Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) looks at food and how it affects our health in a completely different way, with no numerical guidelines involved. TCM dietary therapy deals with the properties of food and how food can actually be used as medicine towards preserving health, prevent and treat illness.

In TCM, everything is seen through the picture of yin and yang with the ideal of having complete balance between the two. Food is used as medicine to achieve and maintain that balance by simply adding, or removing specific types of food from the diet. The body and internal organs are also connected with the five elements and colours: wood (green), fire (red), water (black/blue), earth (yellow), and metal (white), and the five seasons (yes, five). Food is no exception and is placed into five main categories, and grouped according to flavour and nature.

The fire element connects with summer time, bitter tastes and is associated with the heart and small intestine. Bitter tasting foods are typically stimulating, and have a cooling and laxative quality: black coffee, black tea, plain chocolate, corn, green tea, and yes, cigarettes. Overuse of bitter or"fire"foods can be dehydrating, have an adverse effect on the nervous systems and ultimately weaken the heart and digestive systems.

The earth element in the late summer has a nourishing quality and is associated with anything sweet. It corresponds to the stomach and spleen. The mouth is considered the gateway to the stomach and often in times of stress, we tend to eat more, or eat specific types of sweet foods in order to alleviate that stress. Foods such as refined sugar, pasta, breads, sweet fruit, and cheese all have sedating, lethargic and phlegm-creating qualities. Too much of that can disturb digestion and cause bloating.