How should we eat according to traditional Chinese medicine?

Medicine is and is within oneself. In current energy healing, the path is to teach the patient to heal themselves, to find medicine in what they hear, see, eat, and decree. Ancient Chinese traditions assert that it is because there is energy behind everything. For them, balance means health and well-being. The Indian Ayurveda is often discussed as a philosophical way to heal through food, but as a mother culture, Chinese philosophy has much to contribute to the conversation. Governed by the tao philosophy, it explains that the body is a unit and not a collection of autonomous parts, as it is approached in Western medicine. Additionally, it is said that the yin and yang theory is intrinsic to life in general: it is present in the movements of the earth, in people, in food.From this perspective, everything has two forces: positive and negative, day and night, light and shadow. Each yin corresponds to a yang. Not too much, not too little. Just what balances. In a conversation with Dr. Osiris Triana from the Institute of Chinese Medicine, he mentions the swing – a Chinese invention – as the best example of the ancient wisdom of that country: if you push too hard, you will fly away. With the correct inertia, the play is a joy. “The yin yang philosophy arises from the observation of nature because it is considered the first and best teacher of man. The ancients began to understand that there were cycles in nature and that all had opposing movements,” Osiris explains to me.Not everyone needs the same food. One must select food according to the time of year, the particular climate of the day, and their health status. “Our organs and their ailments or health dictate the flow of foods we need,” confirms Osiris. As the subject is super complex, I also spoke with José Adalberto Marín Ortiz, an acupuncturist and teacher of techniques such as Chi Kung and Kung Fu, who assures that it is no coincidence that the Chinese look so vigorous and young compared to Europeans, who have bread and jam for breakfast. The Chinese eat breakfast early, at dawn, he says. They have protein and seeds that boost their vital energy.In Chinese medicine, the cold or heat of things and people marks the way: “doctors base their practice mainly on the manifestations of a person’s nature, even when they have an illness, the nature of the illness is studied in order to regulate temperature,” Adalberto confirms to me. Additionally, he explains that at every moment of the day, the body asks to balance temperature with the right foods. In the morning, when it is cold, it asks for something hot; at noon, something refreshing, while at night, the best choice is a hot, low-calorie stew. Osiris tells me that we must observe the fluctuations of energy, from cold to heat, throughout the year: when energy begins to grow is in spring; it reaches its peak in summer. When there is a downturn in Yang energy or heat energy, autumn begins, and finally, when it retreats to its minimum point, it is winter. This determines the types of foods we need. Food in traditional Chinese medicine also observes the philosophy of the five elements, in which each season corresponds to an element of nature: spring corresponds to the wood element; summer, the fire element; autumn, metal, while winter is water. Each element corresponds to an organ of the body and a cold or hot flavor that enhances it. For example, the water element corresponds to the kidneys, so one should choose foods that nourish and strengthen the kidneys, such as lamb or black beans. Osiris explains it this way: winter corresponds to the water element, which is a yin element, with a cold downward tendency, so it must be balanced with foods of hot energy. Similarly, each organ has another part of the body that strengthens or weakens it. The organ that enhances the kidneys are the lungs and its flavor is spicy, so one should consume foods of this nature such as onion, ginger, or garlic. “A little spicy, because if we go to excess, like in the example of the swing, the movement will be too strong and we will have an imbalance,” concludes Osiris. Adalberto tells me that the liver normally becomes congested or “heated” by stress or anger, so people with afflictions in that organ should consume bitter foods that refresh it. Sweet flavors weaken the spleen or digestive system, in illness, they should be limited, while a person with heart problems should avoid acidic foods. Additionally, he recommends consuming foods as fresh as possible and chewing until it becomes a paste before swallowing. Osiris, for his part, recommends checking what the body requires at each moment of the day and not being guided by cravings. In this lies a real love for our body. The key is to remember that illness is an imbalance of energy and that the recovery of health is intimately related to the harmonization of what enters the body: food, thoughts, stimuli, and emotions.