Comments on Nancy's questions

[Guest guest]

Chinese Traditional Medicine , " Vinod Kumar " <vinod3x3

wrote:

>

> It is the primary cause – but there are others like excess salt.

 

> This is why I frequently

> emphasize mild diet – a diet that has no excess qualities like

> overly acid, sweet, salty, etc, because these are primary causes

of

> the Spleen stagnation.

 

I want to emphasize the word " excess " here. The Chinese concept of a

balanced diet is one that contains all 5 flavors - sweet, salty,

sour, bitter, and acrid (spicy) - in the ratios that are correct for

the individual. Problems are created when there is either too much

or too little of a particular flavor.

 

From a Western standpoint, some individuals need for salt to be

severely restricted because of problems like some cases of high

blood pressure. (not all cases of HBP) Some people need just to

restrict their consumption of snack foods or other overly salted

foods. A few individuals may need slightly more salt than others

need. For example, people with health problems like certain adrenal

problems, people who have sweated excessively, some cases of low

blood pressure (not all), etc. Sometimes seizures are triggered in

some people with epilepsy when the electrolytes in the blood become

too dilute. Some people develop headaches when they need salt.

 

The reason I'm emphasizing the word " excess " is because Americans in

particular often go to extremes when it comes to diet, either

consuming too much or too little of something that is needed because

of general remarks about diet or because of someone else benefiting

from a particular diet. For example, some adults and children in the

US have run into problems because of restricting fat too much. They

aren't getting enough EFAs (Essential Fatty Acids), and are

developing health problems as a result. Also, developing children

need more fat in their diets than adults do. (BTW, cats need more

fat than dogs do.)

 

Food additives are a big problem in many Western diets. If one

interviewed a cross section of Americans, few would report that they

had had a meal within the last week that was made primarily from

scratch. There is an over-dependence on canned and packaged foods

even in the warmer months when fresh fruits and vegetables are

available. In addition to preservatives and dyes being added to this

processed food (and in some cases the food being overly processed to

the point of losing a lot of its nutrients) sugar is added to so

many canned foods. For example, back when I had to check labels on

cans for certain things, I discovered that sugar is added to most

cans of soup. Dairy in some form frequently is added to processed

foods. This can be particularly problem-causing for people who need

to eliminate dairy in all forms from their diets.

 

Sometimes a craving for certain junk snack foods is actually a

craving for protein. The person may be consuming enough protein, but

the digestion is so poor that the person is failing to get the

needed amino acids (the building blocks of protein). Certain

additives to food - which are neuro-toxins - fool the body into

thinking its gotten amino acids. Because it hasn't, the protein need

and the cravings get worse and worse.

 

A few people need to eliminate dairy in all forms from their diet at

least for a while. (And be sure to supplement calcium with

magnesium when they do because it is very difficult to get enough Ca

from the typical American diet without dairy.) And a few others -

like my husband - thrive on a diet with more than the usual amount

of dairy for an adult. The diet that I do best on would not be

correct for him, and vice versa.

 

There have been a lot of changes in the typical American diet over

the past 50 years. For one thing, a lot more people had gardens in

the past than have them today, and a lot more of the food consumed

was fresh from the garden and prepared without additives. The canned

food eaten during the winter was food from the garden that had been

canned without preservatives. Meat wasn't served at every meal.

Complete protein frequently was supplied by a meal of beans and rice

or beans with corn or corn bread. A variety of veggies from the

garden were served with these meals.

 

Also, there was much more variety in the American diet than today.