Foods have Energy: The Chinese Energetics of Food Part 2
In part one we discussed the qualities of yin/yang and temperature in regards to food. Now we will discuss the qualities of the 5 flavors and the 4 directions.
In Chinese Medicine, the 5 flavors are pungent, sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. The SAD (Standard American Diet) consists primarily of just 3 of the 5 flavors. It tends to consist primarily of sweet, sour, and salty. Foods that have none of these tastes are said to be bland.
Some foods have more than one flavor associated with them. Some foods like raw honey are considered to have a very different action or effect than refined honey. Although both sweet, raw honey still contains pollen which has a more pungent and drying effect.
Flavors and Their General Effects on the Body
Bitter (Heart/Small Intestine)
Effective for inflammations, infections, moist and damp conditions, high cholesterol, candida overgrowth, parasites, abscesses, and overeating. Dry, cold, nervous, weak persons should not overeat bitter foods.
Bitter Foods: Alfalfa, romaine lettuce, rye. Bitter+pungent: citrus peel, radish leaf, scallion, turnip, white pepper. Bitter+sweet: amaranth, asparagus, celery, lettuce, papaya, quinoa. Bitter+sour: vinegar
Pungent (Lung/Large Intestine)
Stimulates circulation, cardioprotective, clears obstructions and improves liver function, moistens the kidneys affecting fluids in the entire body, improves digestion, and reduces mucous conditions, and expels parasites.
Pungent Foods: Warming: spearmint, rosemary, scallion, garlic, onion, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, black pepper, all peppers, cayenne, mustard greens, fennel, anise, dill, nutmeg, basil, and horseradish. Cooling: peppermint, marjoram, white pepper, and radish. Neutral: taro, turnip, and kohlrabi.
Salty (Kidney/Bladder)
Softens lumps (such as hardened lymph nodes), benefits cataracts, knotted muscles, and glands, relieves constipation, abdominal swelling and pain, sore throat, pyorrhea and increases appetite.
Salty Foods: Salt, seaweed (kelp, kombu, bladderwrack, dulse), barley, millet, soy sauce, miso, pickles, umeboshi, and gomasio.
Sour (Liver/Gall Bladder)
Benefits incontinence, excessive perspiration, hemorrhage, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, prevents or reverses abnormal leakage of fluids, dries and firms up tissue.
Sour Foods: Hawthorne berry, lemon, lime, pickles, rosehip, sauerkraut, crab apple, sour plum. Sour+bitter: vinegar. Sour+pungent: leek. Sour+sweet: aduki bean, apple, blackberry, cheese, grape, mango, olive, raspberry, sourdough bread, tangerine, tomato, and yogurt.
Sweet (Spleen/Stomach)
Slows acute reactions and neutralizes toxic effects of other foods, also lubricates and nourishes the body. Those who benefit the most from sweet flavors are dry, cold, nervous, thin, weak, scattered, or aggressive persons. For those persons with a lot of damp or mucous signs, the sweet flavor should be avoided.
Sweet Foods: Fruits: apple, apricot, cherry, date, fig, grape, grapefruit, olive, papaya, peach, pear, strawberry, tomato Vegetables: beet, mushroom, cabbage, carrot, celery, chard, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, potato, spearmint, squash, sweet potato, yam. Nuts/seeds: almond, chestnut, coconut, sesame seed, sunflower seed, walnut. Sweeteners: amasake, barley malt, honey, molasses, rice syrup, whole sugar (unrefined).
The flavors should be balanced for optimal health. Balance does not refer to equal amounts, but to bring the body into harmony with the seasonal influences. So how does one balance flavors that attune to the seasons but may contradict individual needs? You start by focusing on the individual’s need to be balanced and then incorporate the seasonal influences without disturbing the individual’s internal climate. For example, someone with edema at the ankles and lower body cannot tolerate salt as it makes the swelling worse. Winter weather is cold and dry and therefore the body can tolerate more salt. For this individual with edema, we might emphasize bitter flavors for the drying effect as well as helping attune the individual to the colder season.
In Chinese Medicine, the taste of a substance partly determines its therapeutic function. Pungent taste disperses and moves; sweet tonifies, harmonizes, and sometimes moistens; bitter drains and dries; sour astringes and prevents or reverses abnormal leakage of fluids or energy; salty purges and softens. If a flavor is generally helpful for an organ function then too much of the flavor can have the opposite effect. This certainly can be seen when too much of the sweet flavor is consumed. Instead of helping digestion, it burdens it. You develop mucus, loose stools, feeling of fullness and stuckness in the general stomach area. Diabetes is a result of poor digestion and blood sugar regulation often fueled by the flavor of sweet.
Some foods may possess two different flavors or a bland flavor which means it has little or neutral taste. For example, cucumbers have both sweet and bland flavors. Foods with a bland flavor usually promote urination and may be used as a diuretic, coix seed and wax gourd are examples of this bland. In addition, foods with a strong scent are categorized as “aromatic”, such as basil, fennel, coriander, peppermint, and citrus fruits. These foods can be eaten to enliven the spleen, stimulate appetite, promote energy and circulation, resolve dampness and turbidity, refresh the mind, open up the orifices, and detoxify.
The 4 directions of Chinese Energetics are outward (expansive and floating), inward (contracting and sinking), upward (rising and lifting), and downward (lowering). These are used to describe a specific nature or quality of food.
Outward – induces perspiration and dissipate body heat
Inward – slow down bowel movements and relieve abdominal distention
Upward – arrests diarrhea and holds internal organs in their proper place (prevents prolapsed)
Downward – relieves vomiting, hiccupping, coughing, and panting
In general, foods like leaves and flowers and those with light and loose qualities possess a tendency to move upwards or outwards; while roots and seeds and fruits that are heavy and hard in qualities possess a tendency to move downwards or inwards. However, there are many other exceptions and some foods can move in two directions e.g. lettuce possess both downward and inward movements.
Two other terms are also used to describe the movements of foods: glossy (sliding) and astringent. Glossy foods such as honey, banana, white fungus and milk facilitate movement by acting as a lubricant. This is why these are good for constipation and internal dryness. On the other hand, astringent foods such as guava, plum, and lotus seed slow down movement, which is good for diarrhea and seminal emission. The movements of foods can be changed through certain methods of cooking.
Flavors and their Temperatures & Direction
Bitter: Yin/Cooling, directs energy inward and to the lower body (downward)
Pungent: Yang/Warming, directs energy outward and to the upper body (upward), expansive, dispersive
Salty: Yin/Cooling, directs energy inward and to the lower body (downward)
Sour: Yin/Cooling, causes contraction and has an absorbent, astringent effect
Sweet: Yang/Warming, directs energy outward and to the upper body (upward)
Enjoy all foods on a daily basis. Amounts consumed of these flavors will change depending on the time of year and the individual’s constitution and state of health. However, you will always do better by the general rule of eating local, seasonal, and in moderation. Try to eat a varied diet and a little of the bitter, pungent, salty, sour, and sweet flavors every day. Chinese philosophy follows the laws of nature and believes a body in balance will be free from strange diseases and will not lose any of the natural functions and the spirit of life will never be exhausted.
Source
Healing with Whole Foods, Oriental Traditions and Modern Nutrition, Paul Pitchford, 1993