In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), color doesn’t only reflect the energy of each of the five energetic seasons. Color indicates ways and gives us clues about how we can live in harmony with the season. TCM’s colors of energetic Fall are blue (yang energy) and silvery white (yin energy aspect).
The colors for all five seasons of TCM are:
Spring: warm green and teal
Summer: red and purple
Between seasons(1): yellow and ochre
Fall: blue and silver white
Winter: deep violet and black.
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White foods are Fall Foods.
White foods will help fortify your health during energetic Fall.
The white foods we mention here we suggest as complements to your diet or as seasonal replacements for certain fruits and vegetables.
TCM is all about balance so keep this concept in mind when you’re in the throes of Fall food prep. And just because white foods are optimal during Fall, don’t eat white foods to the exclusion of most others.
The organs of Fall in TCM are lung (yin) and large intestine (yang).
Our skin is so closely associated with the element of the season, Metal, and particularly associated with the lungs that TCM refers to the skin as our third lung. Lung needs to be strong enough to keep the dryness-causing wind out during Fall.
White foods nourish the lungs. TCM considers white foods clear foods which are very beneficial for skin and for nourishing the lungs at a time when our bodies need good lung energy the most.
Pear is just about as efficient as apple in Autumn. Its nature is cold and nourishing, balancing the yang in our bodies and helping to prevent dryness and coughing. Its properties are particularly activated when adding white flesh pear to warm soups.
White or snow fungus is one of the most popular fungi in the cuisine and medicine of China and is very nourishing to the skin. It can also help reduce lung damage caused by smoking. It has a refreshing taste and is best used in sweet soups along with pear mentioned above.
Some flower bulbs can be eaten and are enormously nutritious. The lily bulb is one of them. These bulbs can be gathered in Autumn, cleaned and sun-dried. The lily bulb’s nature is moist and it helps to pacify emotional anxiety and uneasiness as we transition from one season to the next. Consume sun-dried lily bulb with white fungus and honey or sautéed with garlic and celery.
Lotus seed has strong properties for healing colds and reducing fevers. Use less than a handful of lotus seeds (purchased in Chinese grocery stores and pharmacies) and make a warm, sweet soup with the above-mentioned ingredients (pear, white fungus and lily bulbs). Cook all together with some crystallized cane sugar (not common refined sugar) on low heat.
The water chestnut is very good for clearing the lungs and again, very beneficial for people who smoke.
White beans are very detoxifying and rich in minerals. They also contain a little known trace mineral, molybdenum responsible for manufacturing a number of detoxifying enzymes. They fight against the storage of energy as body fat and their high antioxidant content provides anti-aging properties.
Abounding in vitamin C, lotus root helps to maintain the integrity of blood vessels, organs and skin. (Vitamin C is both antioxidant and an important component of collagen.) Lotus root can be steamed, stewed or fried.
To treat dryness that comes with Autumn, here is a more exhaustive list of white foods that can be very effective. They can help clear heat, promote fluid production and moisten the lung.
almonds
apple
bamboo shoots
cauliflower
hempseed kernels
jicama
sun-dried lily bulb
lotus root
lotus seed
pear
pine nuts
rice
tofu
water chestnut
white bean
white fish
white fungus
white mushrooms
white radish
winter melon
…
Endnote:
(1) Between seasons relates to the four 18-day transitional periods of the year sandwiched between each of the four major seasons. Earth is the element of these between seasons periods of the year.
Source:
Liu, Zhan-Wen, et al. Health Cultivation in Chinese Medicine. Peoples Medical Publishing House (PMPH), 2012.