Creating a food practice: Organs & Meridians

In Chinese medicine, each food and each flavor has an affinity for an organ in the body. Certain flavors go to or “enter” particular organs first over the time course of digestion.

This means that food choices can be tailored to directly support specific areas of the body.

The bitter flavor is draining and drying. It can help to clear heat and dry dampness in the body and can reduce fever and inflammation.

The sweet flavor is harmonizing and tonifying. It nourishes and strengthens, and it is especially helpful when there are deficiencies in the body.

The acrid flavor is dispersing and moving. It promotes the circulation of qi and blood, expels pathogens, and opens the pores, which makes it useful for colds, coughs, and congestion.

The salty flavor is softening and purging. It dissolves lumps and masses and softens hardness. It also has a downward-moving effect, so it is often used for conditions like constipation and masses or nodules.

The sour flavor is astringent and stabilizing. It can help to consolidate and prevent leakage of fluids and energy (which happens in cases of diarrhea and excessive sweating).

For example:

It is common for people in the US to have deficient spleen qi (remember that spleen here can be thought of as spleen-pancreas, the organ responsible for digestive capacity). A long duration of eating an excess of sugar, along with constant stress, rumination, and sleep loss tax and weaken the spleen. To support the spleen, we can incorporate sweet spleen-supporting foods (not sugar-y sweet), such as white rice, sweet potato, and squash, while we decrease or remove spleen-taxing foods like sugar and cold/raw foods. In this way, food choice becomes and integral part of creating harmony within. In my opinion, it’s really not enough to take an herbal formula for a few weeks if you are trying to overcome a chronic condition that has been troubling you for a while, such as spleen qi deficiency.

When people meet with me for herbal sessions, food is always the starting point. Food is such an important part of any movement along a health journey because we choose foods multiple times a day everyday. Herbal medicine can make a huge difference, but food is often a major contributor to the root cause of health imbalances, and without changes in diet, symptoms will often come back.

Sometimes changes in diet can feel daunting or stressful for people. This is understandable. I encourage you to think about how these changes can be interesting, fun, challenging, and motivating.

Warmly,

Artemisia

Clinical Herbalist | Chinese Medicine

innervillagehealth.com