treatment of disease through diet

Western Food Pyramid

The Food guide Pyramid is not a rigid prescription but a general guide that lets you choose a healthful diet that’s right for you.

The Pyramid calls for eating a variety of foods to get the nutrients you need and at the same time the right amount of calories to maintain healthy weight.

What Counts as One Serving?

Be sure to eat at least the lowest number of servings from the five major food groups listed below. You need them for the vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, and protein they provide. Just try to pick the lowest fat choices from the food groups. no specific serving size is given for the fats, oils, and sweets group because the message is USE SPARINGLY.

The amount of food that counts as one serving is listed below. If you eat a larger portion, count it as more than 1 serving. For example, a dinner portion of spaghetti would count as 2 or 3 servings of pasta.

Fats, Oils, & Sweets : Use Sparingly

Go easy on fats and sugars added to foods in cooking or at the table–butter, margarine, gravy, salad dressing, sugar, and jelly.
Choose fewer foods that are high in sugars–candy, sweet desserts, and soft drinks.
The most effective way to moderate the amount of fat and added sugars in your diet is to cut down on “extras” (foods in this group). Also choose lower fat and lower sugar foods from the other five food groups often.

Milk, Yogurt, & Cheese : 2-3 Servings
1 serving =

1 cup of milk or yogurt
1 1/2 ounces of natural cheese
2 ounces of process cheese
Choose skim milk and nonfat yogurt often. They are lowest in fat.
1 1/2 to 2 ounces of cheese and 8 ounces of yogurt count as a serving from this group because they supply the same amount of calcium as 1 cup of milk.
Choose “part skim” or lowfat cheeses when available and lower fat milk desserts, like ice milk or frozen yogurt.

Meat, Poultry, Fish : 2-3 Servings
1 serving =

2-3 ounces of cooked lean meat, poultry, or fish
1/2 cup of cooked dry beans, 1 egg, or 2 tablespoons of peanut butter count as 1 ounce of lean meat
Choose lean meat, poultry without skin, fish, and dry beans and peas often. they are the choices lowest in fat.
Prepare meats in lowfat ways:
Trim away all the fat you can see.
Remove skin from poultry.
Broil, roast, or boil these foods instead of frying them.
Nuts and seeds are high in fat, so eat them in moderation.

Vegetable Group : 3-5 Servings
1 serving =

1 cup of raw leafy vegetables
1/2 cup of other vegetables, cooked or chopped raw
3/4 cup of vegetable juice
Different types of vegetables provide different nutrients – so eat a variety.
Include dark-green leafy vegetables and legumes several times a week–they are especially good sources of vitamins and minerals. Legumes also provide protein and can be used in place of meat.
Go easy on the fat you add to vegetables at the table or during cooking. Added spreads or toppings, such as butter, mayonnaise, and salad dressing, count as fat.

Fruit Group : 2-4 Servings
1 serving =

1 medium apple, banana, orange
1/2 cup of chopped, cooked, or canned fruit
3/4 cup of fruit juice
Choose fresh fruits, fruit juices, and frozen, canned, or dried fruit. Go easy on fruits canned or frozen in heavy syrups and sweetened fruit juices. Eat whole fruits often–they are higher in fiber than fruit juices. Count only 100 percent fruit juice as fruit. Punches, and most fruit “drinks” contain only a little juice and lots of added sugars.

Bread, Cereal, Rice, & Pasta Group : 6-11 Servings
1 serving =

1 slice of bread
1 ounce of ready-to-eat cereal
1/2 cup of cooked cereal, rice, or pasta
To get the fiber you need, choose several servings a day of foods made from whole grains. Choose most often foods that are made with little fat or sugars, like bread, english muffins, rice, and pasta. Go easy on the fat and sugars you add as spreads, seasonings, or toppings. When preparing pasta, stuffing, and sauce from packaged mixes, use only half the butter or margarine suggested; if milk or cream is called for, use lowfat milk.

Food Cure

3 main aspects:

1. eat with theQi
2. eat with the time
3. eat withflavour

*Try to eat local and in season, follow your body type needs and listen to what your body tells you about what you are eating.

Have skin disease, don’t eat onion, or other things that are pungent.

If you use your tendons that are hard on the tendons you should eat to support the liver, stay away from to much pungent food (dry tendons).

If you have weak Spleen and Stomach (puffy tongue, loose stools, poor appetite, bloating), do not eat foods that are too cold in the morning (orange juice, banana, cold yogurt, fruit smoothies, etc).  This type of breakfast is more suitable for the person that shows Heat signs.

Women have more taste than men.  Men more use the nose (smell).

Boil bitter melon just briefly, then store for 24 hours in the fridge before eating.

Qiang Chai vegetable cooked (stir fried in water) then left in the fridge for one day produces alcohol (green vegetable)

At different times of the day foods effect you differently, just like we know not to drink coffee just before we go to bed!

Any Bi syndrome, avoid tomatoes, they are cold and sour.

Vitamin A goes to the Liver for the eyes.

Celery is bitter cold, proof that it slows sperm (essence), good to drain Damp/Heat.

Listen to what your body wants, eat it (within reason), connect the mind and body, the body will tell you what it likes and what it needs, all you have to do is listen.  Understand that what your body needs can change from time to time (after illness, season, time of day, etc), find techniques to listen regularly, i.e. daily meditation, silence, yoga, qigong.

Be sure to not give people blanket statements about what to eat and what not to eat, as said above, things change.

Alcohol have different energies (not all damp/heat), the different herbs they are made with adjust their properties, i.e. brandy is made with Chen Pi, gin is made with juniper berries, peppermint schnapps, etc.

Do not give research your soul, it can only find physical elements within the food, experiment with foods and listen to what your body tells you about it.

Tonify the Blood: carrots (liver, Spleen), beets, cherries, spinach, dark grapes, marrow, easily digestable grains, raspberries

Tonify Kidney Qi: animal kidneys, lobster, lamb, seeds, dry nuts, rosehips, beans, turnip, raspberry, sprouts, blueberry

Tonify Lung: almond, dry apricots

Tonify Liver: cranberry, blueberry, mulberry, raspberry

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In spring, should you eat more sour?  Depends on the person.  Normal situation, we should eat more sweet because it’s energy is rising, if too much it will overact on the Spleen so eat sweet to protect it.

In Summer, eat less bitter, slightly more pungent food to protect the lungs.

In fall, less pungent and eat some sour too keep it from overacting on the liver.  Also things that nourish the lung are beneficial, i.e. pears (if the person is of cold constitution can steam with cinnamon and maple syrup)

In late summer, one can eat a little more salty in preparation for winter for the kidney.

Although you must see if there is excess or deficiency:

If there is Liver Fire (energy going upward and outward): eat more sour cold

Qi and Yang deficiency should eat more warm foods, avoid a lot of cold energy foods or try to change their properties if people do not want to avoid certain things