Reply To: Materia Medica of Foods
Hello Jessica!
What is the food you’ve chosen? If you have never had it before, I’d recommend trying it before writing your assignment.
Otherwise, you can review pages 158-161 in your Nourish Guidebook to best determine the TCM thermal natures of food, and pages 83-84 for the Ayurvedic energetics / tastes.
Depending on the type of food (whether it’s a vegetable, grain, fruit, or protein), it’s helpful to review the particular food groups in your Mat Med monographs.
Some general TCM energetic theories include: (this is on page 158 of your Nourish guidebook)
– Plants that take longer to grow are more warming (think beets versus lettuce).
– Raw food, and foods eaten cold, are more cooling than cooked.
– Foods coloured blue, green, and purple are generally more cooling, and reds, oranges, and yellows more warming.
– Foods cooked slowly with lower temperatures (as opposed to rapid cooking) is considered more warming.
Feel free to add just the general energetics, including warm, hot, neutral, cool, or cold. If you eat the food you have chosen, notice what happens in your body after eating. Do you feel warmer or did you start sweating? Does your body feel cold? Does your energy sink or expand upwards?
For Ayurveda, you would determine the qualities of the food (eg. drying, heating, bitter, astringent, etc.) and choose a Dosha that it would pacify. For example, if it is warming, moistening, and heavy, it will pacify Vata dosha.
I hope this makes sense! Feel free to let me know the food, and I can help you if you’d like.
Warmth, Riley