Foods that warm the body, and foods that cool it

Yakuzen through the drama: today, the five natures

Yesterday's episode was packed with yakuzen ideas again.
Today I want to pick out one of them, the five natures.

What are the five natures? How yakuzen sorts foods into warming and cooling

Yakuzen holds that food has a temperature quality, warming or cooling the body, and sorts it into these five.

1. Hot: warms the body strongly
   e.g. ginger, Chinese chives, chilli
2. Warm: warms gently
   e.g. kabocha squash, chicken
3. Neutral: balanced, in the middle
   e.g. rice, cabbage
4. Cool: cools gently
   e.g. tomato, lettuce
5. Cold: cools the body firmly
   e.g. watermelon, green tea

How to use the five natures

When you notice the cold, make a point of bringing in warm and hot ingredients.
The other way round, when hot flushes, skin inflammation or a flushed feeling are on your mind, cool and cold ingredients are the ones to choose.

For example, when you have been eating nothing but cold things and feel vaguely off, just adding a warm soup or some root vegetables already adjusts things.

Celery is a classic cool ingredient

Celery, which turned up in the last episode, cools the body gently and draws qi downwards.
When I feel short on moisture or irritable, I make a point of eating celery myself.
That is yakuzen in practice: settling things by eating.

The vegetable yakuzen course is now open

Our vegetable yakuzen course, on settling the body with vegetables, is now running.
It is easy to follow for beginners and an easy way into yakuzen. Do take a look if it appeals.
About the Yasai Yakuzen course

"Inside the house, town and country are the same." What a line

The last episode is next week, which is far too sad.
Uzura's line stayed with me: inside the house, town and country are the same. It made me think again.

Where you live matters, of course, but the environment inside the house matters just as much.
That line got me working through two busy years' worth of cleaning lately.

See you next time.