In Chinese Medicine there are five elements: earth, metal, water, wood and fire.
Everything in life, also the food we eat, can be categorized in these five elements.
You can make your raw food diet even more exciting, better looking and better tasting, by using this five element theory.
Basics of the Chinese five element theory:
- The wood element corresponds to the color green, spring, the sour taste and the Gallbladder and Liver meridian. Foods belonging to the wood element are lemon, pear, plum, mango, sauerkraut, wheat and barley. Also sprouts, the young plants of spring, belong to this wood element.
- The fire element corresponds to the color red, summer, the bitter taste and the Small Intestine and Heart meridian. Foods belonging to the fire element are hops, radish leaf, romaine lettuce, alfalfa, dandelion, chocolate, corn and many herbs. Also the large leafy plants of summer (often bitter) belong to this fire element.
- The earth element corresponds to the color yellow, late summer, the sweet taste and the Stomach and the Spleen meridian. Foods belonging to the earth element are honey, apple, cherry, banana, corn, carrot, sesame oil, yam and millet (yellow). Also the late summer fruits belong to this earth element.
- The metal element corresponds to the color white, autumn, the pungent taste and the Colon and Lung meridian. Foods belonging to the metal element are onion, chive, coriander, parsley, radish, garlic, ginger, cayenne, peppermint, clove and rice (white). Also the small contracted plants belong to this metal element.
- The water element corresponds to the colors blue or black, winter, the salty taste and the Bladder and Kidney meridian. Foods belonging to the water element are salt, kelp, seaweed, nama shoyu, salty pickles, olives, celery and beans. Also the roots of plants belong to this water element.
To eat a balanced diet, it is necessary to eat all the different tastes regularly. It is best to have them all in each meal.
An example of a balanced meal is:
1 a smoothie with banana (sweet), avocado (sweet), small amount of lemon (sour), raw chocolate (bitter), a celery stalk (salt) and a pinch of cayenne (pungent)
2 a salad with romaine lettuce (bitter), olives (salt), grated carrot (sweet), red onion (pungent), sesame oil (sweet) and lemon (sour)
3 a juice of apple (sweet), lemon (sour), celery (salt), romaine lettuce (bitter) and ginger (pungent)
4 a dehydrated cracker with flaxseed (sweet), tomato (sweet and sour), nama shoyu (salt), chive (pungent) and white pepper (bitter and pungent)
As you can see, it’s not difficult to eat according to the Chinese five elements. If you vary your diet, it happens automatically.
If you want to create special, nice looking, great tasting dishes, keep the five elements, the five colors and the five tastes in mind. Now you have my secret to the best tasting and best looking healthy raw food dishes ;-)