Its very common amongst practitioners of the Chinese medical tradition to find us to be almost zealots for balanced, nutritious healthy cooking and eating. The digestive system is govered by the earth element or node, its often at the root of what causes disease and we can't stress enough how important it is!  The digestion of food, from a Chinese perspective, happens within the same system of the digestion of everything else we take in with our senses. That means, its very likely that your system is overloaded with input. Most of us need to slow down, regulate and simplify.

Presented below are the broad health guidelines that almost everyone that walks through my office door, could hear, and utilize, even in part.  

 

 

 

 

1. Eliminate cold drinks and most raw and cold foods (for the time being at least)  in the winter sip warm beverages in the pm, always start the day with a glass of water and or warm tea or lemon water

 

2. Eat seasonally and locally, consider growing your own garden! Eat a variety of all 5 essential flavors, sweet (found in grains and vegetables) bitter, sour, pungent and salty

 

a. When healing the gut or other aspects of health, eat primarily cooked vegetables, soups and stews. When you go shopping really take the time to look at the produce, think about the season and choose what makes you feel alive. Choose vegetables in a wide variety of colors with a focus on Earth element (yellow and orange). In Autumn and Winter go for veggies like roots, squashes and year round you can also focus on cruciferous veggies as well as they do a lot of work to help the liver process. Make a list of veggies you like, haven't tried and want to try and explore new recipes. If you eat meat, continue to, eat a mix of beef, chicken, pork and fish. 

 

b. Salad in spring or summer only, after healing has happened. Consider soup for breakfast and consider adding fermented vegetables to your regular weekly meal planning

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3. If I’ve said you are blood deficient, in addition to the above, also add beets and dark leafy cooked greens and consider adding more red meat, liver and a strong source of gelatin, like bone or meat broth, or a high quality pasture raised beef liver supplement. Get enough water  but don't force drinking water if you aren't thirsty, add minerals to it. Look at sources of magnesium, zinc, iron, vitamin b and d, try a liquid multivitamin, they absorb better, I like Floradix products. Hide chicken liver chopped up into meatloaf. 

 

4. If you eat meat, or I’ve asked you to eat meat, look for locally sourced, organic and pasture raised, the less corn an animal consumes, the less inflammatory it is.

 

5. If I’ve said eliminate damp causing foods, that means no “dairy, processed white flour, sugar, shrimp, banana, juices especially, please note, butter doesn't count as dairy, usually a little cream in coffee is fine. Try adding in daikon (its usually available at Whole Foods) and try pearl barley as a cooked grain, they both diminish dampness and congestion in the digestive system. 

 

6. If I’ve said eat yin tonifying foods, or you’re menopausal,  add dark berries, eggs, nuts, especially walnuts, black sesame paste,  dairy (if not too much if dampness or allergy present). Look for cleanly sourced deep sea fish (tuna, snapper, mahi), but especially oysters. Drink warm tea at night. 

 

7. If you have constipation, add seeds, and focus more on getting enough water and fiber as well as exercise, the lung activates the large intestines, they are an organ pair in Chinese medicine, so try to walk at least daily. Green peas are a great source of fiber. Using the bathroom daily is crucial in balancing hormones.

 

8. If you have thyroid issues, cut gluten and limit cruciferous vegetables.

 

9. If you have anxiety, depression, metabolic, endocrine or hormone imbalances, especially, this next section on blood sugar balancing, is for you.

 

a.Eat a savory protein rich breakfast, if you have coffee, have that with or after breakfast, not before, because on an empty stomach, coffee causes a spike in cortisol. Eat the same few foods every day for breakfast, think staples

 

b. Eat to lessen blood sugar spikes by having a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar 30 minutes before a meal, this reduces sugar spikes by 30%

 

c. Eat meals this order: salads/pickled veggies and cooked veggies first, then meats/fish/proteins, then leave carbs for the end. Only have fruit or dessert, after a meal.

 

d. Always put a fat or protein on a carb, if you eat one as a snack. 

 

e Make half your plate veggies, a quarter meats and a quarter carbs, if you have a highly inflammatory condition, I usually suggest limiting or foregoing most carbs for a period of time.

 

10. If you have an inflammatory or autoimmune condition I may ask you to take some time away from grains and legumes. Consider either Gaps or Whole 30 for a month or two when we first begin our work together, you may need to continue that. In general grains and legumes are an important part of any balanced diet! 

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11. In this house: eggs are a superfood, the best bread is home made sourdough, we have soup for breakfast, culinary and medicinal herbs are a weekly part of a healthy diet, water is filtered, we try to chew until food sweetens a bit, and  dinner parties are great exercise, an essential part of life and food for the spirit~