Autumn TCM Therapeutic Diet

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As people love refined cuisine today, more people have “concept of natural foods” as the diet trends. People now believe that eating healthy and nutritious foods in diets is the first line to prevent diseases and harmonize the body. With this new concept of diets, we want to decrease the dependency on western medications and use daily diet as an important part of therapy. It’ s only paying some attention on what you eat from daily meals that you can get therapeutic effects and decrease dependency on medications.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, we deeply believe that “ foods and medicine are coming from the same original sources”. “Qi” in foods is referring to the degree to which the taste and properties of one substance. Not only each person has different body constitution, but also there are 4 properties of foods in general, “hot(re), warm(wen), cool(liang), cold(han)”, and 5 tastes, “spicy(xin), sour(suan), bitter(ku), sweet(gan), and salty(xian)” according to its original nature in TCM. Herbs and foods have none of these 4 properties nor 5 tastes are considered to be neutral and bland (pin) . In Huang Di Nei Jing (Inner Classic) stated, “Spicy and sweet tastes scatter and belong to yang; sour and bitter substances drain and belong to yin, the salty taste drains and belongs to yin”. Spicy substances have the functions to disperse, open and move; sweet things have the functions to tonify and enhance; bitter substances have the functions to drain, dry and clear heat; sour things are astringent; salty foods are purge and soften; bland foods have the property to drain dampness and promote urination. Also, there is property of substance in TCM called aromatic (fang xiang) having the functions to drain dampness, open orifices, as well as wake up the channels and body.

Things are especially customized diets for individual with different time in different areas with different foods. When the weather turns from hot to cool, and waning of Yang Qi, Yin Qi is waxing in autumn. It’s the harvesting time of the year. “Autumn usually affects our lungs and large intestine in TCM”. During this transition, weather quickly turns dry at the end of summer and early autumn. It is usually extremely hot at noon then cools down quickly at night, which reduce moisture in the air quickly. Dryness of autumn can damage to the lungs and digestion.

People experience dry mouth, chapped lips, dry throat, thirst, dry cough, cough with phlegm, dry stools, dry skin. In Ben Cao Gang Mu (Grand Materia Medica), Master Shi-Zhen Lee said, "In autumn, one should eat more sour and warm foods to stay in harmony with the downward Yang Qi movement of the season." Sour foods in TCM generate more body fluids and prevent dehydration. For the foods that can nourish Lung dryness and moistening are: apples, apricots, Asian pears, plums, lily bulbs, gingko seeds (Bai Gou), loquats, mandarin oranges, radishes, egg white, American ginseng, white fungus. People have to protect upper respiratory and prevent flu or allergy so that we can be ready for wintertime. Formula Qing Zao Jiu Fei Tang (Eriobotrya & Ophiopogon Combination) is a good choice for moistening autumn Lung dryness and upper respiratory protection.

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