DAAN Chinese Herbs and Acupuncture

Here are some reasons why you crave salt and why is it good for you to cut back.

There are many possible reasons why someone will experience frequent salt cravings.

Cravings can often indicate a deficiency of some nutrient in the body. In the case of salt, cravings may indicate a mineral deficiency. According to Paul Pitchford, author of “Healing with Whole Foods,” and an expert in traditional Chinese medicine, there are two possible reasons why someone may be lacking sufficient minerals.

One reason is that while all salt originates from the sea, refined sea salt that finds its way to most kitchens and is used in industrial food processing has been stripped of all of the trace minerals that are essential to forming vitamins, enzymes and proteins in the body. In addition, Pitchford blames chemical farming and industrial food production since World War II for depleting the soil of naturally occurring minerals that would otherwise find their way into the food system

Susan Yen
LA.c
Yin & Yang of Foods

In the realm of Traditional Chinese Medicine, everything is comprised of yin and yang. The sun, heat, is deemed as yang and its opposite, is considered yin. For those who have consulted with a Chinese herbalist/acupuncturist, you might have heard suggestions as “you have a cold body type, so eat more warm property foods and stay away from cold property foods”, or “your body has too much heat, you shouldn’t eat too much heating foods”.

The general idea behind these statements is that produce are harvested in accordance with the four seasons, hence when it is summer, cooling foods like cucumbers and watermelons are in abundance to naturally cool our body down from the summer heat.

So if you eat with the seasons, it is easier for your body to be in sync with your natural habitat. With global trade, many might ask, “how do I know what’s in season?” Now days, it is true one can still buy watermelons in the dead of winter, but at a hefty price. The easiest way to tell what’s in season (and grown locally) is by price and how much produce space it is taking in the markets.

If the produce is imported, which country it is from will also give you a clue as to the food’s intrinsic yin-yang property. For instance, fresh coconuts are typically imported from S.E. Asian countries, and the climate there is hot or hotter all year round.

If your constitution is more yin-based (often cold, digestion is worse when drink iced cold drinks, etc.), you should think twice before downing fresh coconut juice in autumn and winter.

Other than eating with the seasons, another general rule of thumb in understanding the intrinsic yin-yang property of produce (namely vegetables) is by its color (leaf and stem); darker colored vegetables are warmer than paler/white colored.

So, if you tend to feel cold, your body will be happier if you eat more broccoli than cauliflower. Remember, this intrinsic yin-yang food property is not about the temperature of the food. A cooked broccoli has the same intrinsic yang property as when it is raw.

As for meats, warm blooded animals will yield warm property meat. Red meat is warmer than white meat. And yes, snake meat will cool down your body because they are cold blooded.

The ultimate tool to figure out what suits your body is simply be aware of what your body is telling you. People automatically stay away from certain types of foods because they feel groggy or bloated after eating them. Make your own list of what those produce are and most likely, they’ll be in the same yin-yang property.