HEALTHY NUTRITION

A broader perspective

The Western approach to nutrition has long provided the same nutritional advice to practically everyone. What it comes down to is “Eat something from the Five Food Groups every day – and count those calories!” Meanwhile, the average Western eating habits have shifted away from healthy, whole foods towards those that are highly manufactured, chemically processed, and even addictive. Growing individualism and other social changes are disrupting mealtime patterns. In response, a huge range of contradicting diet fads have multiplied over the past decades. But from Atkins to Paleo to Intermittent Fasting, their approaches all stem from the ‘Basic 5’ framework.

The Eastern approach to nutrition is based on ancient Traditional Chinese Medicine. It recognises the need to consume sufficient amounts of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, but has a much broader and deeper view of what makes up a healthy, balanced diet than just the five food groups.

Over the centuries, other types of impact that foods have on the body have been identified which are equally important. The result is Traditional Chinese Food Therapy (TCFT): a unique, highly individual nutritional system based on the energy of – and synergy between – both food and digestion.

Hidden effects

By now, nutritional science experts in both the East and West are well aware that ‘natural’ food is best. When food quality is substandard, your body doesn’t get all of the vitamins, minerals, and essential fats and amino acids that it needs. Instead, you end up consuming more sugars, saturated fats and chemically processed ingredients. All of this unnatural, over-refined, and overbalanced food has disastrous impact on the physical development of children and the wellbeing of adults.

However, Traditional Chinese Food Therapy identifies other important factors besides the basic nutrients. In ancient Asian practice, foods offer a specific type of energy that is hot-warm (Yang), neutral, or cool-cold (Yin). This has nothing to do with the food temperature, but with the effect it has on the metabolism after initial digestion. Foods are also further classified based on their specific taste that is aligned with ways that Qi energy moves, which helps in digestion, relaxation, opening blockages, and the conservation of bodily fluids.

This is a systematic, nutritional approach which recognises that over-consumption of any food type will create an imbalance that not only impacts our physical constitution (Jing), but also our supply of daily energy (Qi) and mental state (Shen). Conversely, those who suffer from certain health problems may easily get relief simply by adding or increasing a few key types of foods to their daily diets.

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