Categorization of Foods

In traditional Chinese medicine, food is divided into five natures: cold, cool, neutral, warm and hot. The nature of food is not determined by their actual temperature, but rather by what effects they have on a person's body after consumption. When a person continually eats one type of food, it creates an imbalance in their body, and affects their immune system. One of the keys in Chinese medicine is to keep the body "neutral” and balanced. 

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Ancient Chinese believed that there was a vital energy, called Qi, surged through the body. Qi

was an aspect of the Dao. Any imbalance to Qi could cause disease and illness. Human was part

of the larger surrounding universe, and were interconnected with nature and subject to its forces.

Balance between health and disease was very important. Through systematic Qi-enhancement

practices, people could achieve a fully tuned system and restored the balance.

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Foods were an important part for them to maintain the health and balance. They used clean and

fresh foods, pure in color and clear in texture. Avoid anything old, moth-eaten, rotten, poor in

quality, as well as anything processed, or preserved. Foods were categorized according to

properties, flavors, and energetic movements. The most basic division is into Yin and Yang.

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Yin foods

Yin foods tend to grow in the earth and in dark, shady locations; they are sweet in flavor, fatty in

consistence, and rich in potassium. Yin foods include leafy vegetables, fish, corn, seasonal fruits,

and herbal teas, etc. they have a cooling, moisturizing, and decongesting effect, and promote

fluid production while mitigating heat accumulation. It is Qi-reducing.

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Yang foods

Yang foods grow in air and sunshine; they are salty in flavor, lean in consistence, and rich in

sodium. Yang foods include anything fried, boiled, fatty, or spicy, as well as meats; they are

warming, drying, and stimulating in nature, and as they absorb the cooking heat, they generate

heat in the body and stimulate circulation. It is Qi-enhancing.

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Important Historical Documents

Huangdi Neijing and Bencao Gang Mu are two of the oldest surviving complete books on Chinese medicine. They were written by doctors hundreds to thousands of years ago. In 1596, during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), Li Shizhen wrote Bencao Gang Mu, which he used to compile information about different kinds of herbs, their effects on people and preventing and curing disease. This book is considered one of the greatest scientific achievements from the Ming dynasty. They  are still used in medical education in China. 

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Huangdi Neijing is dated to between the late Warring States period (475-221 BCE) and the Han dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE). It has been considered the fundamental guidelines for information on Chinese medicine for more than two thousand years. 

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Shang Han Lun is a book about advancements in Chinese medicine during the Han dynasty. It contains much information about disease patterns, formulas and treatments, specifically on how to treat epidemics and diseases caused by the cold.

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Types of Food

One herb that is commonly used is ginseng. It has been used to treat many health problems, such as menopause symptoms, fatigue and high blood pressure. It is considered hot in nature.

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Traditional Chinese medicine has used chrysanthemums to treat mental and physical health problems, such as colds, for thousands of years, associating the flower primarily with the lung and liver. It is considered cool in nature.

Dang gui (Angelica sinensis) was also used to benefit women's health, cardiovascular conditions, osteoarthritis, mild anemia, fatigue and high blood pressure. It is considered hot in nature.

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Ginseng and dang gui were often boiled in soup along with different combinations of herbs to produce various medicinal effects.

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The above are only three of the countless foods used in Chinese medicine.