Traditional Chinese Medicine (also known as TCM) is a profound and highly sophisticated medical system that dates back over 3,000 years. It is a complete healthcare system, comprised of massage, diet, exercise, and lifestyle advice.
TCM originates from Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, again just like Greek and Ayurvedic Medicine, these medical systems do have elements of kufr in them and thus cannot be taken in completely or blindly. According to TCM, there are five elements in our body’s creation: earth, water, fire, wood and metal. There are two body constitutions: yin or yang energy dominance.
Yin is cold, while yang is hot, and both are present within the body as opposing and balanced energies. Each organ has a yin-yang balance. Both energies are mutually controlled and interact with one another, if one becomes more dominant than the other, trouble arises.1
Foods are categorized into hot, warm, neutral, cool, and cold; eating balanced energies leads to overall balance (Chi).
- Hot foods are peppers, dried ginger, mustard seeds, etc.
- Warm foods are onions, coriander, chicken, etc.
- Neutral foods are rice, sweet potatoes, carrots, lemons, etc.
- Cool foods are wheat, eggplant, coconut, etc.
- Cold foods are watermelons, bananas, lettuce, etc.
Keep in mind that not all medicines agree on the thermal energies of food. What might be considered cool in Chinese medicine might be considered warm in Ayurveda. However, as you can already see, there is a resemblance between these first two traditional medicines in the methodology of identifying disease and in how they must be dealt with.
The balance of energy Chi is at the heart of optimal health, and disease is believed to be an imbalance of yin and yang from improper food consumption.
Again to summarize, keep in mind:
- Two body constitutions
- Food is categorized according to hot/warm, cold/cool, and neutral energy.
- Balanced energy is at the heart of good health.
- Imbalance is the root of all diseases.
——–
1 http://www.shen-nong.com/eng/principles/applicationyingyang-human-body.html