Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers a unique approach to health and wellness, focusing on balance and harmony within the body. One of its key components is diet therapy, which uses food as medicine to support the body's natural healing processes.

Often people are confused how to use food as medicine because they are uncertain about what flavours, energies and actions different foods have. A quick google search may make people even more confused. The reason is because most foods have more than one flavour. For ease in understanding, we will try to use only the most dominant flavours.

In a recent research study observing the effects of Akkermansia levels, people with obesity had almost no Akkermansia left. Those with depression also tested low. This bacteria isn't just important; it's the difference between a sharp mind in a healthy body and brain fog in an overweight one.

What diet is the best? Mediterranean, Vegetarian, Ketogenic? There are a few characteristics that all of these diets have in common. They all emphasize pure ingredients consisting of whole foods in as fresh and natural a state as possible. They also all share one other important characteristic. They all include a large portion of vegetables in the diet. The difference therefore lies in the inclusion or exclusion of meat, or grains.

No matter what the disease or illness, the process of digestion remains the same. It is our source of transforming food into energy, and is required for all cellular metabolism, and repair. The stomach is thought of in Chinese Medicine as a pot on a stove. It receives food and liquids, that decompose and cook. In order to cook something and transform something, heat is required.