Dietary Therapy Based on Chinese Medicine

By Mario A. Mancini, O.M.D., L.Ac., C.N.S., Q.M.E.

Think of the Chinese medical approach to dietary therapy as a ‘zoom out’ view of how foods impact the body. As opposed to the ‘zoom in’ view of western clinical nutrition of looking at the foods impact at the cellular level of micronutrients and biochemical pathways, the Chinese medical view is that of how the food influences the entire organ system or the body as a whole.

This expanded view of dietary therapy goes even further than the body and into how environmental factors play a role on what and how one should eat. For example, during cold and damp weather, one should generally eat more foods that are warm and produce less ‘dampness’. Such foods would be soups, stews, steamed vegetables. At the same time, reducing food that have a tendency to produce dampness such as sugar and high-sugar foods would significantly reduce ‘dampness’ in the body during this time. On the other hand, during hot times, foods that are cooling such as moderate amounts of fruit, raw vegetables would be ideal during these times.

Chinese dietary therapy, which considers environmental factors, is combined with the patient’s lifestyle as well as individual qualities/imbalances providing a very personalized way of eating for optimal health. Chinese and Western medicine simply have different ways of looking at the body and should be combined to compliment one another for the most complete integrative care.

• In Chinese medicine, each food’s influence on the body is based on its nature (cold, cool, neutral, warm, hot). These qualities determine the effect the food will have on the body. For example, the nature of ginger is hot and therefore will warm up the body. Foods that have a warming effect increase activity of the body, i.e metabolism, circulation, overall function. Caution with those who have warm conditions or are warm or hot natured as this will aggravate their condition.

• In Chinese medicine, there are six flavors (sweet, salty spicy, sour, bitter and bland). These flavors are based on the sensory experience. Over the last 3,000 years the Chinese have found consistency with how certain flavors influence certain body systems. For example, ginger’s spicy quality influences the lungs and stomach. Each flavor influences different body systems (sweet-stomach, sour-liver, bitter-heart, spicy-lungs, salty-kidneys).

• A food's combination of qualities has a specific impact on one or more body systems. Using the example of ginger its impact is therefore spicy, hot and influences the stomach and lungs. A food such as rice is sweet and neutral and influences the digestive system.

• Another unique quality of Chinese medicine in the prescribing of dietary therapy is that treatment is primarily based on the person’s pattern rather than on the disease. Asking what type of patient has the condition as opposed to the allopathic model of asking what type of condition the patient has is called patient-centered care. In other words, the focus of the therapy is on the individualities of the patient, as opposed to simply focusing on the condition.

• In Chinese medicine, no mater what the dietary therapy, primary consideration is to protect and maximize the digestive organs. As the main delivery system is the gastrointestinal tract in its primary role to take in, breakdown, absorb and disperse nutrients to be transported to the needed area, importance becomes very clear.

In our center, we take the wisdom and science of Chinese medicine and integrate it with biomedical nutrition integrating the best of both worlds. Using diagnostic tests such as comprehensive blood chemistry panels, hormone panels, bone marker panels as well as other traditional science based diagnostic tools, we prescribe dietary, nutritional and herbal therapy based on the individual needs/imbalances of the patient. It must be emphasized that our purpose is not simply to dispense dietary, nutritional and herbal medicine but more importantly to educated our patients why it is important and how they must take part in this therapy as it will ultimately be part of there self dependant, higher standard of health.

This month, as we focus on Digestive Health, please take some time to ask questions and share information with others about optimal digestion, dietary therapy and Chinese medicine. These are the tools for building optimal health. Ask us for help... that is our purpose.