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Balancing Yin And Yang With Food
By Noraini Maskuri
Traditional Chinese medicine practioners have discovered long ago that imbalances in diet contribute to many of our health problems. In other words, when the body is in balance it will be in a better position to fight diseases and maintan health. This can be achieved when you manage the smooth flow of qi, that vital energy responsible for good health.
In order to determine how foods can be used to maintain health and vitality, these practitioners have classified them as cold, cool, neutral, warm or hot. The grouping is based on their effects on the body and not on the physical nature or temperature of the foods itself.
Energy-providing foods or "yin" are warm and hot,higher in calories and often used to treat cold and improve blood circulation. Foods that are cold/cool or "yang" in nature, on the other hand, are lower in energy, and therefore serve to clear body heat by cooling the blood and eliminating toxins. Neutral foods serve to harmonize or neutralize, thereby bringing about a balanced state. To achieve good health, this is the state one should strive to work towards.
The type of foods that belongs to the 5 categories:
Cold/cool : banana, asparagus, watermelon, seaweed, crab, clam, salt, green bean, eggplant, apple, cucumber, barley, orange, wheat
Hot/warm : chilli, durian, chestnut, pumpkin, garlic, cherry, chicken, prawn, beef, wine, ginger, leek, coffee, peach
Neutral : cabbage, egg, fungus, coconut, soya bean, carrot, abalone, grapes, pineapple, squid, rice
According to these Chinese practitioners, there are three important factors to consider when planning your food consumption:
1. According to the season and climate - in areas where the season is hot, consuming more cold/cool foods will counter external and internal heat. Conversely, during cold season like winter, if the cold absorbs into the internal organs, it can cause abdominal pains, cold sweat and other complications. This can be countered by eating "yang" foods that can generate heat to warm the
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