Chinese Medicine Nutrition

General Dietary and Nutritional Guidelines

Proper nutrition is essential for good health and a rich life, and is an important part of Oriental Medicine (OM), though often overlooked. At its core, the purpose of food is to nourish the body and maintain health and vitality. It is preventative medicine. The majority of today’s illnesses are chronic and entirely preventable. Roughly 75% of healthcare spending goes to treating preventable diseases and about ½ of the adult population in the United States have chronic health conditions. Proper nutrition in the form of a lifestyle diet should be key whether promoting well-being or when treating disharmonies in the body.
Nutritional therapy is often quite effective at treating common pathologies based on an OM diagnosis like qi deficiency or blood deficiency, but sometimes nutritional therapy may not be enough. This is often seen in diagnoses like qi stagnation or blood stasis. Nutritional therapy can, however, be an excellent supplemental therapy used in conjunction with other OM modalities like acupuncture or herbs. The nutritional principles discussed in this pamphlet can be applied to any type of cuisine or style of cooking.
It is best to work with your practitioner, who is able to accurately diagnose and suggest dietary advice based on the presenting OM pattern or diagnosis.

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General Eating Habits

Foods the Should be Avoided

Nutrition for the Kidney

A good diet protects and supports the kidney and its ability to function properly. Kidney is the foundation of yin and yang. A proper diet enables the Kidney to support and influence the yin and yang of the entire body, with yin energy nurturing, supporting, and moistening the body and yang energy warming, energizing, and moving the body. Kidney yang is the root of yang, providing energy and warmth for the entire body, enabling proper function. As the kidney dislikes cold, energetically cold foods depletes kidney yang and blocks its ability to warm the whole body yang. More specific to the digestive process the kidney yang can be seen in the digestive process as digestive fire. When the digestive fire is healthy and strong food is effectively transformed into qi and blood. If the digestive fire is weak it cannot provide enough warmth and energy to the digestive process, resulting in diarrhea, bloating, poor appetite, dull abdominal pain.

Cooking foods longer at lower temps, like stews and bone broths, can be particularly beneficial for kidney support. Avoid raw and cold foods and drinks or ice water. Minimize eating raw foods, like salads especially in the winter.

Nutrition for the Liver

Nutrition can have a powerful effect on the liver and its ability to function properly. Often when discussing digestion and the liver the first thing that comes to mind is liver overacting on the spleen and stomach, impeding the digestive function and inhibiting the absorption of nutrients. Often what we do not pay attention to is the digestion of food by the spleen and stomach and how that plays an important role in providing the liver enough nourishment in the form of qi that was derived from food. If the liver does not get enough nourishment or not the right type of nourishment imbalance and disharmony in the liver will occur. Likewise proper nutrition can help resolve existing imbalances.
Nutritionally it is important to find a balance between getting enough energy and not taking in anything that will over excite, as this will exhaust the liver energy as well as the energy of the spleen and stomach. It is important to avoid stimulants including nicotine and caffeine. The emotion of anger is closely related to the liver, so alcohol is best in moderation or, for some, should be avoided completely. Some spicy and pungent food can be helpful in moderation as it can help to facilitate qi movement, as stagnation of qi is quite common with liver imbalances. However, too much of this can just as easily be a hindrance. It is also important to eliminate foods that congest the liver like saturated fats, hydrogenated fats, excess amounts of nuts, and highly processed foods. Eating habits can stagnate and congest the liver as well, so don’t skip meals, eat quickly, overeat, eat late, or eat when emotionally upset. Relax and enjoy the meal you prepared.

Nutrition for the Heart

The heart rules the blood and blood vessels, and stores the shen (spirit). Nourishment of the heart brings a long healthy life. The heart governs blood and circulation. For a normal heartbeat, with a smooth and even rate and rhythm, regulating circulation, heart qi and blood must be abundant.
The heart houses the shen. When the shen is harmonious, the mind is acute and clear, the physical body is exuberant, and the spirit is calm and peaceful. When the shen is disturbed, restlessness, insomnia, poor memory, anxiety, and panic will be present. When the shen is deficient, joylessness and lusterlessness will prevail. The heart requires qi and yin to properly house and anchor the shen. Proper nutrition can support the blood and yin of the heart and support the shen. Calm the shen by avoiding energetically hot foods, like ginger, garlic, alcohol, and coffee. This heat can easily be aggravated by stress and anger. Damp and phlegm can also adversely impact the heart and shen. By removing damp forming foods, like dairy and sugar, from the diet it can help aid in proper heart function and a healthy shen. It is best to cook foods with high heat and a short cook time, and with light salt and spice.

Nutrition for the Spleen & Stomach

The spleen and stomach are the most important organs to support with nutritional therapy, as they play pivotal roles in the digestive process. Disharmonies of the spleen and stomach often occur together and can generally be treated at the same time.

Spleen

The spleen is in charge of nutrition and digestion. It is the source of acquired qi, creating energy from food and water. The spleen, along with the stomach, is responsible for the absorption, distribution, transformation, and transportation of that energy. The health of the spleen dictates how effectively nutrients are absorbed from food. When the spleen is functioning well, a person will exhibit dynamic energy, good appetite, and a healthy digestion. When there is dysfunction in the spleen, chronic fatigue and poor digestion symptoms like abdominal bloating, excess gas, diarrhea or loose stools, nausea, poor appetite, etc., will be present. People with disharmonies in this system must incorporate healthy eating habits into their life if they are to overcome their health concerns.
The spleen generally responds very well to dietary treatments. General foods that benefit the middle burner are mildly sweet foods like poultry, vegetables, and grains, however, overindulgence of sweet can be harmful to the spleen. Avoid sugar and excessive consumption of naturally sweet foods like honey and maple syrup. Cold foods contract and stagnate the middle burner and stops digestion, and are best avoided.
Another main function of the spleen is to govern body fluids. If the spleen qi becomes deficient, the transportation and transformation function become impeded, resulting in damp-phlegm accumulation. Raw foods, cold foods and drinks, fruits, salads, dairy, and sugar cause and perpetuate damp conditions. In the case of spleen deficiency with damp, keep starchy carbohydrates low. Also pay extra attention to those foods on the avoid list.

Stomach

The stomach has a close connection with the spleen and is very import to the digestive process. Its main function is the absorption of food, separating the pure, which goes to the spleen and lung, and turbid, which goes to the small intestine.
Dryness and heat can damage the stomach. Hot acrid foods like coffee and alcohol, and spices like curry, garlic, pepper, should be avoided with stomach pathologies. Take time while eating, eat regularly, eat warm meals, and don’t eat late at night.

Nutrition for the Lung

Nutrition therapy can be used to prevent lung disharmonies as well as help treat existing conditions. The lungs are susceptible to deficiencies of qi and yin, and excess conditions of phlegm, dryness, wind-heat, wind-cold, and toxic-heat.
One of the most important functions of the lung is to govern qi and breathing. Supporting and strengthening the lung qi and yin through nutrition can be used to help with multiple aspects of the lung pathology.
1) Treating such symptoms as shortness of breath, dyspnea, weak voice, and weak breath.
2) Strengthening the exterior can help prevent external pathogenic invasions, like the common cold or allergies, or help resolve existing wind invasions.
3) Supporting proper lung function can help diffuse qi, moistening the body and preventing dryness. If the spleen is weak or over-taxed it can be the source of phlegm production. Instead of a fine mist, phlegm is sent to the lungs. If the lungs are unable to disseminate it throughout the body it ends up storing in the lung resulting in wheezing, dyspnea, shortness of breath, etc. Proper diet can help resolve chronic phlegm and prevent further accumulation.
To aid the lungs it is best to consume easy-to-digest foods that are fresh and lightly cooked, usually with less water and at lower temperatures. This helps increase the nutritional value and assimilation of food.