“Warming and Cooling Foods and Why They are Important”

In Traditional Chinese Medicine there cooling foods (Yin Foods) and foods that bring warming energy to the body (Yang Foods). There must be a balance betwee
Yin and Yang foods, thus bringing balance and health to the body, and creating the correct balance of Qi energy for great health… balance is always important.

Cooling and Cold Foods

Cooling foods are important for cooling excess body heat, bringing yin energy into the body, calming the mind, and removing toxins from the body. These foods are very important for anyone who feels hot all the time, feels anxious, has a red face and their eyes seem red and irritated most of the time. Cooling foods are also important for those who have headaches, oral ulcers, cold sores, have a coated tongue, and tongue that is scalloped on the edges, heartburn, dark urine, and a rapid pulse, constipation, feel thirsty all the time, and have burning when they go to the bathroom… these people need more cooling foods. And if it’s hot outside then eating more cooling foods is important for balance. Remember eating the wrong foods during cool or warm times of the year can create disease.

Here are a few cooling foods:

Cooling Veggies include: - Leafy greens, cucumber, lettuce, swiss chard, spinach, water cress, water chestnuts, mushrooms, alfalfa sprouts, radishes, kelp, tomatoes, celery, sea weed, broccoli, water caltrop, and bitter melon.

Cooling Fruits include: Grapefruit, kiwi, pear, persimmons, apple, banana, orange, watermelon, star fruit, tangerine, and lemons plus a few more.

Cooling Grains include: Buckwheat, barley, millet, and whole wheat.

Cooling Beans include: Mung beans, soy beans, and tofu.

Cooling Beverages and spices include: Green tea, black tea, chrysanthemum tea, and peppermint tea.
Warming or Hot Foods

Warming foods are very important during the winter time when it’s cold outside. But these foods can be used year round if someone has cold hands, cold feet, or feels cold all the time. People who need warming foods may feel bloated after eating, or have arthritic joints, and retain fluids in their feet and other parts of their body. And warming foods increase circulation, getting rid of that cold feeling, and bring more Yang or Qi energy into the body. Remember too much Qi energy is also not a good thing… balance is important.

Here are some warming foods:

Warming Veggies include: Mustard greens, pumpkin and other winter squash, onions, leeks, and chives and a few other veggies.

Warming Fruits include: Mangos, raspberries, guava, cherries, coconut, peaches and nectarines, dates, lychee, longan berries.
Warming Grains include: Sticky white rice, chestnut flour, malt.

Warming Seeds include: Walnuts, pine nuts, pistachio nuts, chestnuts, caraway seeds.

Warming Beverages and spices include: Coffee, spearmint tea, basil, cloves, coriander, ginseng, ginger, pepper, rosemary, nutmeg, wine, brown sugar, garlic, cinnamon, hot chilies, and a few more.

Neutral Foods

And there are foods that are neither warming or cooling and can be eaten all the time. These foods are neutral foods that don’t change our Yin and Yang or balance of warm and cold… or create more or less Qi energy.
Neutral Veggies include: Mushrooms, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, corn, turnips, taro roots, and sweet potatoes, and a few more foods.

Neutral Fruits include: Plums, olives, figs, berries of all kinds, papaya, pineapple, goji, grapes, apricots and a few more fruits.

Neutral Grains include: Rye and white rice.

Neutral Beans include: Broad beans, black soy beans, adzuki beans, peanuts, kidney beans, and peas and a few more.

Neutral Seeds and Nuts include: Sunflower seeds, lotus seeds, black sesame seeds, almonds.

Warming Beverages and spices include: Saffron, honey, licorice and a few more beverages and spices.

Here are some general rules to follow about warming and cooling foods:

If the food is spicy and hard it’s usually a warming food.
If the food is cool and wet it’s usually a cooling food.
If the food grows in the sun and air it’s usually a warming food.
And if the food grows underground it’s usually a cooling food.

I remember one of my friends who was sitting in a super market having coffee, and was wearing a sweat shirt, and it was 90 degrees outside with high humidity… and he was freezing. This is where cooling and warming foods can be very important.

This is a very simplistic way of looking at all of this, but I’m trying to make it as simple as possible for the average person… the whole process can become very complicated. If a person wants to know more about cooling and warming foods contact a good Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner for a consultation.

Many Blessings to Everyone

Dr. Paul Haider - Master Herbalist