All foods have individual properties such as texture, color, taste (sweet, sour, spicy, salty, bitter) and temperature (warming, cooling, cold). All of these food properties can change the way the body functions. They can be used as physical medicine to optimize the function of the body and help clear symptoms of disharmony among organ functions.
They can be used to clear excess dampness in the body such as mucus or phlegm, astringe excess fluids in cases of edema or digestive conditions, increase the production of blood components such as red blood cells as well as other uses, warm cold diseases, cool warm diseases.
Within each organ system in Chinese medicine, there has been discovered a color, temperature and taste affinity that will strengthen the function of each organ. There also has been discovered a time of year when each organ system is stronger or weaker, depending on the patient’s constitution and genetics.
Within each acupuncture treatment, the Acupuncturist may make diet recommendations to assist with the treatment. This is something the patient can use at home after the acupuncture treatment to obtain a quicker, complete healthy outcome or something that may need to be used at times prior to the season arriving in order to prevent certain illnesses
For example, the organ/ season/ color/ taste is shown in the tablet below. But, as usual every case is different depending on the constitution of each patient and the physical or emotional condition being treated.
| ORGAN | SEASON | COLOR | TASTE | FUNCTION |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liver | Spring | Blue/Green | Sour | Binding, Astringent |
| Gallbladder | Spring | Blue/Green | Sour | Binding, Astringent |
| Heart | Summer | Red | Bitter | Drying |
| Small Intestine | Summer | Red | Bitter | Drying |
| Spleen | Late Summer | Yellow | Sweet | Tonifying |
| Stomach | Late Summer | Yellow | Sweet | Tonifying |
| Lungs | Fall | White | Spicy | Induce Sweat, Move Qi |
| Large Intestine | Fall | White | Spicy | Induce Sweat, Move Qi |
| Kidney | Winter | Black | Salty | Moistening |
| Bladder | Winter | Black | Salty | Moistening |
This is a small example of information the Acupuncturist reviews in order to recommend diet therapy. A treatment may consist of increasing or decreasing certain tastes of food along with food temperature recommendations. The benefit of this kind of nutrition is that even though the word “diet” is used, it is not generally used to lose weight. The patient does not have to give up any foods, the recommendations are to increase a certain taste or temperature of food and decrease another taste or temperature of food to benefit the functions within the body during a certain amount of time. The treatment is always very individualized
Chinese Diet Therapy
