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.

When illustrating the 4 movements of Qi, we are actually talking about how internal physiological processes and relationships interact in the body. This allows us to easily see and comprehend what physiologically is out of balance, and also how to correct it.

Our bodies also contain their own unique ecosystems internally. We have trillions of bacteria, and mico-organisms living inside us. The gut microbiome is a relatively new realm of medical science. Reseachers studying gut bacteria have found that different cultures have different species. Changing a person's diet also changes their species and diversity of gut bacteria.

Chinese Food Therapy is designed not only to maintain health, but also to treat many ailments, such as the common cold, and more complex diseases like psoriasis, diabetes, hypertension, digestive problems, autoimmune disorders, and so forth, as a medicine. This is quite different to western dietary advice, which primarily focuses on weight loss.