It is the nature of food, to be cold, neutral or hot. When the body is hot, it is good to have cool or cold food to clear away heat and eliminate toxins. Hot foods warm the interior and dispel cold to treat the symptoms linked with excess cold. Traditional Chinese medicine divides food into three categories-yin, yang and neutral. Yin foods are cool or cold in nature, whereas yang food is the opposite and warms the body. Neutral foods do not influence any hot or cold syndromes in the body. The ultimate goal of traditional Chinese medicine food therapy is to maintain a healthy balance based on the effect food is perceived to have on the body. By balancing our diet, we create harmony within the body, resulting in health and well-being.
Many of us already instinctively meet our body’s needs to balance food with the season. In winter it is common to consume more soup, stew and other hot foods than in the summer. Whereas in summer we go in search of more cold foods like fruits and juices.
Cold or cool foods
Strawberries, cucumber, pears, mango, spinach, tomatoes, bananas, clams, crab, grapefruit, lettuce, watercress, watermelon, apples are all cold foods.
Neutral foods
Beef, beets, carrots, celery, corn, eggs, potatoes, white sugar form the neutral food group.
Warm or hot foods
Cherries, chicken, dates, Leeks, sunflower seeds, wine, raspberries, shrimp, peaches, garlic, ginger, wine, ham, onion, pepper, mutton form the hot food group.
We are always told to drink a lot of water, especially when exercising. But it seems the extra water can do more harm than good, if you dilute yourself too much the sodium level in your blood can drop, leading to lethargy, disorientation, seizures and respiratory distress. Runners while in a long race, did not have the time to over drink, but those who were not running competitively made a stop at every water station: many surely gained weight during the race and had dangerously low sodium levels.
Therapeutic effect
Children are experts at smashing, banging and ripping-so why not turn them into mini chefs? The tasks involved in cooking actually help boost kid’s cognitive and physical development. Here are some ways to keep your kids busy:
We all know a glass or two of red wine reduces the risk of heart disease and cancer. The reason for this is a compound in red grapes, resveratrol, turns on enzymes that control ageing in living things-giving it the potential to help slow the ageing process and to stave off age-related illness. Biological stress causes a defence action in plants, and the plants make resveratrol to turn on the same ‘guardian’ enzymes in animals as they do in plants. Resveratrol, is seemed to be involved in a kind of interspecies communication on the molecular level: stressed plants send a message to animals who eat them, that times are tough, fire up your survival response, which in turn results in a longer life.
Water is very important for your body, to help in digestion and absorption of vitamins and nutrients. It helps in detoxifying the liver and kidneys, and helps in carrying the waste from the body. Fibre only when combined with water can help in proper digestion.