Chinese Nutrition:

A Healing Therapy Which Balances
Foods As The Types Of Alternative Medicine

Chinese nutrition, as a medical therapy is commonly called Five Phases. This specialty has practitioners which learn, and then use the flavors of foods to relate to the "phases of nutrition" as a form of healing the body of illness and disease.

Any body in disharmony will be associated with different organ systems within our body showing the effects of an illness. An effective way to alleviate the disharmony is to restore balance to the affected organ. This is done by learning the art of balancing flavors of foods for optimum health.

There is five different flavors common to chinese nutrition. Each has its own role to play in helping us reach and maintain good health.

• Wood is sour foods
  Sour is an astringent. An excess in your system will create problems in the spleen, over-production of saliva (which is generated by an out of balance liver) or muscle cramps or injury. Therapeutic relief comes from adding "Metal" foods to the diet.

• Fire is related to bitter. Bitter properties lead to drying and strengthening. For an excess in the body you will notice dryness of the spleen, stomach and digestive energy congestion and a dry, emaciated look to the skin. By adding salty foods to your diet you can help alleviate Fire.

• Earth is related to sweet. Sweet can be either harmonizing or retarding to our health. Over-consumption of sweet leads to achy bones, unbalanced kidneys, hair loss, and possible inbalances to the heart organ. The addition of sour will counteract sweet foods.

• Metal is thought of as hot, powerful and pungent. Metal's main characteristic in the body is considered to be dispersing. An excess of pungent leads to muscle knots, slow pulse and unhealthy toenails and fingernails. The addition of Fire (bitter foods) will alleviate this inbalance.

• Water is then associated with salty. Salty is considered softening. An excess yields weak and under-nourished muscles and flesh, lack of strength and easily depressed. Counteract this inbalance with sweet foods.

Anytime you visit a practitioner of TCM, along with the other possible means of treatment, chinese nutrition is one of the first treatment goals prepared and instructed for every patient's at-home health care. Many fields of alternative medicine are reliant on making the patient understand the value in good nutrition by following a whole foods diet plan as your main source of energy.

Achieving better health through any therapy program is useless if good health can not be maintained because of poor diet. Therefore the basics of chinese nutrition, or following the standard chinese diet is an important part of each and every recuperation plan.

Return to "Traditional Chinese Medicine" from "Chinese Nutrition"