Mary,

Well, now I have to defend my profession.  Traditional Chinese Medicine
is what I practice, and the raw foods stuff and it go hand in hand in my
mind.  I am guided by what I actually see in my patients.  TCM states
that foods and herbs have heating and cooling and other properties AND
that if food or herbs are prepared in any way, including cooking, it
ALTERS its properties/effect. Foods that are not fresh are also
altered.  This means cooking makes food "hotter" - which to me accounts
for many of the "heat" syndromes I always treat, infections, fevers,
inflammations, menopause hot flashes, irritability, insomnia, night
sweats, rashes, etc.  When I take patients off all the processed food
and move them onto a more natural foods diet with more raw and fresh
foods these things go away - at times people come in wanting acupuncture
or herbs but all I do is insist they go onto a raw foods diet and then
return for another visit, because I cannot even diagnose them according
to TCM until they are less toxic.

> And then to make things worse foods supposedly have heating and cooling
> properties (according to Chinese food theory and Ayurveda).  Also
> "building up" and on the other hand "eliminating" properties.  We are
> missing out on a lot of these aspects by not knowing they exist.  I
> guess that's where instincto could help--I haven't managed to tune in
> that much as yet.  I would rather live outside than indoors.  I'm
> instincto about that.  Mary J.

When I read a post like yours I think TCM is very easily misunderstood.
Patients I see are indeed affected by TCM theory and, I believe it is
very accurate, as I have used it successfully for years.  I don't have
much training in the instinctive eating theory but after reading the
anopsology text someone here referred me to, it does confirms a lot that
practical experience has shown me.

According to TCM, we eat to replenish our QI, not to obtain vitamins or
protein or minerals - not that we don't, but the concepts are entirely
different.  SHENG is a Chinese word denoting fresh, raw, birth; and
sheng foods contain vital energy or QI.  Qi can have different
properties (heat/cold, moisture/dryness, yin/yang, tonifying/clearing)
and too much of any one type of food (for example all dried) will alter
your qi.

Regards,

Roberta