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Have You Heard About Chinese Food Therapy?

If you practice healing by way of natural foods instead of using medications than perhaps you are following Chinese food therapy which is also known as Chinese Nutrition therapy. This type of therapy is popular among those who enjoy slow-cooked soups. Want to know more about which foods heal, read on.

Yin and Yang, the Chinese philosophy describing opposing forces that are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world and can also be found in many aspects of Chinese life including food and food preparation. The foods that are considered to be "Yang foods" are those in which the body's heat rises (metabolism) and "Yin foods" are those foods in which the body's heat decreases (lowers the metabolism). Those foods that are dense in food energy such as those foods that contain fat are said to be Yang foods and those that are high in water content are said to be Yin foods.

The food nature is either warm or cooling and it does not necessarily have to do with the taste of the food or how the food is cooked.

Examples of Yang foods are beef, brown sugar, butter, cheese, chicken livers, chocolate, coffee, eggs, smoked fish, garlic, green peppers, ham, kidney beans, lamb, leeks, onions, peanut better, roasted peanuts, turkey, walnuts, potato, and chilies.

Examples of Yin foods are almonds, apples, asparagus, banana, barley, bean sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, celery, corn, crab, cucumber, fish, grapes, honey, Ice creams, lemons, mushrooms, oysters, oranges, peppermint tea, pineapple shrimp, strawberries, spinach, white sugar, tomatoes, and water.

Yin foods tend to be those foods that cool the body or moisten the body while yang foods are those that warm the body or dry the body.

The choices you make regarding the food you eat can have an impact on the healing processes within your body. When your body has a yin or yang imbalance the food choices you make can help to restore the balance of yin and yang and those restore the body to health. Your body's physical constitution is constantly changing, so you must adjust with the seasons the foods you eat to help your body adjust to what impacts the body in your life situation.

If you have a yin imbalance you tend to feel chilled and your urine is usually clear. You may feel tired often and perhaps feel depressed. Your health worsens over the colder months and you may become quiet or withdrawn when the weather is cold.

A person with a yin imbalance will have a stuffy nose, abdominal bloating, and retention of fluids, become overweight with soft fat, puffy eyes or face and become easily short of breath. The person may experience heaviness in the lower body. A yin imbalance is exacerbated by damp living conditions. Eating fried foods, lots of bread and pasta, commercial dairy products and sweets, can worsen this yin condition. If a person with a yin imbalance eats too many salads or raw frits this can weaken the digestion more. To balance eating the wrong foods with a yin imbalance aerobic exercise is the remedy.

Foods that restore a person to health that is suffering from a yin imbalance are lightly cooked greens such as broccoli, asparagus, kale and turnip greens as well as fish and roasted meats and poultry. Grains that are good for someone with a yin imbalance are rye, basmati rice, and jasmine and sprouted grains also green tea, turnips, radishes, pumpkin seeds, and bitter foods and herbs.

If you have a yin imbalance you should avoid eating commercial dairy products, sweets, starchy foods, Ice cream, lasagna, and white bread.

Individuals with a yang imbalance tend to feel warm, are very talkative most of the time, are uncomfortable during the hot weather months, tend to have dark urine, suffer from fever blisters and canker sores, like to dress in light clothes or short sleeves, usually have ruddy complexion, suffer from headaches, and nose bleeds, crave cold drinks, suffer from restless sleep patterns which may include disturbing dreams, are usually irritable, impatient and prone to anger. They are often constipated.

A person with a yang imbalance suffers from stress in the hot weather months. Ideal foods for a person with a yang imbalance are salads, cucumbers, and lightly cooked green leafy vegetables such as watercress and spinach. They should limit meat consumption. Other foods that can help a person with a yang imbalance are melons, pears, bean dishes, sprouts, sushi, lots of water and non-spicy soups. Mint is an herb that should be used to help cool.

A person with a yang imbalance should avoid alcohol and sugar.