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About the Five Elements of FoodAccording to the Ancient Chinese, all things in the world can be divided into five vibrational families and the elements of Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal.In the body, these five elements represent the five major organs - the kidneys,the liver, the heart, the stomach and the lungs - all of which are necessary for survival. Usually one of these organs is stronger than the others giving extra energy to that organ and helping people to behave in certain ways and clearlyinfluences personality and lifestyle choices - things like food, fun, fashion, decorating, sleeping, playing, etc. And, one of the organs is usually slightly deficient and needs building up. When you are strong in one element, you usuallyneed to build up the other elements to find balance.

In the Five Element system, it is important to balance these elements within andwithout for optimum health. Learning to balance the five elements of food helps ensure that you receive enough nutrients from what you eat and supports the corresponding organs. One of the best ways to create balance in the body is to eat more foods that correspond to all the five flavors : Salty, Sour, Bitter, Sweet and Savory or Pungent in a way that most suits your personal needs. Here's abrief list of foods associated with each element: and their actions on the body:

Water: All salty foods and dark foods, foods that are purple, black or blue. Also, fresh fish and salted fish, salted meat, caviar and other fish eggs, shellfish, pork, eggs, beans, seaweed and sea vegetables, soy sauce, miso, figs, blueberries, blackberries, eggplant, kale, wild rice, walnuts and black sesame seeds

are water foods. These foods have a softening effect and promote moisture and calming of the body. They most benefit thin, dry and nervous people.

Wood: All sour foods and many green, fast growing foods, especially those with green stalks. Also, chicken, liver, most wild game, wheat, greens like bok choy,chard, broccoli rabe and spinach, sprouts, asparagus and celery, citrus fruits- especially lemons, oranges, grapefruit, plum, pineapple, starfruit, sourdough,vinegar, yogurt, kimchi, pickles of all kinds, sauerkraut and olives are wood foods. These foods can obstruct movement and function as astringents. They mostbenefit changeable, erratic and scattered people.

Fire: All bitter foods and most red foods, especially food that looks like hearts, dried food and hot foods. Also lamb, venison, letttuce and arugula, dandeli

on and watercress, tomatoes, citrus peel, kumquats, apricots, plums, raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb, peppers, hot chiles, black pepper cayenne, wine, beer,coffee, tea, dark chocolate and carbonated beverages are fire foods These foodscan reduce heat and dry fluids. They most benefit slow, overweight, overheatedand aggressive people.

Earth: All sweet and starchy foods, particularly yellow and orange foods and many root vegetables and very sweet soft fruits. Also, beef, millet, barley, rye,sugar, milk chocolate, corn, oats, cooked onion, watermelon, cantaloupe, sweetapples, sweet cherries, dates, grapes, peaches, carrots, cabbage, potato, sweetpotato, banana and plantains, yam, okra, taro, beets, button and chantarelle mushrooms, winter and summer squash, cucumbers, almond, coconut and other tropicalfruits like papayas, cherimoyas and mangos are earth foods. So are lentils and d

ried peas, honey, maple syrup, rice syrup and barley syrup. These foods slow down acute symptoms and neutralize toxins. They most benefit dry, nervous and weakpeople and they calm aggression.

Metal: All savory foods, pungent foods and white foods, many herbs and spices and prepared condiments. You don't need a lot of metal foods as they are strong and spicy (not hot) or very simple. The newly discovered tastebuds for the "Umami" flavor is proof of the metal element and includes glutamate - found in shitakeand porcini mushrooms, parmesan cheese and fish sauce that gives these foods that special savory flavor. Also, white rice, milk, cream, white cheeses, raw onio



n, garlic, chives, radish - especially daikon, cauliflower, turnip, tofu, lotusroot, pears, kohlrabi, cinnamon, mint, tarragon, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, scallions, cloves, fennel seed and bulb, cilantro and coriander seeds, parsley, anise, dill, mustard greens, wasabi, horseradish, mustard, basil, and nutmeg are allconsidered metal foods. These foods have a dispersing effect and promote energy circulation. They most benefit sluggish, damp, lethargic and cold people.

Many foods cross can be more than one element at a time. Others can be assignedto different elements based on how they are cooked. For example, raw onion isthe metal element because of its pungency whereas cooked onion is very sweet andbecomes earthy. Or they may change at different states of growth so that whenit is unripe versus when it is ripe. For example, tomatoes when green are quitesour and therefore belong more to the wood element and when they are ripe, belong to the fire element. When they are very sweet, they become eartthier. The style of cooking also influences the five elements:

Soups, Boiling, Steaming, Poaching, Curing, Freezing and Sous Vide Cooking - WaterGrilling, Smoking, Searing, Pickling and Fermenting, Campfire Cooking - WoodDeep Frying, Stir Frying, Flambeing, Sauteing, Toasting, Dehydrating, Appetizersand Snacks - FireBaking, Roasting, Stewing, Mashing, Pureeing, Jams and Jellies, Carmelizing, Deserts and Candy - Earth

Composed Foods, Garnishes, Condiments, Finishing Sauces, Julienne , Mincing, Dicing - Metal

It is also important to eat according to the seasons: Winter is the Water Element, Spring is the Wood Element Fire is Early Summer, Earth is Late Summer, Metal is Fall. Try to eat food that is as fresh as possible or preserved well for future use. It is best to buy locally grown or raised food or grow it yourself as this helps connect you to the place you live. The more colorful the dish or meal, the more of the five elements have been involved. Eating the 5 Element Foodway is healthy, fun, nutritious and delicious!

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TCM Nutrition - Five Element TheorySubmitted by Chad Dupuis on Tue, 07/11/2006 - 4:16pm

The eastern medical theory of the five elements provides a framework which aidsone in making food choices that will be most beneficial to a person at a given time. To understand how the theory relates to nutrition, one must first understand the basic categorizations of the five elements.

Essentially, there are five elements, or factors, which have an inter-relationsh

ip which must be kept in balance. The Five Elements are: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood. The chart below describes some of the common categorizations whichfall under each element:

FIRE

EARTH



METAL

WATER

WOODYin Organs HT &PC SP LU KD LVYang Organs SI &TH ST LI UB GBSense Organs Tongue Mouth Nose Ears EyesColors red yellow white blue/black greenSounds Laughing Singing Crying Groaning ShoutingEmotions Joy Worry or Pensiveness Grief or Sadness FearAngerSeasons Summer Late Summer Autumn Winter SpringEnvironment Heat Dampness Dryness Cold WindTastes Bitter Sweet Pungent Salty Sour

While the entire chart is helpful as a diagnostic and treatment tool, it is the"tastes", "seasons" and "environment" correlations which have the strongest relationship with nutrition. Before discussing how food fits into the theory, it isimportant to understand how the elements relate to one another.

There are two main relationships which you must be familiar with to understand the application of the five element theory. First is the Mother-Son relationship(also known as the sheng, generation, production or creation cycle) and the Grandparent-Grandchild relationship (also known as the ke, ko or control cycle).

These are presented below:

promotion cyclecontrol cycle

The Generating Cycle shows that Fire, for example, helps support Earth and the Control Cycle shows that Fire controls the growth of Metal. To understand how this might be applied, take a person experiencing problems with asthma. Asthma is a

Metal (Lung) condition sometimes with an underlying psychological component ofgrief or sadness. From a TCM perspective, Asthma may present as a phlegm-damp condition. Following the five element theory, then, we see that the Earth (Spleen)may be weak (phlegm-damp coming from poor digestion, etc.) and not supporting Metal (Lung) resulting in an Asthmatic condition.

Above is just an example to show how the theory is applied, we will continue with this example as we incorporate food into the five element theory. The chart below describes some of the common foods which serve to nourish their respective element:

FIRE

(bitter)

EARTH(sweet)

METAL(pungent)

WATER(salty)



WOOD(sour)Grains AmaranthCorn MilletBarley Rice Buckwheat OatsWheatRyeLegumes Red Lentil GarbanzoPeas NavySoy AdukiBlackKidneyPinto Green LentilMungLimaNuts/Seeds SunflowerPistachio Pine NutPumpkin Almonds Black SesameWalnut BrazilCashewVegetables BeetDandelion RootOkra

Red Bell PepperScallionTomato CabbageCarrotParsnipRutabagaSpinachSquash AsparagusBroccoliCeleryCucumberMustard GreenOnion

Radish KaleMushroomsSeaweedsWater chestnut Green Bell PepperGreen PeaLettuceString BeanZucchiniFruits CherryPersimmonFigOrangePapaya

PineappleStrawberry ApricotBananaPear MulberryPomegranateRaspberryWatermelon AvocadoGrapeLemonLime



PlumCautions ChocolateSugar Meat Eggs Cheese Soft Dairy

Using the above chart and our previous example of Phlegm-Damp type Asthma, the five element theory would suggest that we would want to eat foods which strengthen the Metal (Lung), Earth (Spleen) and Fire (Heart) Elements. From the chart wewould choose a majority of our foods from the Metal grouping and an ample selection from both the Earth and Fire categorizations until our condition changes. Anexample of food choices, with functions from Paul Pitchford's "Healing With Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition", would be:

Brown Rice - increases qi, strengthens spleenNavy Beans - sweet flavor, benefits the lungs and spleen (both aspects of th

e metal element)Almonds - relieve stagnant qi of the lungs, transform phlegmMustard Greens - influence lungs, clear chest congestion, improve energy cir

culationOnions - resolves phlegm and inflammations of the upper respiratory systemRadish - transforms phlegmPear - affects the lungs, eliminates phlegmAvoid - dairy (which may add mucus/phlegm), meat (which may weaken the splee

n) and sweeteners (which may weaken the spleen and contribute to dampness)

In general and lacking the in-depth discussion from Paul Pitchford's text and others, for example, it is most important to eat foods which follow the basic tastes which correspond to the element that you are trying to strengthen and avoid foods which weaken it. In this case you would want to eat foods which fall into the pungent, sweet and bitter categories and avoid foods which aggravate these elements - sugar, meat and eggs.

While the information presented here is intended to provide you with the basic theory, it is important to note that there are different food groupings which come not only from differing opinions but also complexities within the theory thatleave a particular food open to interpretation. Other factors which influence the grouping of a food and your food choices are:

Therapeutic Actions:Bitter (Fire) foods are generally cooling (yin) and encourage contraction and the descending of energy

Sweet (Earth) foods are generally strengthening (yang) and encourage energyto expand upward and outward

Pungent (Metal) foods are generally warming (yang) and encourage energy to expand and move outward

Salty (Water) foods are generally cooling (yin) and encourage energy to movein and down

Sour (Wood) foods are generally cooling (yin) and encourage energy to contract and collect

Temperature - Within each categorization foods have differing temperature qualities which, while generally good for that element, may not be used during cer

tain seasons or conditions. For example, if you had a common cold (Metal, Lung)condition you would decrease your intake of some of the foods which are generally cooling within the Metal element such as the fruits.

Season - The current season will also play a role in which foods you may choose to eat. In the summer (fire, hot) we require more cooling foods and in the winter (water, cold) we require more warming, deeply nourishing foods.

These factors along with the categorizations are worked into a persons diagnosisand general constitution to establish food groupings which overall help to strengthen the individual. The rest of an individuals preferences such as eating org



anically grown foods or not, choosing to eat animal foods or not, etc. can thenbe factored in to decide your final food choices.

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