Food can go a long way to either making us feel fantastic or absolute rubbish. I may have had a couple of wines and some pizza on the weekend…This always leads to me waking up around 1.30am (the time of liver in Chinese medicine) feeling a little sweaty . Not only that, I felt quite ‘grotty’, my head was very sluggish and my mood was somewhat irritated all the following day (when will I learn?!).
Herewith a lovely chart of some quick remedies (based on Chinese medicine) for when you may be feeling down (bananas for me all the way yesterday).
FOOD AND MOOD CHART*
|
Mood |
See if the diet has a lot of | And/or not enough of | Possible quick remedy | Organs involved (traditional Chinese Medicine) |
| Depression, melancholy | Sugar, honey, maple syrup; milk and milk products; allergenic foods; over 70% grains | Beans, fish, fowl, meat, whole grains | Something salty, umeboshi, olives, anchovies. Also aromatic spices | Lungs, large intestines, adrenal insufficiency |
| Fear | As above; also, meat, fats | Brown rice, barley, beans, cooked vegetables | Apple juice kuzu* (if tension); shoyu-umeboshi-kuzu (if un-centred) | Kidney-adrenals, weakness in the heart |
| Anger, short temper | Fats, salt, brown rice, cheese, meat, fried eggs | Salad, sprouts, sour food, cornmeal | Bananas, fruit juice, apple-juice-kuzu | Liver-gall bladder, weakness in stomach |
| Overexcitement, excessive laughter, anxiety | Wheat, greens, raw food; stimulants such as coffee, chocolate, alcohol, strong spices, sugar | Seaweeds, salty foods, millet | Something salty (see above) | Heart-small intestines, weakness in lungs |
| Worry; lack of empathy | Dairy products, sugar, sweets, honey, salads, sour foods | Sweet vegetables, millet, corn cooked greens, fats, oils | Bread and butter | Stomach-spleen-pancreas; weakness in kidney-adrenals |
*Kuzu is similar to arrowroot or corn-starch and is available from health-food stores.
Apple-juice-kuzu. In 1 cup apple juice, dissolve 2 tablespoons kuzu and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional). Cook until thickened, stirring all the time. Swirl in 1 tablespoon tahini. Eat hot or cold.
Shoyu-umeboshi kuzu. Dissolve 1 tablespoon kuzu in 1 cup cold water and cook, stirring until thick. Add 1 tablespoon tamari or shoyu and 1 mashed umeboshi plum or 1 teaspoon umeboshi plum paste; let mixture simmer 2 minutes longer. Can use less soy if too salty.
*Taken from Food and Healing by Annemarie Colbin