The wisdom of the ancients in both Eastern and Western civilizations is evident in these words:
Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food. (Hippocrates, a Greek physician and the father of modern medicine)
Eating is as important as the sky. (A traditional Cantonese saying)
Chinese medicine strongly advocates the link between good food and good health. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) includes five areas of study: acupuncture, herbs, Qigong, Tuina (bodywork) and nutrition. Food is an essential component in a persons well-being for daily health as well as for supporting the body in healing when injured or ill.
Today, most people have only a vague understanding of food as fuel or energy for our bodies. Eating as pleasure is also over-emphasized, often leading to impulse eating, over-indulgence, perhaps obesity, and so often addiction. We should certainly enjoy our food, but if we can learn to see food as medicine for our bodies, perhaps we would make more conscious choices to consume quality food items knowing it is the basis for supporting our jing, qi, and shen.
A recent study by Oxford University, Cornell University, and the Chinese Academy for Preventative Medicine in Beijing found that the traditional Chinese diet is healthier than a Western one: Chinese people consume many more vegetables, grains, and fruits; they consume three times more fiber than the average American; 6 to 24 per cent of their daily calories comes from fat compared to 39 per cent for the average American.
Consuming a variety in foods is beneficial for good health. A classic Chinese text ascribes the benefits of a diversified diet as: five grains for nutrition, five fruits, five meats for benefit, five plants for fullness. Chinese culture encourages this practice by eating family style, or ordering a variety of items to share among everyone at the table. A mixture of textures, flavors, vegetables, and meat with a healthy amount of rice (grain) ensures an enjoyable culinary experience and a balanced diet. In a large group, it's common to order a variety of protein in the dishes: fowl, seafood, beef, pork, or tofu. Thus, creatures from earth, ocean, and sky are represented in your food. A variety of colors in each meal also ensures a full spectrum of nutrients and enzymes. Incorporating some color from each of the five elements--green for the wood element, red/orange for fire, yellows for earth, white for metal and purple/blue for water --provides a healthful variety of nutrients and qi. Fresh peas, carrots and beets, squash, potatoes and eggplant are examples of such an array.
Food temperature and method of preparation also impact health and digestion. Cooked or warm food is believed to be a means of pre-digestion and therefore easier for the body to assimilate, thus less taxing on the digestive organs, in particular the stomach/pancreas/spleen. In addition to reducing one's consumption of raw foods, the avoidance of foods that are too sweet or too oily is also recommended.
Interestingly, the Chinese study and practice of dietetics go even further: similar to herbs, subtle energetic properties apply to each specific food item. On a more fundamental level, foods are divided into Yin (cooling, moisturizing, nurturing) and Yang (warming, drying, moving).
Some Yin foods include bananas, bean curd, duck, lettuce, mango, melon, mushrooms, pear, and tomato.
Some Yang foods include apricots, basil, beef, chicken, dates, ginger, grapes, ham, and pineapple.
Still other foods are considered neutral, and often emphasized during convalescence: rice, almonds, beets, carrots, honey, peanuts, pork, and yogurt.
In summary, a well-balanced meal, according to the Chinese, is balanced between Yin and Yang foods. Food is one important way to bring balance back to the body. While much study is required for a nuanced understanding of these concepts, the truth is much simpler and common sensical:
