Chinese dietetics includes a set of food hygiene rules whose theory and practice are based on observations established over millennia. Its purpose is very practical. It consists in contributing to health according to the constitution of each one using the products of nature.

The main principles

Traditional Chinese Medicine, more than 3000 years old, is a medicine based on feeling, experience and not on Cartesian and scientific studies, as Western Medicine was built. It is holistic because it encompasses the body as a whole, including the energetic, emotional and spiritual dimensions of the individual.

It was born on the principle that the human being would live, on his own, microcosm in the macrocosm, the same principles and movements as nature and as all living beings. It is indeed, by observing nature and its changes, that the theory of Yin and Yang and that of the 5 elements, founding concepts of Chinese Medicine, were developed.

Chinese Dietetics was therefore built on these same principles, it will allow to readjust the energy balance of the human being, according to the seasons but also to his constitution and his health. It is not necessary to eat Chinese food for this; our foods, if they are fresh, in season, closest to their nature, will also be very suitable, because it is above all a matter of diet of common sense.

The different properties in foods in Chinese dietetics

Foods, for 2500 years, date of the first classical texts of reference, are classified according to their therapeutic virtues. We could speak of “alicaments”, foods considered as drugs, a term very fashionable today! Indeed, the Chinese Diet has 2 aspects: it can be preventive (we will try to understand, for each person, what will suit him best in his field), but also therapeutic and curative, certain foods being considered as drugs. . The Chinese, with their experience, over several thousand years, have succeeded in classifying each food, according to 5 criteria: their nature (the warming or cooling aspect that a food will have after its ingestion), their flavor (in link, with the 5 organs, there will be a therapeutic action on the energy movements), their tropisms (the organs concerned as specific places of action), their therapeutic actions and their contraindications.

Place of dietetics in traditional Chinese medicine

Chinese Dietetics is one of the 5 main branches of this medicine, along with Acupuncture, Tuina massage, pharmacopoeia and physical exercises, Qi Gong and Meditation. In the oldest tradition in China, diet was considered to be the major art of prevention, because when you ate properly, you could not get sick. Sun Si Miao, a famous Chinese doctor from the XNUMXth century AD, said: “He who does not know how to eat, does not know how to live”. And even today, when we ask in China, “How are you?”, In reality, we ask “Did you eat well?”, A sign that all is well, that the appetite is there and that the health is good. Also at the origin of Western Medicine, didn’t Hippocrates say: “Let your food be your medicine”?

Consider the food from an energy point of view:

The food must be as alive as possible, as close to its vitality, to its “Jing”, to its essence, so as to nourish our own vitality, our own “Jing”. In Chinese culture, food is considered a gift from nature, part of the universal energy. It is a “food-energy” capable of nourishing our bodily, mental and spiritual needs. Another Chinese proverb says: “To eat is to reach Heaven”.

We feed on what we breathe, the energy of Heaven, and what we eat, the energy of the Earth. Food must be as least processed, as natural as possible, to fill us with its vitality and make us even more alive.

Adapt the diet to each individual:

Each person is considered unique, by his constitution, his way of life, his personal history, his affect and his vital energy. You will have to adapt your diet to all these criteria, which is why Chinese Dietetics is personalized and non-dogmatic medicine. It is in this context that it will be able to bring benefits to the person. The dietitian will have to take the time to listen, to understand what type of food, for each person, can worsen a disease or promote weight gain, but also what emotions are at play, what is at stake for them. She will have to be brought back to rules of common sense and prevention that will allow her to take charge of her health by eating properly.

Regulate the Yin / Yang of each individual:

All the foods having been listed by their impact of heat or cold on the body, after assimilation, what is called the “nature” of the food, we can reheat the person, with foods of a warm to hot nature, of mild flavor (sticky rice, lamb, shrimp for example) or spicy (spices, ginger), if it shows signs of cold, weakness or fatigue. On the other hand, if the person has signs of heat, we can refresh him with foods of a fresh to cold nature, and savory flavors (seaweed, seafood), acid (citrus, tomato) or bitter (arugula, dandelion, artichoke).

Take advantage of the therapeutic virtues of food and heal yourself by eating:

When we use the therapeutic benefits of foods and also specific recipes to treat illnesses, we will speak of “Diet therapy” rather than Chinese Dietetics. As an example, we could give a simple and effective treatment for high blood pressure: eat 3 apples a day and celery stick every day. There were also lots of grandmother’s recipes here, such as poultices of cabbage leaves for rheumatism or blackberry jam, to treat constipation. All of this is more and more fashionable today, as many people no longer want toxic drugs and prefer to resort to more natural methods.

The ideal dish for good health:

However, we do not know which way to turn in food today. We hear everything and its opposite. To be simple, if we think in Yin-Yang terms, we are made of energy, “Qi” and blood, these 2 aspects will have to be nourished properly. So it will be necessary to count? of the plate with a cereal, to nourish the “Qi, energy, ¼ of the plate with a protein (meat, fish, egg, tofu or legume) to nourish the Qi and the blood, the rest with vegetables at will to bring colors, flavors, but also to fill, cleanse the body and prevent it from having diseases such as overweight, cholesterol, hypertension or even cancer …

Change your habits

First of all, think about taking the time to eat, chew, and especially to prepare to eat. Eating must be a real act of conscience for oneself, for our family and also for our planet that we must respect!

As the simplest rule, we could say eat seasonal products, produced if possible in our regions and as natural, organic as possible. Then, I will add the following small rules:

• Eat cooked rather than raw, so as not to damage too much the energy of the Spleen / Stomach, source of energy and blood production: what the pan has not cooked, your body will have to. cook and spend energy, to digest this raw.
• Eat more grains and less fast sugars, to fuel energy
• Eat more vegetables, if possible cooked, to cleanse the body and avoid cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, overweight, cancer, …
• Eat less meat and animal products, but it is important to consume them to nourish energy and blood (our physical constitution)
• Eat less dairy products and cheeses which are very indigestible and produce phlegm
• Eat less sweet: a dessert is not essential at the end of a meal, nor all the sweet snacks that we think we take to avoid the hypoglycemia crisis! Sugar calls for sugar and gradually depletes Spleen (and pancreas), a source of energy and blood production.
• Eat less bread and wheat, favor, like the Chinese, rice which creates less intolerance and bloating.

Examples of special Chinese diet day

“Eat like a prince in the morning, like a merchant at noon and like a poor man in the evening”, this means that you have to have a rich and nutritious breakfast, with especially slow sugars, a full and varied lunch and a dinner. lighter, so as not to have too much difficulty digesting in the evening. If necessary, you can have snacks, such as fresh or dried fruit, but be careful not to snack all day, as this could also tire the digestive system, Spleen / Stomach.

Training in Chinese dietetics

Chinese dietetics being a branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine, it is often part of training programs in schools in France, such as the Chuzhen Institute, IMHOTEP, IMTC …

However, there are specific training courses open to all, such as that of Josette Chapellet in Nice and the training given at the “La main du Coeur” institute in Paris.

The specialist in Chinese dietetics

The specialist has completed training in complete Traditional Chinese Medicine and / or specific training in Chinese dietetics (see training above).

There are also unions where to find practitioners in Traditional Chinese Medicine, who are also trained in Chinese dietetics, such as UFPMTC and CFMTC.

There is none, because food is the most gentle method of care in Chinese Medicine, gentler than acupuncture which does not work for everyone and also than the Chinese pharmacopoeia which requires a great deal of knowledge. -do, at the level of diagnosis and prescription.

At the origin of everything, the human being had to always pay attention to what he ate, at the risk of losing his life there. Among the Chinese, we speak of the first human ancestor of Chinese Dietetics, Shen Nong, the divine plowman who would have taught agriculture to his people, tasted more than 70 poisonous plants during the day and discovered tea, dropped a few leaves. , in a cup of water.

From 1600 BC, Yi Yin, a famous cook of the king, became, by his culinary and medical talents, prime minister at the court.

The first classical texts “Huang Di Nei Jing”, between 474 and 221 BC give the first medical notions concerning digestion, nature and flavors of food. It was not until the Han dynasty (260 BC to 220 AD) to know the first inventory of plants and foods considered as medicines.

Chinese Dietetics has therefore experimented and written, for centuries, information concerning the therapeutic indications of foods. Today, with the exponential growth of obesity in China, it is more than ever a subject of interest and research for Chinese Medicine.

The idea of ​​being able to heal by eating has always fascinated me. This is a very topical idea today, when we increasingly ask ourselves the question of the quality of food, its production, its processing and also when we wonder about the evolution of our planet. Chinese dietetics, based on the principles of nature, allows us to revisit the notions of common sense and also to understand that eating is life, it is loving life!

As a therapist and practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine, I use Chinese Diet to restore meaning and awareness to eating. My patients are very fond of dietary advice, to try to change certain habits, to test new recipes, not only to lose weight, but also to have less pain, to be less tired. For me, it is an essential prevention tool, to avoid falling ill.

Find Pascale Perli on Medoucine.com, the network of tested and validated alternative medicine therapists.