The Chinese sages believed that each season has its own element: it depends on which organ in the body will require the most care, which emotion will dominate and what nutrition will be useful to the body at this time of the year. We tell you what to eat and drink in the fall to feel as energetic as possible.
The Five Elements Theory – Wu Xing – is based on the idea that we have chi energy. It is the fuel our body runs on. Qi circulates through it, and depending on the season, its circulation changes.
For example, in autumn, when the Metal element predominates, our lungs and large intestines are most active. This means that these organs require increased care: as far as they are activated, they are just as vulnerable.
The quality of emotions also depends on the state of the body: if a person is energetic and healthy, then the emotional background allows him to realize himself even better in society. Moreover, autumn is a great time for dating and for new social projects.
If there is an imbalance in the body, then sadness becomes the emotion of the season – a state of despondency that removes a person from society, causing him to want to close, hide and wait for better times. When this happens, know: it’s normal! It’s not so much the horror of being, but the autumn “aggravation”, which is associated with the state of the body, and therefore with the Metal element. And it can be balanced.
Warm up at any cost
Since it gets colder in autumn, we instinctively want to add warming foods to our diet. This is exactly what, according to the Wu Xing system, is what needs to be done: Metal is associated with a deficit of hot, bubbling yang energy – and with nutrition, we must make up for it.
What keeps us warm? First of all, spicy foods. Therefore, in the fall, you can add ginger and mint to tea, to your favorite vegetable stew – anise, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, cloves. In meat dishes and side dishes – onions, garlic, lettuce, young asparagus.
Varieties of meat in the Taoist tradition are also divided into warming and cooling, and mutton, lamb, goose and duck are among the most useful in autumn.
And of course, the dishes themselves should be hot or at least warm: salads lose their relevance for a while, rich soups, broths, stewed vegetables and meat, gravies are in trend … That is, everything that immediately warms our body.
We form a reserve of forces
Ahead is a long winter, which can bring with it great energy waste. At a minimum, we will spend extra chi energy on heating ourselves when we run from work to the subway.
Therefore, the task of the autumn diet is to nourish the body with energy. What products are suitable for this? First of all, all seasonal vegetables and fruits – everything that has ripened, if possible, on the site: from carrots and beets to apples, pears, squash and other natural things filled with the power of the earth.
A special type of product that is relevant in the fall is seeds: for example, germinated wheat or even ordinary sunflower seeds. The seed is what is to become the plant. They have a powerful growth potential – the energy that they transfer to a person if they become part of his diet. Therefore, it is worth adding everything that should have germinated to vegetable and meat dishes.
What is contraindicated in autumn?
According to the Taoist tradition, dairy products create cold in the body, while we, on the contrary, need more heat, even heat. Therefore, if possible, it is worth giving up dairy products.
Where can you get the calcium you need? – you ask. It is found in large quantities in green vegetables: cabbage, green peppers, spinach. Add more cooked greens to your diet, reduce the amount of dairy products – and you will be surprised how much more energy you will have.
In cold autumn, you also especially want tea – and something sweet to go with it. According to the Wu-Sin theory, white sugar is a poisonous substance that slows down metabolic processes. Therefore, Chinese doctors insist on a complete rejection of sugar, which, of course, is not suitable for everyone. But you can at least reduce the amount of its consumption.
Try an experiment: pour honey into a sugar bowl, take dried fruits instead of cookies and muffins. If you can stick to these sweets for 21 days—a habit-forming period—you’ll be surprised to discover just how cloyingly sweet (and therefore unpalatable!) sugary sweets are.
In general, your menu should be complete, varied and tasty. After all, the pleasure that you get from cooking and eating delicious meals is another source of additional energy.