1.	The five energies of foods
	Chinese tea is considered to have "cold" energy even though it is a hot drink. The energies of foods refer to their capacity to generate sensations - either hot or cold - in the human body. The five kinds of energy are cold, hot, warm, cool and neutral, and this refers not to the state of the food but its effect on our bodies. For example, tea has a cold energy. This means that when we drink hot tea, it generates cold energy and it is therefore considered a cold beverage. Shortly after you have drunk hot tea, the heat begins to fade quickly and it begins to generate cold energy internally, allowing your body to cool off. Here are some examples of common foods with different energies.
	Energy generated Examples of food Yin Cold Bamboo shoot, banana, bitter gourd, clam, crab, grapefruit, kelp, lettuce, muskmelon, persimmon, salt, sea grass, seaweed, star fruit, sugar cane, water chestnut, watermelon and lotus root. Yin Cool Cucumber, apple, barley, bean curd, chicken egg white, Chinese wax gourd, common button mushroom, eggplant, Job's tears, lily flower, loquat, mandarin orange, marjoram, mung bean, oyster, pear, peppermint, radish, sesame oil, spinach, strawberry, tangerine, wheat, wheat bran, cream, yogurt and cheese. Balanced yin and yang Neutral Corn, abalone, apricot, beef, beetroot, black fungus, black sesame seed, black soybean, cabbage (Chinese), carp, carrot, castor bean, celery, chicken egg yolk, cuttlefish, dry mandarin orange peel, duck, fig, grape, honey, horse bean, kidney bean, kohlrabi, licorice, lotus fruit and seed, milk, olive, oyster, papaya, peanuts, pineapple, plum, rice, pork, potato, pumpkin, radish leaf, red bean, rice bran, Japanese mushroom, sour plum, sunflower seed, sweet rice, sweet potato, taro, white fungu, sugar, yellow soybean. Yang Warm Chicken, apricot seed, brown sugar, caraway, carp, cherry, chestnut, chive, cinnamon twig, clove, coconut, coffee, coriander (Chinese parsley), date, dillseed, eel, fennel, garlic, ginger (fresh), ginseng, grapefruit peel, green onion, guava, ham, kumquat, leaf mustard, leek, litchi, longan, maltose, mutton, nutmeg, peach, raspberry, rosemary, shrimp, spearmint, squash, star anise, sweet basil, sword bean, tobacco, vinegar, walnut, wine. Yang Hot Pepper, cinnamon bark, cottonseed, ginger (dried), soybean oil, red and green pepper.
	Ginger is pungent in flavor, warm in energy and tends to move upward or outward. It is important to know about the energies of food because different energies act upon the human body in different ways and affect our state of health. If a person suffers from cold rheumatism and the pain is particularly severe on cold winter day, eating foods with a warm or hot energy shall relieve the pain considerably. Or if a person suffers from skin eruptions that worsen when exposed to heat, it is beneficial to eat food with a cold or cool energy to relieve symptoms. To seek a balance in diet, we can define food as predominantly yin or yang. If you eat predominantly yin foods, your body will be capable of producing only yin energy - darker, slower-moving and colder. In contrast, eating predominantly yang foods produces yang energy - faster, hotter and much more energetic. It's helpful to remember certain rules to determine the type of energy a certain food produces:
	If it grows in the air and sunshine, it is probably yang; If it grows in the earth or darkness, it is probably yin; If it is sweet, it is yang; if it is salty, it is yin; If it is fatty, it is yang; if it is lean, it is yin; If it is rich in sodium, it is yang; If it is rich in potassium, it is yin; If it is soft, wet and cool, it is more yin; if it is hard, dry and spicy, or needs heating up (such as meat), it is more yang.
2.	The five flavors of foods
	Bean curd is salty in flavor, cool in energy and tends to move downward and inward. The Chinese think flavor is very important because it helps to send nutrition via the meridians to the corresponding organ. If we eat a balanced meal with many tastes, we feel satisfied and don't binge. The five flavors of foods include pungent (acrid), sweet, sour, bitter, and salty.
	Different flavors have their respective important effects upon the internal organs:
	Flavor Organs affected Effect of flavor Food example Pungent Lung Large intestine Induces perspiration and promotes circulation of vital energy (qi) and blood. Ginger, onion, pepper Sweet Stomach Spleen Slows down the acute symptoms and neutralizes the toxic effects of other foods, it often used to tonifying. Honey, sugar, date Sour Liver Gall bladder The astringent character helps to arrest diarrhea and excessive perspiration. Lemon, chicken, tomatoes Bitter Heart Small intestine Reduces body heat, dry body fluids and induces diarrhea. Bitter gourd, kale, celery Salty Kidney Bladder Dissipating masses or as purgative Egg, bean curd, crab
	Job's tears is light in flavor, cool in energy and tends to move downward and inward. In addition, some foods may possess two different flavors or a light flavor which means it has little or not taste. For example, cucumbers have both sweet and light flavors. Foods with light flavor usually promote urination and may be used as diuretics. Job's tears is an outstanding example of such a food.
3.	The movements of foods
	Disease is caused when any of the external or exogenous evils exert too much influence on our body. According to TCM, food has different properties which can be used to therapeutic effect and counter these evils. Depending on the nature or character of the food, the food moves in different regions within the body and can drive qi (vital energy) in the same direction as well. For example, when a person suffers from mild flu (which caused by exogenous wind invasion), food with lifting actions such as green onion and fresh ginger soup can expel the evil out of the body.
	TCM has classified the movement of foods into four aspects.
	TCM Food Movement Actions Effects Food Sample Other Food Properties Associated with Movement Lifting To move from the lower region towards the upper region The upward movements arrest diarrhea and prolapse of anus, uterus or stomach Wine Warm or hot in energy, pungent or sweet in flavor. Floating To move from inside towards outside The outward movements induce perspiration and reduce fever. Ginger Lowering To move from upper to the lower region. The downward movements can relieve vomiting, hiccupping and asthma. Salt Cool or cold in energy, sour or bitter or salty in flavor. Sinking To move from outside towards inside The inward movements ease bowel movement and abdominal swelling. Vinegar
	Lifting Floating Lowering Sinking The four movements of food: upward, outward, downward and inward.
	In general, leaves and flowers possess a tendency to move upwards. Roots and seeds and fruits possess a tendency to move downwards. However there are many other exceptions and some foods can move in two directions e.g. lettuce possess both downward and inward movements.
	Honey is good for constipation and internal dryness. Other terms are also used to describe the movements of foods: glossy (sliding) and obstructive. Glossy foods such as honey and spinach facilitate movement by acting as a lubricant. This is why these are good for constipation and internal dryness, but bad for diarrhea and seminal emission. On the other hand, obstructive foods such as guava and olives slow down movement, these are good for diarrhea and seminal emission, but bad for constipation and internal dryness. The movements of foods can be changed through certain methods of cooking.

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