The diet of contemporary
America seems to assume that mind and body are separate. Homo fastfoodicus,
our current version of modern human, seems to suffer from this disconnect;
soma munches on burger and fries while psyche listens to a report
about the nation's obesity epidemic on the radio.
The situation is so dire that the current Surgeon General has proposed
that we Homo fastfoodici, in the spirit of asking what we can do
for our country, resolve each to lose at least ten pounds. This
is not easy, especially since soma stubbornly ignores psyche.
The current insanity about food on this continent has not yet impacted
eating habits in China. The Chinese diet is still remarkably varied,
with far more kinds of vegetables and meats than anything you might
find in the U.S.
One reason for this remarkable variety of ingredients is the link
between diet and China's 2,300-year-old system of medicine. Food
is more than just sustenance. It is considered to have therapeutic
properties and is actually prescribed by doctors who practice traditional
Chinese medicine (TCM). While acupuncture and massage may be used
to treat an ailment and herbal mixtures may be infused to make teas,
the first line of treatment is usually diet itself.
Practiced by many doctors and in many hospitals, TCM combines acupuncture,
massage, herbs, and foods. Despite the fact that Chinese society
continues to suffer from air, water, and soil pollution, their life
expectancy, now approximately 71 years, rivals those in the West.
Considering the extremely low per-capita income, the shortage of
medical services, and the levels of pollution, this seems a remarkable
achievement. And, arguably, it is thanks to this ancient medical
system that such a life expectancy has been achieved.
TCM is as much philosophy as it is observation and inference. It
is based on certain cosmological assumptions: that the cosmos in
which we exist is based on the flow of an animating force, qi, that
all of creation is born of two polar principles, yin and yang, and
that humans are very much part of the cosmos and not separated from
it.
TCM practitioners often make dietary recommendations based on symptoms
of blocked qi in one of the five organ networks. Salty foods are
said to block the qi of the kidney network, sweet foods put a burden
on the stomach/spleen network, sour-tasting foods impede the flow
of qi in the liver, bitter-tasting foods should be avoided by patients
experiencing inadequate flow of qi in the heart, and people suffering
from lung disorders are often told to avoid too much pepper.
Which foods are eaten when is partly a function of the weather.
In the heat of summer, green lentils, white gourd, and towel gourd
are consumed. In late summer, when rains cause high humidity in
coastal China, people eat more pepper, garlic, and ginger. In the
autumn months, when the weather dries out, people have lily bulb,
pears, and pomegranate. In the winter, lamb, dog, and deer are consumed,
and restaurants commonly feature such meats on their menus.
The seasonal availability of foods is a prescription for illness,
according to the tenets of TCM, which sees today's horticulturists
as "going against nature." For example, if you eat watermelon
before the summer months, the natural consequence is a cough. If
you eat watermelon after the summer, the natural result is often
diarrhea.
Diseased states often arise from poor balance of qi in one or more
organ systems when the human body adapts poorly to climatic change.
Acute bronchitis often comes with rapid temperature changes and
is a chronic condition in China when the winds shift, blowing air
from the north or south. Doctors treat acute bronchitis by changing
the patient's diet to light foods such as lean meat, fish, eggs,
and vegetables. They warn against consuming sweet foods because
they put a drain on the qi of the lungs.
The preparation of food is also critical to maintaining the food's
properties. First, traditional flavors, fragrances, and colors must
be maintained. Second, maintaining of nutrient content is important.
In China, even with modern refrigeration, fish are often killed
right before cooking, and it is common to see a chicken or two tethered
outside the restaurant.
The anthropologist studying the Chinese diet and medical beliefs
might notice a curious pattern, the law of similarity, underlying
food's supposed functions. This law states that people associate
physical properties of plants and animals with function, such as,
eating tendons strengthens one's tendons and bones; preparing dishes
with pork skin enhances the smoothness and vitality of one's skin;
adding powdered placenta to soup rejuvenates; pig bladder treats
bed-wetting; and eating young cocks promotes growth and development.
Both TCM and Chinese food are enormously complexand fascinating
to study. As American culture ages and as our society becomes richer
in its multi-cultural traditions, the pat answers of yesterday give
way to an increasing acceptance of other cultural perceptions of
the world. Daily medical revelations about the functions of the
immune system demonstrate the importance of recognizing holistic
principles of body functioning as well as the more confining Cartesian
methods of analysis. And also with the passage of time, we realize
more and more the dysfunctionality of the American diet with its
massive consumption of bottled vitamins and cheap sources of calories
that quickly turn into fat and produce an epidemic of obesity. Again,
we can learn from Chinese ways that have been followed for over
2,300 years in order to reconnect our own psyches and somas.
Tom Neuhaus has the fantastc opportunity teaching
young people about food at Cal Poly.
