Feng Shui and food

Of the three most basic human needs - food, clothing and shelter - the food is perhaps the most important. Man tends to get a lot of food, ranging from the trivial possibility to survive and ending with health, strength and even compensation for life's troubles. As soon as we go beyond the minimum necessary for survival, there is an incredible variety of food. According to what people eat, you can learn a lot about their character and even the culture, environment and religion. For the harmony between Yin and Yang , we must always bear in mind the concepts of a healthy body and balanced mind. Food plays an important role in maintaining our health and feelings. What we eat, how we prepare and consume food is closely related to our taste and value system. Different cultures and geographic regions have created a great variety of dishes and foods that eventually changed and developed. Food is a big part of any culture; In addition, it plays a key role in the enjoyment of life. It is said that healthy food produces a healthy body and healthy mind; but what is healthy food? What does our diet healthy and balanced?

Food - not just a set of relevant chemical compounds

Typically, isolated as dietitians current food substances five main groups: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals. All of them are essential for maintaining health. It is assumed therefore that the nutrition composed of a balanced set of nutrients would be sufficient to maintain health in good condition. In terms of traditions of Feng Shui , the products can not be reduced to a set of chemicals. Maybe they have something else - something that we can see if we look at the subject from a different point of view? There is a universal standard that defines what kind of food is healthy and what diet should be considered balanced. In China, distinguish a number of variables that affect the relationship between food and health: this age, and living area, and time of year, and profession (work), and power supplies. Some very rarely eat fruits and vegetables, preferring to live on meat and dairy products; others are almost never eat meat and other animal products, keeping exclusively vegetable diet. Modern Western nutritionists emphasize the need to use large amounts of fruits and vegetables, excluding those products necessary part of a healthy diet. But in the world there are places where these vegetables simply do not have; but the residents of these places well. People are doing the right thing, if you eat those foods that are grown in their local area. For example, residents of Mongolia, following the tradition, almost never ate vegetables, using a meat to supplement their diet yogurt and tea. They could maintain the health and strength as long as the taste of food consumed was balanced, while they themselves were products of local origin.

Feng Shui Recommendations to improve the health and development of harmony

It is advisable to follow the power supply system, traditional culture and to your place of residence. The traditional cuisine of the area can tell us what products are most suitable for people living in the region and has long been leading a certain way of life. Features of the development of traditional Chinese views on food determined the vastness and diversity of geological and climatic conditions of China. In each region created its own kitchen, the most suitable to its conditions. According to the traditional Chinese approach, the food is not only seen as a set of essential nutrients, but also in terms of its color, texture, taste and smell, and these qualities are considered as energy properties. Each of these qualities bears a special form of energy, or Qi . In the end, the food - it is only one form of energy manifestation. Take, for example, different varieties of parsley. Parsley is one small-leaved varieties, but it has a strong flavor. Another variety has much larger leaves, but less sharp flavor. More macrophylla variety may have a larger volume and, perhaps, more calories, but gives the small-leaved more noticeable energy effect. Food and aromatic plants are a special type of memory associated with the processing method or preparation of the product (plants). Let's take the example of ginseng: if you narezhete ginseng root, then finely natret its use, and the resulting powder for making hot drinks, the plant will provide one effect; If you cook the whole root and drink the broth, the result will be different. Various forms of the beverage preparation also give different results because they carry the energy that forms the raw material from which the drink is prepared, as well as the energy of the raw material. A similar effect is observed in homeopathic medicine, drugs which are sometimes so diluted that even theoretically it is impossible to detect any molecules of the original treating raw materials. But the drug still retain efficiency, because they contain energy and information source components. Some of the newest methods of food processing, based on the achievements of modern chemical technology, designed to increase the volume and quantity of the product as well as to reduce the cooking time; in this case the energy factor ( Qi ) shall not be considered. The resulting product may be more (by weight), but increasing the total amount of energy contained therein will not occur. People eating such food may look quite well fed, while experiencing energy shortages. This is due to an imbalance between the use of chemical nutrients (caloric and nutritional value) and energy components ( Qi ).

Taste and Five Elements

In China, food is traditionally classified according to the principle of Yin and Yang , the theory of the Five Elements and under the main energy meridians of the human body, to which they can act. From this perspective, a balanced diet - is primarily an energy-balanced set of food. Color, taste and smell are also interrelated: each of these qualities affect the other, as well as a certain organ of the human body. The essence of these relations can be understood from the figure. Each of the Five Elements corresponds to one of the five tastes: sour, bitter, sweet, spicy and salty. A balanced diet is based on the balance of flavors. The main flavor is sweet (Earth), as the Earth - the main element in our world. Because sweet taste is dominant or neutral in all kinds of food products, the task of drawing up a balanced diet is reduced to the organization of the other flavors (salty, bitter, pungent and sour) around the core of sweetness. A balanced combination of five flavors often arises on the basis of the natural desires. Athletes after intense exercise, or people engaged in a lot of hard physical labor, often prefer salty food. Pregnant women often want something sour, even knowing that the sour taste that is associated with the element tree, promotes the formation and growth of the fetus during pregnancy. In the cold season especially the way it turns out spicy foods. All these preferences reflect the natural physiological reaction of the body. People engaged in heavy physical labor, can not even think about the fact that the desire for salty due to the need to replenish stocks of salt, emerged with sweat; Pregnant do not always give an answer that they want to sour because acidic foods play an important role in fetal growth processes. Yes, they do not need to know: their bodies form the necessary inquiries themselves. The natural desire to balance the taste quality does not require additional training, because it is directly related to our physiological needs. Already thousands of years ago, Chinese medical theory defined the relationship between the five flavors and various internal organs. For example, a sour taste is associated with liver and gall bladder; bitter - with the heart and small intestine; sweet - with the stomach and spleen; acute - with lungs and large intestine; salty - kidney and bladder. In China, food is always considered one of the forms of the drug. The first step to resolve the physiological and even psychological imbalances associated with the optimization of the diet. To do this, we need to know how tastes interact with physiological and psychological functions (just what will help us to understand the theory of the Five Elements ). Have you ever bite my tongue while eating? Meanwhile, this is not because you are too nervous or in a hurry - all a matter of excessive cardiac activity. Add a little more bitterness (eg, raw turnips or fried grated zucchini) and you will be able to restore the normal rhythm of the heart function (because the bitterness associated with the heart). The theory of the Five Elements also suggests that eating too much salty food increases the burden on the kidneys and can even harm them (as the salty taste is associated with the kidneys). People who have liver problems, it is best to avoid overly spicy food, and those who have a heart condition, do not have to eat a lot of salt; in diseases of the spleen should avoid acidic and those with diseased lungs, do not need a lot of bitterness; Finally, for people suffering from kidney disease should not eat too many sweets. This is explained by the fact that each element controls the other related elements and other elements at the same time is limited. Post a quantitative study of taste balance is difficult. However, awareness of the existence of such relationships will allow you to own, based on their own experience to explore how these relationships are manifested in your life and the lives of people you know. With the five elements is associated not only the taste of food, but also its color, smell and shape. Each set interacts with other indicators in the same way as it occurs between the basic flavors. Furthermore, between these factors and the internal relationship exists. It must be remembered that the classification of flavors, colors, smells and shapes in terms of the Five Elements is, in fact, the classification of the five types of energy and the relationship between these types of energy. The model of this interaction with the elements enables us to understand the meaning of an abstract process, in order to use it in our daily lives. So, after a brief excursion into the beliefs of traditional Chinese medicine for food and nutrition, we can return to our original question of how to choose foods that are favorable for us.

Choosing the right foods

Even without a deep knowledge of the theories of proper nutrition, we can take advantage of some of the most common rules that will help us more efficiently (in terms of energy) to pick up food for the maintenance and promotion of health. Firstly, eat as much as possible locally produced products. Any food, considered traditional for the area, chosen not by chance alone. Given that this choice is dictated by the peculiarities of the influence of local conditions, to take it into account it would be reasonable and logical. The cultivation of certain types of products in a given area and corresponds to the energy area and its inhabitants. So, if in the area grow abundantly fruit, eat fruit; if it is grown mainly oats - well, have to eat oats. Second, eat foods that match the season. Each type of product grows at a certain time of the year. Watermelons grow in the summer because they dissipate heat well. Products, ripening in the fall, provide additional energy reserves to help move winter. Modern transport capabilities significantly reduce the distance between countries and continents, so that we can eat foods grown thousands of kilometers away, without thinking about whether now is the time of the year right. In addition, the latest storage technologies allow to keep products all year round and use them regardless of the season. It seems to be a convenient opportunity, but unfortunately, because of it we are increasingly forget about us forming energies of time and space, as well as their alternation. Third, try to diversify the menu. Today's excessive focus on efficiency and productivity has led to the predominance of mass agricultural production. At first glance, supermarkets inundated with products, but look closely: in each of them offer the same range of products! Local types of products can not be found anywhere else, is no longer found. So, if you have at least a small patch of free land in the yard or garden, break there a bed or two to grow there are kinds of vegetables, fruits and so on. N., Which can not be found in the supermarket. Fourth, consume as much fresh food. The freshness of the products - not just a question of taste and calorie content, but also the energy value. The energy value of the product is inversely proportional to the duration of its storage. Freshly corn, for example, has a sweeter and more pleasant taste than preservative treated and prepared for long-term storage. The taste and flavor of frozen fruit - is very far from the taste and flavor of freshly picked. Everyone who had a chance to taste freshly picked ripe grapefruit, is well aware of the difference between him and grapefruit from the supermarket. By following these recommendations, you will ensure yourself a truly healthy diet.

Eat well

It is important not only to choose the right products, but also good to eat. A few simple rules will help you understand what is meant by good nutrition. Firstly, choosing what to eat, listen to their own stomach (before they will listen to the guru of nutrition). Our body is constantly tells us what we need. Stomach tells us, when, how much and what to eat. Do you feel that you want a certain product? So, it is very likely that your body really needs it. Unfortunately, we often tend to ignore the signs and listen to the information from the outside. Secondly, you need to really enjoy the food. Food takes time, and there is a need to carefully, with pleasure. Eat - not to "refuel." If you eat too fast, then, to the saturation point, you eat more than you need. Overeating is detrimental to the harmony. The way we eat, as well as our emotional state during a meal, has a direct impact on the efficiency of digestion and assimilation of food. Today people are so accustomed to the crazy pace of life that considers food a source of calories. Many even eat at the wheel, that gave rise to the phenomenon of restaurants for motorists. Third, do not eat when you are angry, are under stress or energy imbalance. Your body will retain the ability to digest the chemical, but not energy food components. Fourth, try to eat as much food homemade. The process of cooking a different effect on the energy options. Home food is prepared with the involvement of a completely different type of energy (and thus carries a very different energy) than commercial mass catering. Who does not know that sweater, knitted mother's hands, much warmer and cozier bought in the store? The same holds true for food. Often you can hear that Grandma's chicken soup - the best medicine for colds. The point here is not so much in the soup, but in kindness and care with which my grandmother preparing this soup, giving it a special energy. Fifth, eat only when you are really hungry, drink only if you feel thirsty, and never eats "to satiety." We mostly slaves habits and traditions that force us to have a certain amount of time per day in the time, regardless of whether we want to eat or not. Meanwhile, excess food requires more energy for its digestion. That's why we have after a heavy table sleepy - all available energy is spent on digestion. It is better to eat more often but less. If you are too hungry, it's bad for your chi; if you eat too much, it's bad for your lungs. And another thing: never go to bed on a full stomach. Sixth, always maintain a balance in the diet. Do not eat too much of one product, no matter how delicious it may seem to you. The excess can turn the best and most useful in harm. Enjoy the food, of course, important, but do not forget that the main purpose of power - the maintenance and strengthening of health and strength. Enjoying the taste, no matter how important it may be - just an added bonus.

Avoid the first error

Errors, like troubles, rarely occur alone. Having made one mistake, you are likely to take a second and, even if the connection between the first and the second is obvious. Departing from the traditional circuits and power modes, a man exposes himself to the risk of a variety of disorders and diseases. To counteract disturbances invented all sorts of tools and drugs that are themselves often become the source of new problems. But do not be the first mistake would not have arisen and need to correct it means, and hence the danger of misuse of these funds. Instead increasingly trying to find the correct combination of error correction means, it is better to return to the tradition of eating the right food in the right place at the right time. For example, to find that overeat, you can decide to "sit" on a diet. But diet and, as such, may lead to problems, including the well-known vicious circle of fans of diets: a diet - the failure to gluttony - a diet - the failure ... (which, incidentally, in itself is one of digestive disorders).

Program diet - not the most direct path to harmony

Neglect of natural food traditions can lead to digestive disorders, overweight and other health problems. Indeed, obesity is responsible for almost half of all health problems. This gives impetus to the development of new diet programs are often quite contradictory. There are numerous experts and authorities: a high-protein diet advises other - carbohydrate ... However, to select at random a popular nutritionist and expect immediate results from their advertised nutrition programs for all occasions - at least, naive. Man picking up overweight for different reasons, and for this reason no one diet program is not - and can not be - universal. Rather than rush into the abyss of dietary schemes of salvation, it is better to try to find a root of the problem. Why do people become obese? Because eating too much and doing too little physical activity. So, the questions should be put differently: why do people eat too much? Why they are doing physical activity is too small? People may overeat because of emotional problems (a kind of way to deal with anxiety). Those who suffer from depression can have more than usual to just fill an empty feeling. But the problem is not only that the excitement can cause overeating - overeating can also cause anxiety and other forms of emotional disorders. In this case, the obese person, the lower the energy, and the less it is capable of physical activity. In a society based on tradition, people also experienced troubles and problems, but they were deprived of the influence of the stress of modern life, many distorting our natural rhythms and habits. The root of the contemporary problems of excess weight and physical inactivity is in the general situation, characterized by the massive destruction of the natural rhythms and cycles of life.

Nutritional supplements - a panacea?

In the current era of increasing abundance of material values ​​supplements have become the "rage", which is on everyone's lips. Today the market offers more than fifteen thousand different dietary supplements designed to supposedly compensate for a deficiency of certain nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and along with the internal energy. Ironically, dietary supplements have appeared in a period of unprecedented wealth and diversity of food products. Do we really need these supplements? Do not rush the affirmative nod - you run the risk of opening a Pandora's box. Think about which of these supplements are really effective? What are we really need? In what quantities? What about possible side effects? What is the compatibility of additives with each other? Finally, what is the individual combination of additives necessary for this or that person? Every manufacturer, of course, would claim that his product is not only effective, but also absolutely necessary; but none of them will dare to assert unequivocally that for you its products are perfectly suited. Here much depends on the individual:.. Health, lifestyle, age, etc. The way of nature - this is the way of simplicity. Keeping a balanced diet, following the inscribed us simple rules, you will hardly ever need supplements. Do not complicate life more than necessary. If you do encounter a problem - start with a search for the truth of its cause, and do not try to immediately find a magic pill that will probably become a source of new problems.

Cooking with love. Aphrodisiacs.

Is it possible to include natural products to find the most energetic, stimulating the vital energy? In China, recommend seafood (shrimp, lobster, oysters, mussels, sea cucumber, caviar, shark fins). Among them are the fruits of the land: venison, lamb, bird eggs, and vegetables: Chinese chives, parsley, basil, garlic, coriander, green onions, ginger. Do not forget the nuts (common hazel, cashew nuts) and fruit (figs, mango, fruit Licia Chinese). The desired effect is given with honey and spices (same anise and laurel). There is also a medicinal plant stimulants: ginseng, lotus seeds, etc. The most detailed information about this can be gleaned from traditional Chinese medicine, we also focus on the most common products available on the open market... Of course, the important ingredients of food; but equally important is the way of cooking (in some cases, it depends on the quality of food from him).
In Chinese cuisine cooking process is also considered from the point of view of interaction began Yin and Yang . For example, deep frying, roasting in oil and baking processes are considered Yang and steaming, braising, cooking on low heat - Process Yin . To maximize the effect of food ingredients, it is best to cook them according to the processes of Yin and deep fried and other Yan -processes and limited use with caution. In any case, much fried shrimp is much less stimulate Qi, rather than shrimp stewed in wine. No less important is the combination products. The right combination can significantly increase the influence of individual components on mood and energy. Cashew fried with shrimp meat, raw oysters, chives with scrambled eggs, braised lamb, beef with green leek (available in oyster sauce), lean pork with parsley, lean pork, cooked with basil in wine, lobster, roasted with ginger, chicken stewed with ginseng - these are just a few names of stimulating meals that can be easily made at home. Very stimulating product is considered to be chocolate. The same effect has cheese (ceteris paribus lovers of cheese, as a rule, have more energy than those who do not like this product). Very effective fruit liqueur Licia Chinese whiskey or sherry; however, litsy Chinese can also be added to soups and broths. Once even I thought that a man, for a long time leave from the family, should avoid the use of Chinese Licia Berry to avoid absences during improper desires. No matter how interesting as these recipes, yet it is not necessary to give them too much importance. Maintaining a balanced diet and good health, you will hardly need additional stimulation to any drugs. Remember that a healthy body - the best source of energy.

Food and fellowship

Food should be only a means of energy exchange rather than a point of its concentration. It reduces energy too fatty foods. It is important that in the room setting where you communicate, to feel the rhythm of the dynamic balance of Yin and Yang. If people are still not well known to each other, more appropriate at the outset may be more yang environment, as well as the development of relations will be able to transition to a more yin. Janské quality highlights round tables, bright light, color saturation of interior, large outdoor spaces; Yin for the situation characterized by Table square or rectangular shapes, muted colors, intimate lighting, a closed (cozy) room. Food affects our health and mood, but its value is not the only problem. Since the acquisition, preparation and consumption of food, we pay a lot of time, the food itself, and everything connected with it, it may be a great environment for the establishment and stimulating relationship. That's why we have related to diet properly organize all processes. Any aspect of the procurement process, preparation and consumption of food, if they are engaged in a few people able to strengthen and improve relations. Joint magic in the kitchen is able to unobtrusively make the relationship stronger. That is why it is better to improvise in the kitchen than to visit restaurants. That joint participation in the process, rather than food as such, allows relationships to penetrate all areas of life.