Food has been used to promote health for centuries in China. A lot of herbal formulas have food ingredients in them. Some people in China will eat specific food to gain lustrous skin or shiny hair to look younger. There are also food recipes for ailment like colds and flu. Food is adjusted according to the seasons. For example in the Spring leafy vegetables are recommended as this is the season of the Liver and the color is Green. In the winter people eats more root vegetables and walnut to tonify the Kidney.
In Chinese Medicine everyone is unique. People have different constitution. Also the diet and lifestyle make the body different. Some people are more prone to cold and have cold hands and feet. Others may have heat in the body showing as sore throat, mouth ulcers or skin rashes. There is no such thing as a good food for everyone. Food needs to be chosen carefully according to people’s constitution. For instance i saw patient who came to the clinic to lose weight. They were strictly stick to a “good diet” which is made of a lot of veg, fruits and a large quantity of water daily. However the weight is going up and the body feels really tired. After checking the pulse and the tongue it is quite clear that this patient has Yang energy deficiency. Her Yang energy in the body is not strong enough to deal with the amount of “cold” food she took. They became damp and phlegm accumulated in her system. Food is categorized into “Warm”, “Cold” or “Neutral” in China. People with Yang energy deficiency should eat more “Warm” and easy digestible food.
I will give a talk in the Asian Market in Drury Street as part of the Chinese New Year Celebration event. I will talk about tongue diagnosis and how people find out their constitution through tongue diagnosis and use food to help improving their health. You can book the talk here: https://dublinchinesenewyear.ticketsolve.com/shows/873584095/events/128120456
Here is an interview I did with Irish Country Magazine about this event: https://www.irishcountrymagazine.ie/the-healing-powers-of-chinese-medicine-348126/