TCM Food Flavors for a Balanced Diet

☯️Chinese food therapy is wildly different from Western nutrition philosophy. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) focuses on food flavors, colors and temperatures to maintain a balanced, healthy diet instead of calories and macros. 🥗

Today I am going to focus on the flavors. The five flavors of TCM are:

☕ Bitter foods are considered beneficial for the fire element related to the heart and small intestine. A little bitter can clear excess heat, strengthen the stomach, promote salivation and benefit circulation.

Too much can disturb the heart and negatively impact sexual function. These foods include coffee, cacao, bitter melon, green tea, citrus peel, certain dark leafy greens, and dandelion.

🥝 Sweet foods nourish qi (life force), build blood and diminish worry (ever wonder why stress makes you crave sugar?). They belong to the earth element as well as the spleen and stomach.

Too much sweet can create a build up of damp and phlegm, and increase worry. Sweet foods include sugar, grains and fruits.

🧄 Pungent foods are spicy foods. They are related to the metal element as well as your lungs and large intestines. They can promote blood flow, improve lung function and dispel grief.

Too much however can damage the lungs and large intestines. Spicy foods include garlic, chilis, onion, ginger, and wasabi.

🧂 Salty foods are related to the water element and your kidneys and bladder. They can clear heat, decrease inflammation, soften masses, and resolve toxins.

Too much salt can dry fluids and lead to hypertension and dehydration. Salty foods include soy sauce, seaweed, salt, miso, celery and seafood.

🍋Sour foods belong to the wood element that rules the liver and gallbladder. Sour foods can strengthen the liver and promote digestion however too much will have the opposite effect.

Sour foods include pickles, lemons and limes, vinegar, sauerkraut, and other fermented foods.