5 Simple Chinese Medicine based ways to improve your vegan (or not) diet

balanced diet As you may know from my prior post about veganism and Chinese medicine, I have been vegan for several years. In that time, I’ve done a lot of tweaking of my diet trying to maintain balance and healthfulness. In the post referenced above, I list a few ways that a person could alter their diet to conform to general Chinese medicine principles. I thought I would include a more specific list of things that I do that I believe help me to improve my diet by making it more warming, less damaging to the Spleen/Stomach and more balanced within the five elements.

1. Tempeh not Tofu

Getting protein as a vegan or vegetarian isn’t as difficult as many people seem to believe. I think people are beginning to see beyond the protein hysteria and this is creating a friendlier environment for more folks to make this kind of a dietary change. However, from a Chinese medicine perspective the reliance on tofu as a protein substitute is not necessarily a good thing. Soybeans in general are a cooling food, and the addition of mineral compounds (it used to be Shi Gao, the notorious super cold herb!) in processing make tofu particularly cooling. In large amounts, this cold can negatively impact digestive fire - causing indigestion and poor absorption of the essence of food.

Most Western sources note that soy as present in fermented products like natto and tempeh is a more healthful choice. I believe that a similar realization can be had through Chinese medicine principles. I don’t have any specific information on whether the fermentation process warms soybeans, but I imagine that it does. If we think about the process of fermentation, it involves the hard work of microorganisms. I imagine that the energy that these creatures put into the soybean must warm it somewhat. Regardless, I find much less digestive upset when I consume tempeh. That being said, I do still consume tofu and products made out of it - I just use them in moderation.

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