Supplementing our Yang through Food @ Bridgeways Clinic

Daverick Leggett writes that our Yang energy is the Fire of our body. All the processes of life require heat, without which life slows down and eventually stops all together. Our Yang keeps us warm and without it our Yin energy cannot be transformed and may begin to accumulate.

Typical signs and symptoms of Yang Deficiency include: feeling chills, a pale face, feeling weak and inert, excessive sleeping, sweating on exertion, and cold limbs and body.

By keeping warm and moving we build our Yang. But we can also use food to assist with this process. We need to avoid too much cold food and liquid. Instead we need to tend towards foods and cooking methods that warm us up. A meal’s warming quality will be increased by longer cooking methods, which encourage the heat to penetrate deeper into the body.

The following foods especially Tonify Yang:

• Anchovy
• Aniseed
• Basil
• Cardamom
• Chestnut
• Cinnamon bark
• Clove
• Dill seed
• Fennel seed
• Garlic
• Ginger (dried)
• Goat
• Kidney
• Lamb
• Lobster
• Mutton
• Nutmeg
• Pistachio
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Shrimp
• Star Anise
• Thyme
• Trout
• Venison
• Walnut

If you believe that you are affected by Yang Deficiency then please give us a call at Bridgeways Clinic if you would like to discuss your diet and nutrition.

Reference:

Leggett, D. (2005) Helping Ourselves – A Guide to Traditional Chinese Food Energetics.