curd is sweet in flavor,

cool in energy and tends to
move downward and inward.

Different flavors have their respective important effects upon the internal organs:
Flavors Organs affected Effects Food samples

Pungent Lung Promote Fresh ginger, onion, leeks, green

Large intestine distributions and onion, Sichuan peppercorn, garlic,
circulations, and celery, coriander, Chinese chives,
stimulate appetite. fennel, spearmint, Chinese radish,
radish leaf, chili pepper, sweet
peppers, turnips, taro, leaf mustard,
Shanghai cabbage, cinnamon,
tangerine peel, kumquat, mustard
seed and wine.

Sweet Stomach Slow down acute Honey, dates, shiitake mushroom,

Spleen reactions and taro, sweet potato, potato, pumpkin,
neutralize the toxic carrot, glutinous rice, peas, soybean,
effects of other rice, wheat, corn, sugar cane, peanut,
foods, and also milk, apple, pears, cherry, chestnut,
lubricate and grapes, lotus seed, longan aril, carps
nourish the body. and abalone.
Sour Liver The astringent Lemon, tomatoes, pineapple, apple,
Gall bladder character helps to strawberry, papaya, pears, loquat fruit,
arrest abnormal oranges, tangerines, peaches,
discharge of fluids hawthorn fruit, olives, pomegranate,
and other
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substances from plums, pomelo, mango, grapes,

the body, such as vinegar and royal jelly.
diarrhea, emission
and heavy
sweating.

Bitter Heart Clear heat, dry Bitter gourd, Indian lettuce, wine,
Small intestine dampness, vinegar, lotus leaf, tea leaf, turnips,
stimulate appetite, apricot seed, lily bulb, gingko, plum
and promote kernel, peach kernel, seaweed, pig's
lowering effects like liver, bergamot, arrowhead,
urination and bowel asparagus, wild cucumber and coffee.
movements.

Salty Kidney Dissipate Amaranths, millet, barley, laver,

Bladder accumulations, preserved jellyfish, seaweed, kelp,
soften hardness, sea clams, sea shrimps, oyster, crabs,
nourish blood, and sea cucumber, field snail, pork, pig's
lubricate intestines bone marrow, pig's blood, pig's
to induce bowel organs, razor clam, dried mussel,
movements. ham, pigeon's egg, abalone, duck
meat and cuttlefish.

Some foods may possess two different flavors or a bland

flavor which means it has little or not taste. For example,
cucumbers have both sweet and bland flavors. Foods with a
bland flavor usually promote urination and may be used as
diuretic, coix seed and wax gourd are outstanding examples
of this kind. In addition, foods with a strong scent are
categorized as "aromatic", such as basil, fennel, coriander,
Coix seed is bland and
peppermint and citrus fruits. These foods can be eaten to sweet in flavors, cool in
enliven the spleen, stimulate appetite, promote qi(vital energy and tends to move
downward and inward.
energy) circulation, resolve dampness and turbidity, refresh
the mind, open up the orifices, and detoxify.

3.The movements of foods

Food acts on the body through specialized movements. Depending on the
properties of food, food moves in different regions within the body and can drive qi
(vital energy) in the same direction as well. TCM claims that disease is caused
when any of the external or exogenous evils exert too much influence on our body,
foods that have specialized movements can be used to counter these evils. For
example, when a person suffers from mild flu (which caused by exogenous wind
invasion), foods with a floating action such as green onion and fresh ginger can
expel the evils out of the body.

TCM has classified the movements of foods into four aspects.

TCM food Actions Effects Food Associated
movements samples properties
of food
Lifting To move from The upward movements arrest Wine Warm or
lower region diarrhea, and hold internal organs in hot in
towards upper their proper places (to prevent them energy,
region prolapse or sinking) pungent or
sweet in
Floating To move from The outward movements induce Ginger flavor.
inside towards perspiration and dissipate body heat
outside
Lowering To move from The downward movements relieve Salt Cool or cold
upper region vomiting, hiccupping, coughing and in energy,
towards lower panting sour or
region bitter or
salty in
Sinking To move from The inward movements slow down Vinegar flavor.
outside bowel movements and relieve
towards inside abdominal distention
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Lifting Lowering Floating Sinking

The four movements of food: upward, downward, outward and inward.

In general, foods like leaves and flowers and those with light and loose qualities
possess a tendency to move upwards or outwards; while roots and seeds and fruits
that are heavy and hard in qualities possess a tendency to move downwards or
inwards. However there are many other exceptions and some foods can move in
two directions e.g. lettuce possess both downward and inward movements.

Two other terms are also used to describe the movements of

foods: glossy (sliding) and astringent. Glossy foods such as
honey, banana, white fungus and milk facilitate movement by
acting as a lubricant. This is why these are good for
constipation and internal dryness. On the other hand,
astringent foods such as guava, plum, euryale seed and lotus
seed slow down movement, which is good for diarrhea and
seminal emission. The movements of foods can be changed Honey is sweet in flavor and
neutral in energy, it can
through certain methods of cooking. moisten the inner body,
promote bowel movements,
tonify the middle burner, slow
down acute reactions,
detoxify and lower blood
pressure.

References

English References:
1. Chinese System of Food Cures Prevention & Remedies by Henry C. Lu.Sterling Publishing
Co., Inc. 1986.
2. The Tao of Food, Richard Craze and Ronifjay, 1999 Godsfield Press.

3. Chinese Food: a Holistic Therapy by Tom Neuhaus, www.hopedance.org

4. Medicinal Food in China by Junshi Chen, M.D. http://newcenturynutrition.com

5. Cooling the Summer with Food: An Introduction to Medicinal Foods by Yanfang Wang, M.D.,
Ph.D. http://newcenturynutrition.com

中文參考﹕
1. 党毅，中醫營養食療學，北京：科學出版社，1995

2. Dang Yi, Peng Yong, Li Wenkui, Chinese Functional Food, New World Press, 1999

3. Dang Yi, Wang Huizhu, Peng Yong, Chinese Health Tea, New World Press, 1999.

4. 羅元愷主編，中醫婦科學，上海：上海科學技術出版社，1986

5. 史宇廣，單書健主編，小兒腹瀉專集，北京：中醫古籍出版社，1988

6. 唐．孫思邈撰，備急千金要方，北京：人民衛生出版社影印，1955

7. 元．忽思慧撰，劉玉書點校，飲膳正要，第一版，北京：人民衛生出版社，1986

8. 高學敏，中藥學，第一版，北京：中國醫藥科技出版社，1990

9. 冷方南等主編，中華臨床藥膳食療學，第一版，北京人民衛生出版社，1993

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5/21/2019 Properties of Food from a TCM Perspective

10. 党毅，吃五穀更健康，第一版，臺灣：元氣齋出版社，1994

Written By:
Dang Yi (黨毅) MD PhD
Professor, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine; Visiting Professor, Middlesex
University, London, UK; Vice Director, Gourmet Food Institute of Health Care and Nutrition of
Beijing, PRC.

Editors:
Raka Dewan, Integrated Chinese Medicine Holdings Ltd.
Rose Tse, Integrated Chinese Medicine Holdings Ltd.
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