Food is medicine in East Asian Medicine.
These principles aren't strict rules, but gentle guidelines to help support your body. See what resonates and works for you.
General principles
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Eat mostly warm, lightly cooked foods - it’s easier to digest
- Avoid excessive cold/raw foods and ice cold drinks - it’s taxing on digestion
- Try to have 3 regular meals per day. If you need to skip a meal, skip dinner
- Eat fresh and seasonal food when possible
- Sit down and eat without rushing, to be able to taste and enjoy your food
- Eat a variety of flavours - sweet, sour, bitter, pungent, salty
- Eat until 80% full
- Eat breakfast before 9am, as the digestive system is at its strongest for turning food into Qi/energy. Ideally, have dinner before 7pm, as digestion slows down after
- What's good for one person may not suit another - choose foods appropriate to your current condition
+ Nourish Blood
- In East Asian medicine, Blood encompasses both the physical fluid and the body's overall nutritional status—nourishing, moistening, and grounding body and mind. Deficiency can manifests as dizziness, pale complexion, dry skin and joints, scanty or painful periods, insomnia, anxiety, and difficulty focusing.
Blood is produced through digestion, so strengthening digestive function also builds Blood (see 'Nourish Spleen & Stomach Qi'). Vegans should ensure adequate plant-based blood-nourishing foods. Here some foods suggestions that nourish Blood:
Vegetables: root veg (sweet potatoes, carrots, beetroot, parsnips, yams, etc), dark leafy greens (spinach, kale, chinese greens, chard, nettle, etc), cabbage, pumpkin, squash, corn, peas, mushrooms, seaweed, artichoke, onions, leeks, garlic.
Fruits: grapes, cherries, jujube dates, figs, goji berries, coconut, apple, apricot.
Protein: Meat (small amounts), bone broth, eggs, legumes, chick peas, beans (black, kidney, soy, aduki, fava), miso, seaweed
Herbs & Spices: Fresh ginger, garlic, parsley, black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, fennel, nettle, jujube dates
Grains: Barley, corn, oats, brown rice, buckwheat
Seeds & nuts: Almonds, black sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, hazelnuts
Things to restrict or avoid:
Excessive amount of raw & cold foods (salads, smoothies, fruits, ice cream) / excessive amounts of tofu, dairy or nut butters / overly sweet foods, refined sugars / high doses of vitamin C / iced drinks, caffeine / foods that are very dry (toast, fried, baked)
Example breakfast
• Oat porridge with apricots, goji berries and almonds
• Rice congee with eggs, seaweed, shiitake mushrooms, miso
• Scrambled eggs with parsley
• Cup of bone broth with miso and seaweed
Example meal
• Soups, stews, broths, congee, curry, dahl
• Stir fried vegetables with rice
• Warm barley salad with artichoke, kale, olives, onion & garlic
• Kidney bean, spinach, and mushroom lasagne
+ Nourish Spleen & Stomach Qi
- In East Asian medicine, digestion is the body's metabolic 'fire' that cooks the food we've eaten to extract nourishment. Spleen&Stomache Qi deficiency means the digestive system is weak and unable to efficiently transform food into energy (Qi) and Blood. It typically manifesting as fatigue, poor appetite, bloating, loose stools, heaviness, weight gain, and tendency to worry. To support digestion and Spleen & Stomach Qi, it is recommended to eat warm meals, eat regularly, and sit down to enjoy your food consciously without rushing.
Vegetables: Root veg (sweet potatoes, carrots, beetroot, celeriac, yams, etc), pumpkin, squash, corn, peas, mushrooms, onions, garlic
Fruit: Plum, peaches, cherries, grapes, dates, fig
Protein: Meat (small amounts), fish, bone broth, eggs, legumes, chick peas, beans (black, kidney, soy, aduki, fava)
Grains: Whole grain rice, oats, barley, spelt, millet
Herbs & spices: Garlic, black pepper, fresh ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, fennel
Seeds & nuts: Walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, sesame
Things to restrict or avoid: Excessive amount of raw & cold foods & drinks (salads, smoothies, fruits, ice cream, iced drinks) / excessive amounts of tofu, dairy or nut butters / overly sweet foods, refined sugars / greasy, high oil foods / high doses of vitamin C / foods that are very dry (toast, fried, baked) / wheat, gluten / tomatoes, cucumber, bananas, pineapples
+ Resolve Damp
- In Traditional Chinese Medicine, dampness is a condition where the body accumulates excess fluids or moisture that it cannot properly transform or eliminate. This can manifest as symptoms like heaviness, sluggishness, brain fog, bloating, weight gain, swelling, oedema, discharges, or neuropathy. It is often linked to digestive weakness, diet, damp environment, or from certain medication.
Grains: Corn, barley, basmati rice
Vegetables: Mushrooms, corn, pumpkin, radish, turnip, cabbage, celery, olives, alfalfa sprout, capers
Fruits: Papaya, lemon, blueberries, cranberries, apples
Protein: Aduki beans, kidney beans, lentils, fish, almonds, walnuts
Herbs & spices: Garlic, horseradish, aniseed, marjoram, nettle, parsley, white pepper, cardamon, caraway, mustard seeds, thyme
Drinks: Green tea, raspberry leaf tea, roasted barley tea, mandarine peel
Things to restrict or avoid: Pork and fatty meats / dairy / peanuts / nut butters / fruit juices / bananas, pineapples, tomatoes / excessive wheat products (bread, pasta, etc) / sugar / greasy, deep fried foods / raw & cold foods & drinks (salads, smoothies, fruits, ice cream, iced drinks)
Note: When addressing dampness, it's important to nourish the Spleen to support digestive function. See also the 'Nourish Spleen & Stomach Qi' section for additional beneficial foods.
+ Nourish Yin
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The Yin of the body is considered in Traditional Chinese Medicine as the aspect and function of the body that nourishes, moistens, and cools. When this energy is depleted, your body begins to show signs of heating up from a lack of the moistening and cooling functions that are necessary to maintain a healthy balance. This can manifest as night sweats, hot flushes, dryness, insomnia, anxiety, or restlessness.
Grains: Barley, millet, wheat, oats, rice
Vegetables: Courgette, artichoke, asparagus, seaweed, spinach, potato, sweet potato, carrots, beetroot, yam, squash, seaweed, mung bean sprout, peas, string bean, tomato, water chestnut
Fruits: Apple, apricot, peaches, avocado, banana, lemon, lime, mango, pear, persimmon, pineapple, pomegranate, lychee, melons, coconut, mulberry, cherries, plums, honey
Protein: Adzuki beans, black beans, black soya beans, kidney beans, mung beans, tofu, fish & seafood, meat (small amounts), eggs, dairy (small amounts)
Nuts & seeds: Generally nuts & seeds, sesame seed, black sesame seed, walnut, almond, flaxseed, coconut milk, olive oil
Things to restrict or avoid: Stimulants like caffeine, alcohol, smoking, recreational drugs / sugar / strongly heating foods or pungent spices (chilli, garlic, onions, basil, wasabi, horseradish, vinegar, pickles, lamb, prawns, citrus fruits)
Note: Yin building foods have a tendency to congest the spleen and promote stagnation if large amounts are consumed. It is therefore important to consume small quantities at a time.
+ Nourish Yang
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Yang deficiency occurs when the body's warming, activating, and transforming energy is insufficient, leaving the person feeling chronically cold, slowing the body down, and lacking vitality. This typically manifests as cold hands and feet, low energy, pale complexion, poor appetite, loose stools, frequent urination, low libido, and an aversion to cold.
Grains: Quinoa, glutinous rice, wheat germ
Vegetables: Leek, mustard greens, onion, radish, spring onion, squash, sweet potato, turnip, watercress
Fruit: Cherry, litchi, logan, peach, raspberry, strawberry
Nuts & seeds: Chestnuts, pinenuts, pistachio nuts, walnuts
Protein: Chicken, lamb, venison, anchovy, lobster, mussel, prawn, shrimp, trout
Herbs & spices: Ginger, garlic, basil, black/white pepper, rosemary, sage, thyme, cinnamon, star anise, tumeric, nutmeg, horseradish, cayenne, chilli, chive seed, clove, dill seed, fennel seed, fenugreek seed
Things to avoid: Raw and cold foods & drinks - such as salads, smoothies, fruits, ice cream, iced drinks
Examples meals:
• Generally always warm foods with warming spices, such as soups, oven roasted, currys, etc
• Mussels cooked with a little garlic
• Roast chicken with sage and thyme
• Roasted vegetables with and rosemary
• Rice porridge with cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger
• Leek and potato soup with black pepper
+ Clear Heat
- Heat in Traditional Chinese Medicine occurs when the Yin energy in the body - responsible for cooling, calming, and moistening - is overwhelmed or deficient. This can be caused by heat producing foods and drinks, smoking, alcohol, strong emotions, illness, medication, or hot environments. It can manifest as feeling hot, a flushed face, red eyes, thirst, dry throat, restlessness, irritability, constipation, dark urine, and a craving for cold drinks and food.
Grains & Beans: Barley, buckwheat, millet, wheat, wheat bran, wheat germ, kidney beans, mung beans, tofu
Vegetables: Asparagus, aubergine, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, celery, cucumber, dandelion leaf, lettuce, kelp, seaweed, mungbean sprout, potato, seaweed, turnip
Fruit: Ideally eat fruit in season - apple, blueberry, cranberry, fig, grapefruit, kiwi, lemon, lime, mandarin, mango, melon, orange, papaya, peach, pear, persimmon, pineapple, plum, rhubarb, strawberry, watermelon
Protein: Fish, crab, clam, octopus, yoghurt
Herbs, spices, oils: Liquorice, tamarind, sesame oil
Teas: Chrysanthemum, dandelion root, elderflower, peppermint
Things to avoid: Caffeine, alcohol, sugar, spicy food, greasy food, lamb & beef
+ UTI
Try to avoid:
- Alcohol and caffeine (coffee, tea, green tea)
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Citrus fruits (too acidic), reduce fruits in general
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Oxalate rich foods (irritate urinary tract) - spinach, bran flakes, rhubarb, beets, fried potaoes (chips, fries), nuts (nut butters)
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Histamine rich foods - pickled or canned foods (sauerkraut), matured cheeses, smoked meat products (salami, bacon, etc), shellfish, beans & pulses (chickpeas, soy beans, peanuts, etc), nuts, chocolates and cocoa products
- Wheat, gluten, refined sugars and dairy products