INTRODUCTION TO FOOD MEDICINE

By Dr. Teresita Yu

"Food can expel pathogens and protect the internal organs, make people happy and benefit the Qi and blood. A good doctor explores the origins of a disease and its pathogenesis, then prescribes foods to treat the patient. Medicines should be used only if food therapy fails."

Sun Si Miao
From Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Talents of Gold
TANG DYNASTY (670-907 A.D.)

According to Traditional Chinese medical theory, we are born with a finite amount of congenital essence inherited from our parents and further determined by our environment in the womb. This is called our “pre-Heaven Qi.” It is unique to each individual and not far from the concept of our “genetic map or gene pool” theory in Western Medicine. What we do in life to modify, alter, enhance or deplete our own
“pre-Heaven Qi” determines the state of our well-being. This after-birth essence the body produces is called “post-Heaven Qi.”

Food is a major determinant of our health that is for the most part directly under our control. It is essential to human existence and and when used properly can strengthen the body and prevent certain diseases. What, when and how we eat often defines who we are as individuals, families, a people and a culture. Although we prepare and consume food everyday, we don’t often think of food as being “alive” with its own biology, chemistry and physics. Food is full of phyto-chemicals that serve as nutrients for our body. Each type of food has its own color, temperature, taste and fragrance. This is called the science of food medicine. The discovery and analyis of these these three sciences of food may be modern but the practice of food as medicine is over 4,000 years old. During the Shang Dynasty (1176-1154 B.C.), Yi Yin invented cooking wares along with soup and broth cooking techiniques to treat diseases. Accordingly, in the Imperial Palace of the West Zhou Dynasty (1122-781 B.C.) “Food Doctors” selected and prepared meals for kings, using vegetables, fruits, grains, poultry, meats, herbs and other ingredients to make food that was both delicious and health preserving.

One of the biological properties of food is its temperature (the nature of food is used often in Chinese textbooks). The Chinese have always believed in eating and drinking according to the seasons. Cool and cold foods for spring and summer, warm and moistening foods for autumn and warmer and hot food for the winter. Neutral foods are for all seasons. Each type of food or herb has an energetic property based on its nature (termperature), they are classified as cool, cold, neutral, warm and hot. the following list is from “The Tao of Nutrition” Ni and Mc. Nease. This information is for general knowledge and guideline consideration. Please discuss individual nutriitional needs with your health car provider based on your body
constitution and harmony.

“Let food be our Medicine, and Medicine our food.” Hippocrates

Review the Energetic Properties of Food to see which are cooling, neutral and which are warming from the following links:

A. Vegetables

B. Fruits, Grains, Seeds, Beans and Animal Products and Miscellaneous

C. Herbs and Miscellaneous