The Tao of Diet

[Guest guest]

Hot & Cold, Yin & Yang, Acidic & Alkaline, East

Meets West Explained:<br><br>In Singapore, it was

common for my Chinese-descent friends to occasionally

comment that they were " heaty " (yang) at times, in which

case they instinctively (or perhaps traditionally)

knew they needed to eat fresh fruits to balance their

physiology. I used to politely laugh (usually internally) at

this odd " superstition " . Most people could tell me

that generally meats and fried food were " hot " and

fruits and most vegetables, especially pineapples and

cucumbers were cool or cooling to the body. A popular dish

there was Chicken Rice which always come with a couple

slices of cucumber to " balance " the meal. But no one

could ever explain the logic to this

belief.<br><br>Being in a state of heatiness often gave rise to

symptoms such as constipation and sore throat or other

stuffiness discomfort. Heatiness is fairly common, however

it is difficult to be too cool. This usually only

happens to the elderly or perhaps to someone that has

just lost a lot of blood. Females having their menses,

or women just after childbirth, generally would

consume more warming foods and tonics and avoid extremely

cooling foods.<br><br>I finally found someone (Daniel

Reid) who was able to explain this in Western terms.

Many of the common " foods " of the typical SAD have an

acidifying (hot or yang) effect on the body. Meats and fried

foods especially. Almost all fruits (durians and

mangoes excepted) are cooling or alkalizing. Even certain

acidic fruits like oranges, grapes, etc have an

alkalizing effect on the body's PH.<br><br>In alternative

circles, it is becoming well known that Americans on the

SAD are typically in a state of acidosis, due to

heavy meat consumption and other dietary factors. I

recall a Chinese acupuncturist telling me she was

surprised how so many Texans she's treated are so

" heaty " .<br><br>The Chinese language is limited to something like

4,000 characters or ideograms. Many words - and this is

especially relevant for medical or technical ones - are

formed by compounding radical s or ideograms, giving

rise to " unusual " sounding names when translated to

English. The moral to the story is that just because

something sounds " unscientific " or foolish, don't

necessarily dismiss it because the problem may be in cultural

and linguistic translation. One really cannot even

understand the Chinese language unless one understands the

culture.<br><br>Raw Food, especially cooling fruits, rule!