“Laughter is brightest in the place where food is.”
Irish Proverb
A Few Eating “Basics”:
The specifics of what and how to eat will be discussed under the relevant “pick your struggle” however here are a few key concepts that are always true.
Get out of your head!
In Traditional Chinese Medicine certain emotions or patterns of thought have a tendency to affect certain organs or physical parts of the body more than others. (You can read more about that in “pick your struggle” and under the “mind”.
In particular excessive thinking (about anything) has a profound impact on your ability to digest food. One of the very best things you can do to improve your digestion is to learn to “embrace the moment” and “get out of your head” both throughout the day and at mealtimes. (More about that here, and is a core goal in the 1 on 1 therapy I offer via zoom.)
So what foods are good or bad?
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine ALL food is both good and bad depending on what you are trying to heal from. All of the specifics are under the relevant “pick your struggle” however there are some very simple basics, and remember that the most important thing is to NOT OVERTHINK THIS.
- Food and drink can be broken down into 2 basic categories:
- Food that builds the body up.
- Food that cleans the body out.
- Dr. Natasha McBride did a great blog on this here, but it basically boils down to the idea that the body goes through periods of building and periods of cleaning and different food helps in different ways.
- Another way we can classify food or drink is by the “biproduct” left over after it is digested:
- All food has a digestable part and a “waste product” after digestion. In Chinese Medicine many food sensitivities come from eating to much food with the same “waste product.” To make this simple just imagine that everything you eat, drink, or are exposed to in your environment creates “toxins” that need to be cleaned out.
- We group “toxins” into 3 primary groups; Damp, Heat, and Cold. If you live in a cold weather area, eat lots of ice cream, and don’t turn your heat on you can accumulate too much “cold” toxin. When the amount of “toxin” reaches the breaking point you start to develop symptoms (in this case feeling cold and cramping type pain.)
- A final way to easily classify food and drink is by the “organ” or “system” that digests it:
- Digesting food requires effort from many different organs. Your stomach, liver, gallbladder, and intestines are examples of this.
- Each food requires more effort from 1 organ and less effort from another. The liver and gallbladder being in charge of digesting fats are an example of this.
- The other common cause of food sensitivities comes from eating too much food that requires most of the effort from 1 organ rather than spreading it over all the organs. An example of this would be eating a high fat, high protien diet with few carbs or vegetables which requires the liver and gallbladder to do all the work rather than a more balanced diet which allows some of the work to be done by the stomach and intestines.
- A final point on good vs bad food:
- From the perspective of Chinese Medicine…ANY diet that EXCLUDES categories of food long term (no carbs, no meat, no vegetables etc.) WILL ALWAYS lead to dis-ease eventually. Life is about balance, not extremes.
Where To Next?
Build on your understanding of your relationship with food in the following post:
Learn about specific practices/opportunities to heal for your specific challenges in the Pick Your Struggle Tab:
Get personalized 1 on 1 attention by scheduling a private session:
Further your knowledge and practice with in a different area: