Food pyramids…How many have there been over the years, use to be one, now we have, what 5, 10, 12….How many will we have in 10 years—-20? Who can eat 5 fruits every day, plus 4 servings of grains, plus meat, plus vegetables, plus-plus-plus…? It is frustrating I know.

Now, read all the information about vitamins. First we hear, take Vitamin C, then a few years later, do not take it, now they tell us to take it again. Then Vitamin D, is great for you, and then avoid it, now it makes us stronger… Vitamin A, great then, now it may be toxic after a certain level. Pheew! Can you keep track of all this? Do you remember your parents, grandparents, great grandparents, knowing or needing all of this information?

Did your grandmother, make apple pie from scratch, measuring the vitamins, minerals, fats, cholesterol, proteins, carbohydrates and calories? Or did they make the BEST apple pie you have ever eaten! Did you grow up smelling the pies cool on the windowsill, with the window wide-open….sure someone somewhere is probably saying to no longer do this! What is it germs, bacteria…did they not exist back then, or are we just becoming too obsessed with certain things that may or may not be important!

There is an Alternative

Well, actually it is not a true alternative, it is a way of viewing and preparing food that goes back over 6,000 years and has influenced one of the oldest healing systems that is still practiced today. Every day over one billion people around the world eat food based on the following principles. Rather than an alternative, let’s call it a better way!

The Five Tastes

(Tao of Balanced Diet by Dr. Stephen Chang)

Ok, so far nothing new here, everyone knows that we have five tastes. But what many are not aware of is the impact of these five tastes, it is not just to determine what Tastes good. It is much-much-more important than that!

Any food will fall into one of five categories: Spicy, Sour Sweet, Salty & Bitter! Still nothing new, ok, did you know that each of the Five Tastes directly affects a major Organ & Bowel in your body! For example, foods with a bitter taste will be guided to the heart, so bitter foods nourish the heart. The nutrients and vital energy in bitter foods will enable the heart to build more tissues and become healthier and stronger, thereby improving its function. Anyone who has drunk two or three cups of strong coffee within a brief period has experienced his heart “beat like crazy”, not from caffeine so much as from coffee being a bitter food according to Taoism &Chinese Medicine! Unfortunately, coffee gives little or nothing of nutritional value to the heart so it simply stimulates the heart causing it to beat faster, not become stronger.

• Spicy: Lung/Large Intestine
• Sour: Liver/Gallbladder
• Sweet: Spleen-Pancreas/Stomach
• Salt: Kidney/Bladder
• Bitter: Heart/Small Intestine

To elaborate further, spicy food or piquant food is food for the lungs and large intestine. So cinnamon, pepper, chili and curry are good for coughs and colds. Sour food is food for the liver. Apples & grapefruit are examples of sour foods. Sweet food is food for the pancreas, string beans are considered good for the pancreas. Salt is food for the kidneys, salt stimulates the kidneys and makes it work. Too much salt however, causes the kidneys to overwork and become weak.

Other examples:

• Sweet: Almonds, Beans, Beets, Black Eye Peas, Eggplant, Kale, Lettuce, Milk, Oatmeal, etc….
• Sour: Beef, Breads, Buttermilk, Freshwater Fish, Red Meat, Sausages, Turkey, Yogurt, etc…
• Bitter: Asparagus, Avocados, Broccoli, Chocolate, Cocoa, Green Vegetables, Tea, Turnips, etc…
• Salty: Butter, Canned foods, Cheeses, Egg, Saltwater Fish, Ham, frozen food, Tofu, etc…
• Spicy: Basil, Chili, Cayenne Pepper, Garlic, Ginger, Liquor, Mint, Onion, Vanilla, Wine, etc…

So a balanced diet according to the Five Tastes, each meal would look like this:

1. Sweet: 20%
2. Sour 20%
3. Bitter 20%
4. Spicy 20%
5. Salty 20%

Excessive Sweet Taste Diet (one that may cause: hypoglycemia, diabetes, heartburn, indigestion, constipation & water retention)

1. Sweet 50%
2. Sour 30%
3. Spicy 10%
4. Bitter 5%
5. Salty 5%

Excessive Sour & Salty Taste Diet (one that may cause: kidney weakness & disease, heart ailments and high blood pressure)

1. Sweet 20%
2. Sour 30%
3. Spicy 10%
4. Bitter 10%
5. Salty 30%

The key with food is balance, combining the right amount of each of the Five Tastes! For instance, too many apples a day (sour) would further weaken a weak liver eventually, even if it temporarily appears stronger. Also, color, texture & aroma are equally important with food. No-one wants to eat food that is limp, hard and has a bad odor, well not most any way.

The new USDA My Plate program is a great improvement over the old food pyramids. The Taoist method was also based on the concept of “viewing your plate”. With a few modifications we can actually improve “My Plate”, for instance; in place of Protein-use Meat, also have soup or drink tea, coffee, wine etc… after the meal. Animal protein is necessary in small amounts (approx. 3-4 oz. per day) and is not the same as vegetable protein. Drinking while we eat reduces our saliva and prevents proper digestion, red wine is an exception however, and is permissible while eating. Since strong tea, coffee and wine are acidic, they can aide in digestion if you drink them after the meal. In a future article we will discuss the reason for including white rice and potatoes with meals, look for Acid/Alkaline balance for proper digestion.

Balancing the Five Tastes along with the meal being colorful, with good texture and aroma is the secret to balancing your food/meals. You now know what it truly means to have a “balanced diet”!

Will you ever see food the same way again; next time you eat, take the time to consider what is on your plate, then make a wise decision, and Enjoy your Meal. We are after all what we eat!

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