The 5 Flavors of Foods

The 5 flavors of food include pungent (acrid), sweet, sour, bitter and salty.
- Pungent foods include green onion, chive, clove, parsley and coriander.
- Sweet foods include sugar, cherry, chestnut and banana.
- Sour foods include lemon, pear, plum and mango.
- Bitter foods include hops, lettuce, radish leaf and vinegar.
- Salty foods include salt, kelp and seaweed.

It is common for some foods to have 2 or more simultaneous flavors. The flavors of foods are important in Chinese diet, because different flavors, have their respective important effects upon the internal organs.
- Pungent foods act on lungs and large intestine.
- Sweet foods act on stomach and spleen.
- Sour foods act on liver and gall bladder.
- Bitter foods act on heart and small intestine.
- Salty foods act on kidneys and bladder.

In general, the common actions of foods in regard to their flavors are as follows
- Pungent foods can induce perspiration and promote energy circulation.
- Sweet foods can slow down the acute symptoms and neutralize the toxic effects of other foods.
- Sour foods can obstruct the movement, and are useful, therefore, in checking diarrhea and excessive perspiration.
- Bitter foods can reduce body heat, dry body fluid and induce diarrhea.
- Salty foods can soften hardness, which explain their usefulness in treating tuberculosis of the lymph nodes and other symptoms involving the hardening of muscles or glands.

The Chinese diet, differences from Western diet

There are 2 basic differences between Chinese and Western diets. First of all, Western diet focuses almost exclusively on diet for weight loss. Chinese diet is designed not only to help you lose weight but also to treat many other ailments, including hypertension, diabetes, common cold, gastritis, diarrhea, constipation, cough, hepatitis, psoriasis, common acne, eczema, and so on.

In Chinese diet, for example, it is considered bad for someone with constipation to drink tea, it is good for someone with a cough to eat apple with honey. When I have a headache, I want to know which food i should eat to cure my headache and which food I should avoid to prevent my headache from becoming worse. When I have diarrhea or am suffering from diabetes, I want to know which food I should eat to treat my symptoms, and which to avoid to prevent my problems from becoming worse. When I am overweight, I want to know which foods I should eat to reduce my weight and which not to eat to avoid gaining more weight.

To lose weight, no doubt, is part of Chinese diet, but there are many other consideration as important as weight loss in minds of Chinese dietitians. Recently, I read a diet book written by a well-known Western physician, and to my great amazement, I found no information on dietary treatment of such symptoms as sore throat, hemorrhoids, hiccupping, vomiting, fever, toothache, psoriasis, stomachache, and other ailments - all important treatments when using the Chinese diet.

The second difference between Chinese and Western diets is in Western diet, foods are considered for their protein, calorie, carbohydrate, vitamin, and other nutrient content, but in Chinese diet, food are considered for their flavors, energies, movements, and common and organic actions. It works like this. If I feel cold in my body and limbs, naturally i like to eat something that will warm me, if I feel hot, something to cool me. If I have a weak stomach, naturally i like to eat something that will eat something that will make my stomach stronger. If I feel my kidneys are weakening, something that will make my kidneys stronger. Ginger will warm me, because it has a warm energy. Mung beans will cool me, because they have a cool energy. Sugar can make my stomach stronger, because it tastes sweet and acts on the stomach. Yam will make my kidneys stronger, because it acts on the kidneys on a special way.

To be sure, we can find nutritional information on foods in Western diet. For example, we know that red pepper contains vitamins A and C, but it does not tell us it can warm us. We know mung beans contain some protein and carbohydrates, but not that mung beans can cool us. We know that black pepper contains some protein, but not that it cam make our stomachs stronger. We know that yam contains protein, carbohydrate, calcium, and many vitamins, but not that it can make our kidneys stronger. Thus, it is easy to see how Chinese diet differs from Western diet.

The essential aspects of Chinese diet in regard to food are
- the five flavors of foods
- the five energies of foods
- the movement of foods
- the common and organic actions of foods