Food Based Therapies
Food therapy is a method of healing using natural foods instead of medications. For many centuries eating the right foods in the correct amounts has played an important role in keepy the human race healthy

Chinese Food Therapy
Chinese food therapy dates back as early as 2000 BC. Documentation was found around 500 BC. The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine, also known as the Neijing, was written around 300 BC, is considered to be a classic reference work forming the basis of Chinese food therapy. It classified food by four food groups, five tastes and by their natures and characteristics.
According to Chinese medicine, improper meals with an unbalanced diet can be one of the major causes of illness. This imbalance can lead to a stop in the correct energy flow your body requires, reducing the ability of your body to process its nutritional needs correctly. Chinese Food Therapy, aims to achieve a balance between the food that you eat and the nutrition that you get.
This balance involves the knowledge of your Yin and Yang and that of the foods you eat, and forms the basis used in Chinese Food Therapy.Yang is known to increase body heat, raising the metabolism to process nutrients. Yin acts in combination to decrease the body heat, thus balancing the nutrients that are being processed in the metabolism. By discovering the polar opposites of foods we eat we can combine them to form a healthy middle ground. If Chinese food therapy is to work properly, there has to be an understanding of how your body reacts to specific things. If you are completely balanced, the unbalancing effect of too much of either yin or yang will cause a reaction by your body. Using Chinese Food Therapy, instructs your body how to use your food and balance it out properly.
The yin yang type of each individual determines how susceptible the person is to the effects of food. A neutral person is generally healthy and will have strong reactions to these effects only after overconsumption of certain kind of food. A yang type person usually can eat all yin type food with no ill effect.

Chinese Food Therapy is particularly popular among Cantonese people who enjoy slow-cooked soups. One of the mostpopularn is a rice soup that goes by many names including congee and jook. It is a popular traditional breakfast of many Asian people all over the world. Congee recipes tend to vary greatly, depending upon the desired health benefits as well as taste.
Within the Cantonese culture much attention to the body's reaction to food. Food items are classified according to how they may affect the body, and diet is adjusted according to the body's conditions. In effect, many Cantonese people practice food therapy in day to day situations.

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Nutritional Therapy
Nutritionan Therapy does not consist solely of healthy eating. It is a complementary or alternative medicine that supports the entire body, mind and emotional state. Good nutrition will contribute to the health and well being of the immune, digestive, circulatory, cardiovascular and hormonal systems
Nutritional Therapy is a way of supporting the body enabling it to repair itself and regain its vitality. It tends to treat the cause not the symptoms thus preventing any problems from developing in the first place, ensuring the body does not have to deal with a debilitating disease later. This therapy works with an individual person’s biochemistry rather than trying to suppress the body’s efforts to heal itself, which is the more conventional approach to healing.
Using natural unprocessed foods, specific and appropriate supplements and the use of other supporting therapies, all the organs and systemic functions are brought back into balance. This balance is critical for the health of the body. It cannot, however, be achieved if the body is still suffering from the cause of the symptoms it is experiencing.
Nutritional Therapy is a two-way approach to a person’s health. Unlike many conventional treatments, this way of holistically treating illness requires trust, understanding and complete appliance. There are likely to be many lifestyle changes that need to be made and some radical changes in dietary approach and attitude to the body. This can only be accomplished if the client feels absolutely supported and informed at every stage of their recovery. This starts with a detailed and honest look, not only at their lifestyle, medical history and symptoms but also those of their close family.

Some of the conditions that can be helped by Nutritional Therapy are:

Allergies and Intolerances
Anaemia
Arthritis & Joint Pain
Asthma
Backache
Chronic fatigue
Cholesterol
Constipation
Depression
Diabetes
Diarrhoea
Energy loss
Reproductive problems
High Blood Pressure
Headaches
IBS and Diverticulitis
Insomnia
Kidney Disease
Migraine
Skin complaints
Sinusitis
Weight Problems

Food Groups and Tastes :-
Groups
The four food groups in the Chinese diet are defined as :-
grains, fruits, meats and vegetables. Dairy products, especially
cow's milk, are not considered suitable for humans
These Food Groups are further defined as :-

• Grains for sustaining.
• Vegetables for filling.
• Fruits for supporting.
• Meats for enhancing.

Grains and vegetables are considered to be the basic foods necessary to sustain
life and as such should form the major part of our diet.
Meats and fruits are supporting and complementary foods and consequently should be eaten in moderation.
A a general rule balanced Chinese diet should comprise of 40 percent grains, 30 to 40 percent vegetables, 10 to 15 percent meats and the rest in fruits and nuts.

Tastes
The Chinese generally classifyfoods by the five tastes:-
Sweet,Sour, Bitter, Salty and Pungent. Each taste acts on or has direct
influence on a specific vital organ. When each taste is consumed
in moderation, it benefits the corresponding organ. Over-indulgence
in any of the tastes will harm the organ and create an imbalance among the five
vital organ systems

• Sweet tasting foods act on the spleen and stomach helping
  digestion and neutralizing the toxic effects of other foods.
• Sour tasting foods act on the liver and gall bladder they controls diarrhoea and excessive perspiration.
• Bitter tasting foods act on the heart and small intestine they reduce body heat and excessive fluids and induces diarrhoea .
• Salty tasting foods act on the kidneys and bladder they soften hardness of muscles or glands.
• Pungent tasting foods act on the lungs and large intestine they induce perspiration and promote energy circulation.

These five different organ systems control and support each other. Proper coordination and balance of this system only exists when there is no one organ stronger or weaker than the rest. The five tastes have direct influences on your organs and your diet should reflect this creating a good combination of these five tastes in order to promote internal balance and harmony.

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Foods that Fight Free Radicals and have anti-oxidant properties:

• red, yellow, and green vegetables
• cranberries
• blueberries
• strawberries
• raspberries
• black berries
• kale
• brussel sprouts
• cauliflower
• broccoli (especially broccoli sprouts)
• flax seeds (which must be ground to be digested)
• uncooked nuts and seeds
• soya milk
• garlic
• horseradish
•fish.

Foods high in Vitamin A
Vitamin A helps strengthen your body’s defenses, while . These two vitamins provide powerful protection against incoming germs.The body uses vitamin A, which you get in a form of beta-carotene from foods such as:-

• carrots
• spinach
• mustard greens
• kale
• yellow and orange squash,

Foods high in Vitamin C
Vitamin C helps immune system go on the attack

• oranges
• grapefruit
• raspberries
• broccoli
• tomatoes
• kiwi fruit
• kohlrabi
• peppers

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