According to Chinese Medicine, diseases can be either caused or made worse by the foods and drinks we consume. Each food has a temperature and can be used to balance the body. Food can be classified as either cold, cool, neutral, warm or hot. Cold and cooling foods cool the body, warm and hot foods heat up the body, and neutral foods are just that, neutral.
Cold or cool foods are great to clear heat and toxins out of the body. They are good for people who run hot, have fevers, hot flashes or other hot diseases. Cool foods can treat feelings of heat, thirst, constipation, perspiration, pungent or smelly body order or stools, burning anus, emotions like anxiety, agitation, anger, red eyes or face, headaches, vivid dreams, mouth ulcers, heart burn and dark yellow urine. Below is a list of cold or cooling foods:
Apple, banana, grapefruit, kiwi, lemon, kiwi, orange, pear, persimmon, pineapple, pomelo, star fruit, strawberry, watermelon
Alfalfa sprouts, asparagus, bitter gourd, celery, daikon radish, cucumber, eggplant, green leafy vegetables, kelp, lettuce, lotus root, mushroom, spinach, Swiss chard, tomato, water chestnut, watercress, winter melon.
Barley, buckwheat, millet, wheat
Mung bean, soy bean, tofu
MEAT / DAIRY
Clam, cheese, Egg, crab, cream, rabbit, yogurt
SPICES / CONDIMENTS
Seaweed, Chrysanthemum Tea, Green Tea, Peppermint Tea, Salt, Sesame oil, Soy sauce
One of my favorite things to do on a cold winter day is drink a cup of hot chocolate with cinnamon and ginger. It warms me up from the core. Warm foods increase circulation and warm you up. Consume warm foods when you are feeling cold, have cold hands or feet, have poor circulation or are feeling sluggish, sore joints, have diarrhea or other digestive disorders, get bloated after eating or drinking cold beverages or fluid retention. Below is a list of warm or hot foods:
Neutral foods are just that, neutral! They have minimal effect on your body and can be consumed by most people regardless of temperature based symptoms. Below is a list of neutral foods:
Black fungus mushrooms
BEANS / LEGUMES
NUTS / SEEDS