How to eat healthy: 3 Parts Yang. 2 Parts Yin

In the oriental philosophy, the concept of balance is expressed by the Yin Yang concept.

Yin and Yang are two opposing energies that cannot exist but interdependently, in balance. The entire Universe and everything in it are created by their continuous interplay and the man, as a part of the Universe, obeys to the same rules of the Yin Yang. His health depends on the balance of the Yin Yang energies of his body.

These principles of Yin and Yang have been successfully used for thousands of years by the Chinese medicine to achieve the perfect health. According to these principles, the force of life – “chi” gets blocked causing various illnesses when the body becomes too much Yin or too much Yang and an important way to attain the Yin Yang balance is a correct diet, since what we eat can influence not only our physical side, but our mental, spiritual and emotional sides, too.

Considering the effects of the foods, one can say that there are three main groups of foods:  more YIN, more YANG and YIN-YANG balanced (neutral foods). The Yin foods are cooling (slowing down) the human system, while the Yang foods are warming it (speeding it up). Combining foods in order to achieve the Yin Yang balance translates into health for the human being. It seems that a balanced Yin-Yang diet means 3 Parts Yang and 2 Parts Yin.

The list of Yin, Yang and neutral foods include:

• Yang food: coconut, lemons, raspberries, cauliflower, mustard greens, onion, coffee, garlic, fresh ginger, chestnuts, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, chicken, shrimp, mussels, lobster, turkey, yogurt, butter, Cayenne pepper, dried ginger, soybean oil, cinnamon, black pepper, chili powder, horseradish, lamb, trout and whole green or red peppers, beef, brown sugar, butter, cheese, chicken liver and fat, chocolate, coffee, eggs, smoked fish, garlic, goose, ham, kidney beans, lamb, onions, peanut butter, roasted peanuts, potato, rabbit, turkey, walnuts, whisky, wine etc.
• Yin foods: Apples, bananas, pears, strawberries, broccoli, cabbage, eggplant, spinach, Swiss chard, celery, soybeans, buckwheat, sesame oil, almonds, apple, asparagus, bamboo, banana, beer, broccoli, cabbage, clams, corn, corn flour, crab, cucumber, duck, eels, fish, grapes, honey, ice creams, mushrooms, mussels, oranges, oysters, peppermint tea, pineapple, salt, shrimps, white sugar, tomatoes, seaweed, barley, tofu etc.
• Neutral foods: apricots, figs, pineapple, beets, cabbage, carrots, olives, pumpkin,  yams, eggs, oats, almonds, peas, peanuts, rice, beef, oysters, salmon, sardines, herring and saffron, bread, carrots, cauliflower, cherries, lean chicken meat, whitefish,  milk, peaches, peas, pigeon, plums, raisins, brown rice etc.

A Yin Yang diet boosts the energy levels, smoothes digestion and harmonizes the body energies with the universal ones. It keeps the body healthy, because every illness arises from the same source: Yin-Yang imbalance. Reestablishing the Yin Yang balance brings us closer to the idea of a long and healthy life.