Tao of Nutrition

In modern nutrition there is a tendency to label foods as either "good for you" or "bad for you". This can lead for an endless search for the panacea food: one week we are told to eat only raw food, another week high protein, another week it is high fibre, another it is low-fat.

In Taoist Nutrition, there is no such thing as a "good" or a "bad" food. Instead we see that each food has it's own energetic qualities, and thus different foods suit different people at different times.

The Taoist Medicine Wheel, or Five Elements Map, can be used to understand these energetics. Some foods are contractive, like the energy of winter or night time. We call this "yin"*, and such foods gather our energy inwards and downwards. For example, salty fooods and heavy meats are contractive. Others are expansive, like the energy of summer or midday. We call them "yang"* and they lift our energy up and out. Fo example, raw foods and fruits. There are also balancing foods that gather chi in the centre and help us to find harmony, such as whole grains and root vegetables.

The Five Flavours fit into the Five Element map.....
- Salty and mineralised foods contract and thus correspond to the Water element. 
- Sour draws in and tightens and is used to move chi in the liver and gallbladder of the Wood element.
- Bitter cools and calms and is used to tame the Fire element.
- Pungent expels, and is used for the clearing out of the lungs and large intestine of the Metal element.
- Sweet harmonises, and the full-sweet flavour (of grains, root vegetables and beans) is used to bring us to our centre and improve digestive ability.

Taoist Nutrition is a delicate artistry, working with the chi of the individual and the chi of foods to bring about wholeness or healing.