Vegetables represent all flavors and all variations of thermal nature. Chinese dietetics believes vegetables to be the ideal complement to grains. The classic Su Wen states: “The five types of grain nourish, the five types of vegetables complete.”

To treat repletion (robust person; loud, powerful voice; sensation of heat, hyperactivity, choleric features, extroverted, tongue with thick fur, replete pulse): Celery root (celeriac), lettuce, spinach, eggplant, and tomato.

To treat vacuity (weak person; weak, quiet voice; shivering, frequently tired and exhausted, introverted, swollen tongue, weak pulse): Fennel, sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, and cabbage.

To treat heat (red face, thirst for cold drinks, worsening of condition and pain with heat, red tongue, rapid pulse): Tomato, cucumber, sprouts (bamboo, soy bean, mung bean), and dandelion.

To treat cold (shivering, aversion to cold, condition and pain worsens with cold, pale, swollen tongue; weak, slow pulse): Leek, onion, green onion, fennel, and carrots.

To treat dampness (general feeling of heaviness, pathological swelling and edema; chronic phlegm disorders, for example frontal sinusitis, bronchitis, cysts, tumors): Belgian endive hearts.

To treat dryness (dry mouth and lips, chapped skin, dry mucous membranes): Tomato, cucumber.

Indications

  Heat in stomach:

Heartburn, gastritis, ulceration in stomach and intestinal tract, thirst, dry mouth

  Heat phlegm disorders of the lung:

Bronchitis, sinusitis with viscous, yellow phlegm

Indications

Stomach and spleen disharmony and stagnation: Cramplike-pain in center abdomen, constipation

Stomach and duodenal ulcers (Western and Chinese medicine views converge here)

Indications

Heat in stomach:

Gastritis, gastric ulcers, duodenal ulcers, thirst, dry mouth

Heat in lung:

Feverish cold, cough

Dryness and heat in intestine:

Constipation, flatulence

Indications

General heat symptoms:

Thirst, anxiety, swelling and pain in throat, hoarseness, reddened and swollen eyes, acne, skin inflammations

Summer heat:

Good nutritional supplement during hot season, especially for conditions brought on by external heat

External use:

Red, inflamed, swollen and dry eyes; for regeneration of facial skin (in Arabia, cucumber juice was a common ingredient in facial soaps), for first-degree skin burns (sunburn)

Damp–heat in large intestine:

Traveler’s diarrhea

Contraindications

Cold and vacuity symptoms in center burner:

Stomach aches and diarrhea; worsens with cold

Indications

Heat in blood:

Skin disorders with itching and red cutaneous efflorescence, skin ulcers and growths, breast inflammation (mastitis), carbuncle (external use), bloody stool, hemorrhoids

Indications

Colds due to external wind and cold influences:

Shivering, dislike of cold, fever without sweating, headaches, stuffy nose

Cold symptoms in center burner:

Abdominal pain and diarrhea

Abdominal pain due to parasite infestation

Acute ulceration or lesions in the initial stage

Contraindications

General lack of strength and tendency to spontaneous sweating

Indications

Cold symptoms in center burner:

Dysphagia (difficulty or pain when swallowing), abdominal pain, reduced appetite, diarrhea

Kidney yang vacuity:

Loss of libido, impotence, premature ejaculation, back (lumbar) pain, urorrhea (passage of urine per rectum), weakness in back and legs

Blood stasis:

Abdominal swelling and pain

External wind–cold influences:

First signs of a beginning cold, influenza with chills, aversion to cold

Contraindications

Heat symptoms

General yin vacuity

Indications

General heat symptoms and heat in bladder:

Restlessness, thirst, nervousness, micturition (urination) problems, burning sensation when urinating; sparse, dark urine

Disturbance of milk flow after birth

Indications

Heat symptoms:

Fever, thirst, restlessness

Blood heat symptoms:

Nosebleeds, bloody stool

Center burner vacuity:

Lack of appetite (anorexia), nausea, dysphagia (problems or pain when swallowing), diarrhea

Blood vacuity:

General fatigue, vertigo (dizziness), recurrent collapses or breakdowns. Recommended especially following childbirth: Lotus root cooked with angelica (radix angelicae sinensis) replenishes blood.

Indications

Hypertension (high blood pressure), hyper-lipidemia (elevated lipoprotein levels in blood plasma), coronary heart disease (Western and Chinese medicine)

Bronchitis (Western and Chinese medicine)

Wind–cold and phlegm disorders:

General cold with cold symptoms, bronchitis, sinusitis (loosens phlegm), chest and throat colds

External use for insect bites, swelling, pain: Raw onion or onion juice compress

Contraindications

Heat symptoms

General yin vacuity

Indications

Heat in stomach:

Heartburn, gastritis, gastrointestinal ulcers, thirst, dry mouth, and restlessness

Heat symptoms and liver yin vacuity:

Headache, dizziness, tinnitus, reddened eyes, restlessness, blurred vision, night blindness, insomnia

Western indications: Tinnitus, hypertension (blood pressure), following excessive alcohol consumption

Heat in blood:

Nosebleeds, skin disorders with itching, reddened cutaneous efflorescence

Constipation, anal fistula, hemorrhoids, blood in stool, chronic constipation in elderly people

Contraindications

Center burner vacuity with a tendency to diarrhea

Indications

Stomach qi, spleen qi, or yang vacuity:

Diarrhea with “cold symptoms and signs” and weakness; constipation

Contraindications

Excessive consumption leads to stagnations in center burner with bloating and distension.

Indications

Heat in blood:

Nosebleeds, skin disorders with itching, reddened cutaneous efflorescence, sun allergy, seasonal allergies

Heat in liver and liver yin vacuity:

Headaches, red itching eyes, vertigo (dizziness), tinnitus, night blindness, blurred vision, hyper-tension (high blood pressure)

Heat symptoms and yin vacuity of stomach:

Thirst, dry throat, lack of appetite, restlessness

Heat symptoms and vacuity of body fluids:

Restlessness, nervousness

Cold and vacuity in center burner

Constant and excessive consumption of tomatoes, especially during the cold seasons, causes pronounced cooling and weakening of the body. Daily dosage is about one to two tomatoes. Unripe tomatoes and tomatoes with green patches can weaken the kidney network.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), grains should make up the main part of one’s daily diet. Grains supply the body with strength and endurance, and promote emotional stability, mental calm, and balance (especially wheat).

Grains are mostly sweet and primarily affect the spleen/pancreas and stomach organ network. Their thermal nature is warm, neutral, or cool, depending on the type of grain.

A diet rich in grains ensures a good balance between qi, yin, and yang formation.

With cold symptoms, during the cold season, or when following a primarily vegetarian diet, warming types of grain such as oats or buckwheat should be given preference. In those cases, the thermal energy of grains should be raised by adding warming spices and vegetables like cinnamon, ginger, garlic, raisins, and fennel to the diet.

Soy is listed with grains here (even though it is a legume), because it plays a similar nutritional role in Chinese dietetics.

To treat repletion (strong person, loud, powerful voice, choleric features, extroverted; red tongue, sometimes with thick fur): Wheat, rice, barley.

To treat vacuity (weak person; weak, quiet voice; frequently tired and exhausted; pale, swollen tongue; weak pulse): Oats, rice, spelt, corn, millet.

To treat heat (red tongue, rapid pulse, red face, reddened eyes, nervousness): Wheat, barley, amaranth.

To treat cold (pale, swollen tongue, weak; slow pulse, shivering, aversion to cold, worsening of condition and pain with cold): Oats, rice, corn.

To treat dampness (swelling, edema; chronic phlegm disorders, e.g., frontal sinusitis, bronchitis): Millet, rye, buckwheat, barley.

To treat dryness (dry mouth, lips, and skin; constipation): Wheat, spelt.

Tips for the preparation of grains

In Chinese nutrition, grains are always eaten cooked or as a decoction, never raw. Grains can be eaten whole, ground coarsely or finely (preferably freshly ground just before use), or rolled into flakes.

If at all possible, use organically grown and processed grain. Always rinse grain well before use.

To shorten the cooking time for grains and to make them more digestible, soak grains for 3–10 hours before cooking. This reduces phytin (phytic acid, inhibits minerals absorption) and makes minerals more available.

Cook grains in their soaking liquid.

Soaking is not necessary for millet, buckwheat, rice, or ground corn (polenta).

To cook grains, use two to two-and-a-half parts of water for each part of grain. For barley, Grünkern (dried, unripe spelt kernels), and especially polenta, three to four parts of water can be used.

Cook buckwheat, millet, white rice, coarsely, ground grains, or grain flakes for about 20–25 minutes.

Cook brown rice, spelt kernels, and Grünkern for about 45 minutes.

Cook wheat, barley, and whole oat kernels for about 1 hour.

For best results, after cooking, remove pot from heat source and allow grains to sit, covered, for about 30 minutes.

Salt, herbs, or spices, if desired, should be added to grain dishes after cooking.

Spices that make grains more digestible: Caraway, fennel, anise, coriander.

Indications

Heat symptoms:

Agitation, nervousness, insomnia, dryness of mouth

Disharmony in center burner (especially stomach):

Nausea, vomiting, lack of appetite, abdominal pain due to bloating and food stagnation; supports digestive function

Water accumulation (edema) in body

Indications

Stagnation and counterflow stomach qi:

Nausea, vomiting, pain, abdominal distention

Contraindications
(Depending on Thermal Classification)

Warm classification:

Excessive consumption of buckwheat can produce heat symptoms and provoke internal upbearing heat syndromes, dizziness, headaches, restlessness, etc.

Cool classification:

Limit intake for stomach spleen vacuity.

Indications

Center burner vacuity:

Lack of appetite, indigestion, diarrhea

Kidney yin vacuity:

Lack of strength, weakness, and sensation of cold in lower extremities, impotence

Water accumulation in body:

Edema and bloating

Indications

Center burner vacuity:

Lack of appetite, general weakness, fatigue, diarrhea

Dampness and phlegm disorders due to spleen vacuity

Recurrent phlegm disorders (sinusitis, bronchitis), dull feeling of heaviness in head, feeling of heaviness in extremities, nausea, indigestion.

Counterflow stomach qi:

Acute and chronic nausea, vomiting, morning sickness

Following intake of spoiled foods, with acute nausea and diarrhea

General weakness, lack of strength, and sensation of cold, especially weakness in lower extremities

Indications

General qi, blood, and yang vacuity

Exhaustion

Recovery after extended, chronic, draining illnesses

General physical lack of strength, especially in pale, weak children and elderly people

Contraindications

Use cautiously for heat symptoms

Consumed in excess, oats can produce anxiety, nervousness, sleep disturbances (“feeling one’s oats”).

Indications

Spleen and stomach vacuity:

General lack of strength, lack of appetite, nausea, vomiting, morning sickness, diarrhea

Heat symptoms due to stomach yin vacuity:

Thirst, dry mouth, restlessness, insomnia (stabilizes mood swings)

Rice (along with millet) is recommended for strengthening the stomach and spleen network (short-grain, glutinous rice especially supplements qi).

Short-grain (glutinous, sweet, or sticky) rice, with its warming thermal nature, is very suitable for supplementing qi and blood.

Examples

Mung bean congee: Cools, lowers fever, especially from summer heat.

Chestnut congee: Strengthens kidney network.

Wheat congee: Strengthens liver yin, cools and lowers fever, calms and stabilizes mood.

Indications

Phlegm and fluid accumulation

Indications

Similar to wheat.

Due to its purity, spelt is the preferred grain in some dietary plans for allergies and skin disorders.

Indications

Spleen vacuity:

Water accumulation, edemas, feeling of oppression, heavy limbs, bloating

Kidney vacuity, especially kidney yin vacuity:

Weakness in lower extremities, hearing loss, premature graying of hair, thirst, dry eyes, blurry vision, night sweat, low back pain

Wind– dampness disorders (damp impediment, shi bi):

Rheumatic (arthritis) pain, aching joins, muscle pain that worsens with external dampness and wind

Contraindications

Excess weakens spleen and can cause phlegm disorders

Indications

Weakness of stomach and spleen with qi and blood vacuity:

Fatigue, lack of strength, cool extremities, lack of appetite

Water accumulations, edemas, bloating due to spleen weakness

Disharmony in large intestine:

After consumption of spoiled foods

Soy beans are high in valuable protein with all essential amino acids and high-quality fatty acids. Soy milk and soy bean products are a preferred treatment for people with skin disorders and allergies, provided they do not have soy allergies or intolerances.

Contraindications

Excessive consumption leads to:

Qi stagnation in abdomen, abdominal distension and possibly formation of dampness and phlegm

Indications

General heat symptoms:

Dry mouth, fever, sweating. Well suited for lowering fever in infants and toddlers.

Internal heat conditions with emotional and psychological symptoms:

Agitation, anxiety, hysteria, internal restlessness, irritability, insomnia, unstable emotional state, tendency to sadness

Liver heat, for example due to ascending liver yang or liver fire flaming upward:

Irritability, disturbed sleep, restlessness, headaches, dizziness, tinnitus, reddened itchy eyes

Liver blood vacuity and blood heat:

Itching skin disorders, allergies

Menopause:

For hot flashes or night sweats

Contraindications

Excess wheat or wheat products (pasta) produces dampness and phlegm

Wheat flour, wheat bran, or wheat germ have significant differences in thermal nature:

Wheat supplies the body with strength and endurance.

Sweeteners are warm in thermal nature and sweet in flavor. Spices are usually warm to hot in thermal nature and acrid in flavor.

Due to their warming effect, sweeteners and spices support the center burner and activate the digestive organs. Spices are well suited for “warming” the thermal nature of cool or cold foods. This makes them valuable especially during the cold weather months, or for qi or yang vacuity of the digestive organs.

Excessive consumption of spices can easily cause heat symptoms, and when occurring over a longer period, can be partially responsible for yin vacuity.

To treat repletion (robust person; loud, powerful voice; sensation of heat, hyperactivity, choleric features, extroverted, tongue with thick fur, replete pulse): Avoid hot spices, or use extremely sparingly (caution with garlic, ginger, cinnamon).

To treat vacuity (weak person; weak, quiet voice; shivering, often tired and exhausted, introverted, swollen tongue, weak pulse): Mix fortifying foods with warming spices: garlic, fennel seeds, cinnamon, ginger.

To treat heat (red face, thirst for cold drinks, worsening of condition and pain with heat, red tongue, rapid pulse): Avoid hot and warm spices completely!

To treat cold (shivering, aversion to cold, worsening of condition and pain with cold, pale, swollen tongue; weak, slow pulse): Season foods well, for example with pepper, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, chili, fennel seeds.

To treat dampness (general sensation of heaviness, pathological swelling, edema; chronic phlegm disorders, e.g., frontal sinusitis, bronchitis): Fresh ginger.

To treat dryness (dry mouth, lips, and chapped hands; dry mucous membranes): Avoid hot and warm spices and seasonings completely!

Indications

Wind–cold disorders:

Flu, common cold, with aversion to cold; shivering

External wind–cold and wetness influences, as well as cold obstructions:

Rheumatic disorders or arthrosis worsened by external wind–cold influences

Stagnation of cold wetness in center burner:

Lack of appetite, fatigue and exhaustion, sensation of heaviness and muscle pain in extremities

Cold in stomach and spleen:

Decreased appetite, sensation of cold in stomach, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting

Contraindications

Generally, all hot chilies and peppers should be used sparingly. They are, however, very well suited as seasoning to supply dishes with a warming effect, if used in focused applications and in moderation.

Restraint is advised for patients with general yin vacuity and heat symptoms, such as dry eyes, ulcers in mouth area, ulcers in digestive tract, and hemorrhoids.

Indications

Stomach and spleen vacuity:

Lack of appetite

Cold symptoms, cold in stomach and spleen with sensitivity to cold, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea

Pain caused by stagnation due to cold or pain due to wind–cold or blood stasis:

Abdominal pain (e.g., after childbirth), rheumatic pain (caused by wind–cold and dampness)

Wind–cold disorders:

Common cold, flu

General yang vacuity, spleen yang vacuity, or kidney yang vacuity:

Cold extremities, aversion to cold, shivering, cold in lower part of the body, impotence, pain in back and knees, abdominal pain that worsens with cold

Contraindications

Heat symptoms due to yin vacuity

Restricted use during pregnancy

Green leaves, stems, roots, and dried seeds of plant

Indications

Cold and disharmony in stomach and spleen:

Lack of appetite, nausea, indigestion, digestive stagnation due to cold influences in abdomen

Wind–cold disorders:

Colds, flu with aversion to cold, chills, low-grade fever, little sweat

Contraindications

Use with caution in cases of:

General qi vacuity or foul-smelling perspiration

Dried ginger (powder, chips, or candied) is classified as hotter than fresh ginger in thermal nature.

Indications

Stomach and spleen vacuity, disharmony of stomach qi (wei qi bu he), stomach qi upbearing counterflow (wei qi shang ni):

Nausea and vomiting

Cold, flu caused by wind–cold:

Chills, aversion to cold, arthritis/joint pain, headaches, stuffed up nose

Cold in lung or cold phlegm:

Cough, shortness of breath, clear, white phlegm

Indigestion:

Vomiting and diarrhea after consumption of spoiled foods

General cold symptoms:

Cold hands and feet, rheumatism (arthritis) that worsens with wind–cold

Contraindications

General yin vacuity and heat signs

High blood pressure

Prolonged consumption of larger amounts of ginger should be avoided. Excess can provoke heat phlegm disorders.

Raw garlic is significantly more acrid and is classified as thermally hot, while gently braised garlic develops a sweet flavor and is classified as having a warm/hot thermal nature.

Indications

Cold symptoms and digestive obstructions in center burner:

Pain in abdomen and solar plexus (epigastric) region

Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or dysentery, also in connection with intake of contaminated food

Intense watery diarrhea

Cold, cough, or whooping-cough, chronic and acute bronchitis

Parasite infestation