Chinese Dietary Therapy
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), all foods have a multitude of healing properties, when taken in moderation. Not one food is seen as particularly bad for you, like Western medicine often does. The intent of this article is to give some basic TCM knowledge as it pertains to diet so that you will have a better understanding of how digestion works from an Eastern perspective.
During the Tang Dynasty, a famous doctor claimed that a sick person needs only to changes one's diet and lifestyle in order to heal from their dis-ease. Only in extreme cases were herbs or acupuncture prescribed. Aspects of lifestyle included exercise, a good mental attitude, as well as rest and relaxation. In otherwords, developing balance in one's life created health.
Jing, or "life fire" is imperative to our existence. When our bodies' Jing is depleted, we die. Jing is stored in our kidneys and is of two types. The first type is the kind we are born with and is supplied by our parents (like our DNA). It is referred to as "former heaven essence" and it is finite. The first type of essence is then supplemented by the second infinite type, "nutritive essence". It is formed by the food and beverages we consume and the air that we breathe. It is transformed into Qi (life essence) and Blood. If we have manufactured more Qi and Blood than we consumed that day, it will be stored in our major organs: Heart, Lungs, Spleen, Liver and especially the Kidneys. So as you can see, what we consume has a huge impact on our life and longevity.
“Former heaven essence” is seen as a trust fund that we inherit at birth whereas “Nutritive essence” can be compared to the money we save in our bank accounts. In alchemy, it is said that it takes gold to make more gold and the same goes for our Jing. When the two types of Jing are abundant, our metabolism and organs function well and we generate a profit each day. However, if our “Former heaven essence” is weak from the start or our “Nutritive essence” is poor due to our diet or lifestyle, then we run a negative daily balance. We are then forced to consume our capital and go bankrupt or die.