For thousands of years, Chinese people regard the functions of food are far more than just satisfying the hunger. In fact, food is seen to have correlation to a healthy organic equilibrium and strong immunity.
By having the right food to keep sickness at bay, Chinese people drink green tea to enhance digestion system. They also eat different kinds of porridges in changed seasons. Chinese call it Medicinal Diet, which means foods with medicinal functions.
Food and Medicine Share Same Origin
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) perspective, remedy of illness contains three phases. The first is Medicinal Diet, the second is Physical Exercise, and the third is Medicine. That is, medicine will be used as the last alternative only if the first two are unsuccessful. In fact, food and medicine are seen as belonging to the same origin, suggesting that everyday diet would be of medicinal benefits.
In TCM theory, human body is an organic whole. When any part of it works improperly, unbalance then occur and the person will get sick. To let the body go back to a balanced condition, medication prescribed should be in opposite nature to the disease. For instance, medicines regarded cold by nature will be treated illnesses hot by nature, or vice versa.
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Although foods are as diversified in nature as medicines, the attributes of food are weaker than those of medicine; even a proper diet is able to heal only minor diseases in a long duration of time. Having said that, a proper diet is still a very significant supplement to medication when dealing with major diseases. After all, a proper diet under any circumstance by itself is a superior medicine for sickness prevention.
Foods with Five Tastes and Four Natures
Basically, the Chinese dietary regime consists of Five Tastes and Four Natures. Five Tastes are Sweet, Sour, Bitter, Salty, and Pungent; and Four Natures are Cold, Hot, Cool, and Warm.
The Five Tastes predominates how much effects a food or drug will do to the organism. Sour food, for instance, will accumulate and concentrate essential energy. Bitter food, on the other hand, unlocks blocked centers as well as promotes healthy bowel movement. While salty food can mitigate the feelings of heaviness, pungent food is able to enhance circulation and preservation of essential energy: “Qi.” And for the Four Natures, they are effective in fighting illnesses by being opposite in nature to them.
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Seasons Correspond to Organs
TCM believes that each of the four seasons–spring, summer, fall, and winter–has connections with a specific organ. Spring correlates to the liver, summer to the heart, fall to the lungs, and winter to the kidneys. Take summer for example, since the heart is hot by nature, it is advised to eat cold and bitter foods in this season. For fall, as the season is regarded as the time to accrue essential energy, it is advisable to have nutritious foods with sweet and sour taste. And for winter and spring, we should nourish the kidneys and replenish the liver respectively.
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That explains why Chinese always have a reason for eating particular foods other than just loving their flavors.
