Eating and living in harmony with the seasons is one of the best means of disease prevention and self-care. Eating with the seasons allows your body’s systems to be strong in that season and prepare you for the next season to come. Foods that are abundant and grown locally, or in your own garden, are the best choices.
Whole foods and finding ways to balance stress through self-care are known to help prevent dis-ease. Knowing our body and emotions is a great way to understand when we are under too much stress, both physically and emotionally. What we eat does matter because food is the foundation; if we cannot receive the nourishment, it affects our ability to stay healthy physically and mentally.
All food and herbs have a thermal energetic (hot/warm/neutral/cool/cold) and five flavors (bitter/pungent/sweet/sour/salty), which is how our body knows how to use the extracted nutrients. A balanced diet would include a majority of sweet and pungent foods, with a nice blend of sour, bitter, and salty flavors. Sweet flavor (full sweet) is found in many foods, including root vegetables, squash, animal protein, fruit, and whole grains such as rice. All food contains at least 2 or more flavors. An excessive amount of any flavor may cause an imbalance. I have created a list of food flavors based on Traditional Chinese Medicine. Click on the charts below to gain a better understanding of how the five flavors and whole foods are essential for overall health.
Herbal Remedies Nutrition
A salty flavor is believed to support health by promoting strong digestion and maintaining body tone, according to traditional perspectives. Throughout history, food and herbs have served as essential tools for healing and maintaining health. Enhance your well-being by understanding how to effectively use these resources for health support. SALTYSOURBITTERPUNGENTSWEET [Read More]
Herbal Remedies Nutrition
SWEET SALTY SOUR BITTER PUNGENT SWEET foods and herbs have cool, neutral, or warm energetic properties and support various body systems. Foods with a SWEET taste are understood to support the stomach, spleen, lungs, large intestine, kidneys, and urinary bladder according to traditional perspectives. SWEET flavor is also believed to [Read More]
Herbal Remedies Nutrition
PUNGENT SWEET SALTY SOUR BITTER PUNGENT food and herbs have a thermal energetic quality that is warm to hot (acrid, spicy, hot, aromatic) to the body’s system. Foods that are PUNGENT in taste support the lungs and large intestines. PUNGENT flavor assists the kidneys, urinary bladder, liver, and gallbladder. Food [Read More]
Herbal Remedies Nutrition
BITTER PUNGENT SWEET SALTY SOUR BITTER food and herbs thermal energetic are mostly cooling, and a few are warming to the body’s systems. Foods that are BITTER in taste support the heart and small intestine. BITTER flavor assists the stomach, spleen, lungs, and large intestine Food and herbs which are [Read More]
Herbal Remedies Nutrition
SOUR food and herbs are mostly cooling to the body’s systems Foods that are SOUR in taste support the liver and gallbladder SOUR flavor assists the heart, small intestines, stomach, spleen, and pancreas. Food and herbs which are SOUR in taste:
Herbal Dictionary Herbal Remedies Massage Nutrition Selfcare
Busy lives often leave us overwhelmed and stressed. The body can’t distinguish between positive and negative stress; it only recognizes overstimulation, which impacts the nervous system and adrenal glands—especially during prolonged stress. When we don’t replenish, excess stress over time may lead to dis-ease. Since it’s challenging to always rest [Read More]
Herbal Remedies Nutrition
Our digestive system is the foundation of well-being; it is the most important system in the body, and without strong digestion, our health is compromised! If we are under too much stress, whether short-term or long-term, and worry excessively, it impairs our ability to digest food, affecting our body, memory, [Read More]
Massage Nutrition Selfcare
A traditional diet provides the vital foundation for excellent health. For most of human history, we ate nutrient-dense, minimally processed foods. Modern changes have reduced food quality, negatively impacting health. For further insights, see Traditional Foods Are Your Best Medicine by Ronald F. Schmid, N.D. A century ago, people ate [Read More]
Nutrition Selfcare
Lemons and limes are possibly the most valuable fruits therapeutically! It is essential to consume food and drink in moderation; overindulging should be avoided. Check in with yourself. If you are not feeling well after eating or drinking a certain type of food, try eliminating it for a while, then [Read More]
Nutrition Selfcare
Your digestive system consists of: The strength of digestion depends on our parents (pre-essence) and what we were fed as children (post-essence). If we come from strong, healthy parents and were fed wholesome food, our digestive fire (digestive enzymes and HCL secretion) will be strong. Enzymes are necessary for every [Read More]
Nutrition Selfcare
The human brain functions best on a diet high in fat and protein, with a focus on organically or locally grown foods free of herbicides and pesticides. Ethical meat—sourced from free-range animals not treated with antibiotics or growth hormones—is recommended. For further reading on brain nutrients, see Primal Body, Primal [Read More]
Nutrition
Our liver has a significant responsibility in maintaining our health, and strong, healthy liver function is essential for producing glutathione. The liver plays a key role in most metabolic processes, particularly in detoxification. The liver is constantly exposed to caustic substances. A myriad of chemicals are used on commercially grown [Read More]
Herbal Remedies Nutrition Selfcare
Humans have been eating and living in harmony with the seasons for thousands of years, and about 100 years ago, that all changed —and not for the better. There is way too much disease, which encompasses the body and mind. Mental illness, chronic degenerative health concerns, stealing life too early, [Read More]
Nutrition
For healthy cholesterol fats are necessary. All fats and oils, whether from vegetable or animal, are some combination of saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated acids, oleic acid (omega-9), polyunsaturated linoleic (omega-6) and linolenic acid (omega-3). They are essential for the body and brain. Did you know the brain is about two [Read More]
Nutrition
Cholesterol is regarded by the body as such an important metabolic aid that every cell has a mechanism to manufacture its own supply. (Erdmann, 1995) Cholesterol is a soft, waxy lipid molecule manufactured in the liver and in human cells, produced in the liver, and derived from animal fat we [Read More]
Herbal Remedies Nutrition
Alfalfa Leaf Alfalfa Leaf Medicago sativa – Part used: leaf stems, unopened flowers Taste: sweet/bitter Thermal energetic: neutral to cool Effective form: infusion, capsules, tincture, powered Properties: anti-inflammatory, rich in carotene, vitamin K, chlorophyll, amino acids, full spectrum minerals and trace minerals very nutrient rich Medicinal use: especially good for [Read More]