Yin nourishing foods

Yin nourishing foods

Have you heard of Yin and Yang? 

In Chinese philosophy, yin and yang describe how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. Many tangible dualities (such as light and dark, fire and water, expanding and contracting) are thought of as physical manifestations of the duality symbolized by yin and yang.

Yin qualities include: 

Darkness, moon, feminine, shade, quiet, inward

Yang qualities include:

Light, sun, masculine, brightness, loud, outward

Example include:

Night (yin) and day (yang)

Yoga exercise (yin) and boxing exercise (yang)

Yin represents the energy that is responsible for moistening and cooling bodily functions. When this energy is depleted your body begins to show signs of “heating up”. This is not a true heat such as a fever, but rather a lack of the moistening and cooling functions that are necessary to maintain a healthy balance.

Women are more yin, while men are more yang – for example yin is all of the fluids in the body for women (breast milk, menstruation, vaginal discharge/lubricant) – men don’t have this. Men do have some yin qualities, as well as women having some yang qualities.

This post is focused on yin foods, thus nourishing the body and rebalancing conditions. These can include dry skin, menopausal hot flushes, tendon and ligament tightness or flaccidity, vaginal dryness, lack of breast milk production, low libido, insomnia, feeling low, scanty menstruation, hot hands and feet, constipation, dull headaches or anxiety.

Why is your yin imbalanced? Well, lots of reasons – genetics, age, stress on the body, trauma, blood loss, excess sexual activity, recreational drug use, too many yang hot foods, poor diet and lifestyle to name a few.

Nutrition is a simple way to balance yin and yang. Yin foods are cool and expanding; Yang foods are warm and contracting. Think of a shell of iceberg lettuce (Yin), and now a chunk of beef steak (Yang), and you will instantly recognise this meaning.

Foods to nourish Yin include:

  • Grains:  barley, millet
  • Vegetables:  alfalfa sprout, artichoke, asparagus, kelp, mung bean sprout, pea, potato,seaweed,string bean, sweet potato, tomato, water chestnut, yam, zucchini
  • Fruit:  apple, apricot, avocado, banana, lemon, lime, mango, mulberry, pear, persimmon, pineapple, pomegranate, watermelon
  • Beans: adzuki, black beans, black soya, kidney, lima, mung
  • Bean Products:  tofu
  • Nuts and seeds: coconut milk, sesame seed, black sesame seed, walnut
  • Fish:  fish in general but especially clam, fresh water clam, crab, cuttlefish, oyster, octopus, sardine
  • Meat:  beef, duck, goose, pork, pork kidney, rabbit
  • Dairy:  cheese, chicken egg, cow’s milk, duck egg
  • Herbs and spices:  marjoram, nettle
  • Oils and condiments:  honey, malt,

Common supplements:  Ginseng, royal jelly

Examples of every day foods that can be used to build yin, include:

  • Fruit smoothies with honey and banana or a fruit salad
  • Fish dishes with coconut milk
  • Omelettes with cheese
  • Asparagus and egg salads with sesame seeds
  • Tacos made with Kidney beans and topped with a small amount of cheese
  • Baked Potato stuffed with tofu with soya sauce and sesame seeds.
  • Pork and apple dishes
  • Miso soup with tofu and seaweed

Foods to avoid:

  • Stimulating foods such as the following will only further deplete yin: caffeine, alcohol, sugar and strongly heating, pungent spices.

Note: Like yin tonifying herbs, yin building foods have a tendency to congest the digestive organs and promote stagnation if large amounts are consumed. It is therefore important to consume small quantities frequently rather than large helpings irregularly. Such as a large portion if a fish coconut curry late at night is not ideal as it will sit in your stomach, stagnate and not digest properly before bed. Thus a small portion between 5-6pm is more ideal as there is more time before you go to bed to digest it. 

Also, It’s not to say that yang foods you already consume such as roast chicken, other types of fish, coffee, tea, black pepper etc are to be completely avoided. Remember yin and yang balance each other out, are contrary forces that are actually complementary, interconnected, and interdependent of each other. 

Other yin tips: meditate; eat more fresh fruit and salads; drink more water, teas and juices; wear pastel colors; wear loose, flowing clothes; stretch; get out into nature; listen to relaxing music; light candles at night.

Take care of you, see you in the clinic,

TK xx

 

Tanya Keam Wellness is an experienced health clinic in Nambour on the Sunshine Coast. Helping you to feel better in all aspects of your health and wellbeing.

 

Blood building nutrition

Blood building nutrition

Blood deficiency

Is a diagnostic term we use in Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for someone who is showing signs and symptoms of inadequate nourishment of the blood within the body. It is not uncommon for women to present with this type of deficiency as women lose blood in every menstrual cycle, however men can also present with it.

Many of the symptoms (below) are similar to iron deficiency anaemia, however the concept of blood in TCM refers more to the quality of the blood in its entirety to nourish the body as a whole. Whereas, anaemia in a Western term relates to deficiencies of folic acid, B12, protein building blocks and other nutrients. It may be beneficial to share with your TCM practitioner if you are aware that you are iron deficient so that dietary changes can be made.

Symptoms include :

Low energy

Blurry vision

Light headedness

Poor memory

Dry eyes, skin and hair

Pale complexion, lips, tongue colour, nails and inside the eyelid

Difficulty falling asleep

Hair loss or premature greying

Women – light or absent periods, migraines/headaches at specific times in the cycle

Tremors, numbness, tics

Weak nails

Anxiety or other mood fluctuations

 

To correct the deficiency

We first look at where the deficiency is coming from:

1. A diet which is lacking in the appropriate nutrients

2. Poor digestive function (the ability to absorb nutrients)

3. Excessive bleeding (often menstrual but also due to trauma or following surgery)

 

 

greens

Nutritional support

Grains Barley, corn, oats, rice, sweet rice, wheat, bran
Vegetables Alfalfa sprout, artichoke, beetroot, button mushroom, cabbage, celery, dandelion leaf, dark leafy greens, kelp, shiitake mushroom, spinach, watercress, wheatgrass
Fruit Apple, apricot, avocado, date, fig, grape, longan, mulberry
Beans/legumes Aduki, black soya, kidney, chickpea, red lentils
Nuts, seeds Almonds, black sesame
Fish Mussel, octopus, oyster, sardine, tuna
Meat All red meat especially bone marrow and liver (beef, pork, sheep). Bone broths are particular helpful
Dairy Chicken egg,
Herbs, spices Nettle, parsley
Oils, condiments Amasake, molasses
Beverages Soya milk
Common supplements Algae, pollen

images-13

Foods especially useful 

Vegetables artichoke, beetroot, dandelion leaf, kelp
Fruit avocado, date, mulberry, grape
Nuts /seeds black sesame
Fish oyster
Meats beef, liver (both pork and sheep)
Herbs/ spices nettle
Oils/ condiments molasse

Acupuncture

You may be consuming the correct foods, however if your digestive function is depleted than the nutrients are being passed through your stools instead of being transported to the cells around your body. This is where acupuncture comes in!

Acupuncture alone cannot nourish the blood, but it can greatly improve on the digestive function, like giving your body a 10-20% boost in what your digestive function should be doing, thus increasing the absorption of nutrients from food.

Cooking methods

There is also great importance on the way that foods are cooked. To support your digestive system, lightly cooking (steaming, blanching, soups, stews) and consuming warm foods is ideal. Add in some spices to aid digestion such as ginger, cumin, fennel and cardamom.

Herbs and supplements

To support your system further (on top of acupuncture treatments and dietary changes) and to nourish the blood more efficiently, a herbal formula may be developed for your individual situation. Supplements may include iron, vitamin B12, folic acid and to enhance iron absorption vitamin C (lemon juice) may be also taken with foods such as leafy greens.

Take care of you, see you in the clinic,

TK xx

Learn more > http://www.tanyakeamwellness.com