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Diet and Health

The Yellow Emperor’s Classic on Medicine

By: - Feb 04, 2025

Humans are the most advanced species on Earth. However, we still need to eat to survive. If you do not want to kill plants, how would you survive? Other lifeforms exist to help humans to preserve our species, but you should not kill needlessly or deliberately slaughter animals. You should respect all living things.

We focus on achieving internal balance and harmony. When our body is functioning properly and we can eat regularly, we begin to develop our external strength.

When we’ve built up our muscles substantially, like a weight trainer, we can stop lifting weights and begin to transform our muscles. We put that power into our tendons, fascia, and organs.

In the end, we will have incredible internal strength, but no one will notice. From the outside, we’ll look skinny and like a normal person.

This is the progression of developing holistic internal and external strength.

The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine (Huangdi Neijing), compiled over 2,400 years ago, remains the leading foundational treatise on Traditional Chinese Medicine.  The Huangdi Neijing addresses all aspects of inner medicine and health, and is required reading for anyone interested in understanding TCM and ancient Chinese culture.

In its discussion of eating and the relationship of food to inner and outer health and strength, you will find detailed information about diet and health, and their relationship to Qi.  An unfairly cursory paraphrasing of its content tells us:

Diet:

  • Harmony with Nature: The Neijing emphasizes eating in accordance with the seasons and your environment. This means consuming foods that are locally grown and in season, as they possess the Qi that is most beneficial for your body at that time.
  • Balance of Yin and Yang: Foods are classified as Yin (cooling) or Yang (warming) based on their properties and how they affect your body. The Neijing advises maintaining a balance between these energies in your diet to ensure harmony within your system.
  • Moderation and Variety: Overeating or consuming too much of any one food can disrupt the flow of Qi and lead to imbalances. The Neijing recommends a varied diet with moderate portions to nourish all aspects of your being.
  • Mindful Eating: Eating with awareness and intention allows you to fully appreciate the flavors and energies of your food, promoting better digestion and assimilation.

Health:

  • Qi as the Foundation: The Neijing views health as the free flow of Qi throughout the body. Any disruptions or blockages in this flow can lead to illness.
  • Holistic Approach: The Neijing emphasizes a holistic approach to health, considering the interconnectedness of the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of a person.
  • Prevention over Cure: Preventing illness is considered more important than treating it. This is achieved through cultivating healthy habits, such as proper diet, exercise, and emotional regulation.

Qi:

  • Source of Life: Qi is the vital energy that animates all living things. It flows through pathways called meridians, nourishing and supporting all bodily functions.
  • Influenced by Diet: The quality of your Qi is directly influenced by the food you eat. Consuming nourishing foods strengthens your Qi, while unhealthy foods can deplete or disrupt it.
  • Cultivation through Lifestyle: Practices like Qigong, Taijiquan, and meditation can help cultivate and regulate Qi, promoting health and longevity.

It provides a deeper understanding of the principles behind these practices and how they can be used to cultivate Qi and promote health.

At our temple, the opening food prayer offered before each meal:

The Qi of the Five Stars
The essence of the Six Jia
The three true heavenly storehouses
Pure clouds constantly overflowing
Yellow Father, Red Child
Guard the center, never collapse

The closing food prayer offered after each meal:

The hundred grains enter the stomach
And the spirit harmonizes with Qi
To fill and supplement blood and fluids
Corpses and Evils die and drop.
Long live Heaven and Earth
Swiftly ascending the Jade Watchtower
Cultivate realization and awaken to the Dao
The spirit child grants protection

We are required to recite it in Mandarin, and so Mandarin needed to be learned.  I recall writing each prayer over and over for several days to learn the phonetics, if not the meaning, and eventually learned both.  I continue to offer the prayer before each meal today.

But the more important learning was the Huangdi Neijing, and its fundamental teachings as they relate to diet, health, and Qi.  Eating to sustain our practices, eating to acquire and maintain good body wellness, eating to maintain the inner and the outer, are as important today as they were 2,400 years ago.

Moderation, in-season, local, and with variety, all apply to our diet, and will give us everything we need.  Proper diet helps maintain balance.  Balance maintains good health.  Add to this a daily regimen of meditation, Qigong, and Taiji, and we are giving our body everything it needs.