Raw Foods & Chilly Spleens - Talking Thermodynamics
I am often asked by clients and students if I eat salads.
The question is usually sparked by trying to understand the principle of Chinese medicine that states that you ‘don’t chill the Spleen.’ Eating too many raw or cold foods will decrease digestive vitality and put out Spleen Yang. Spleen Yang is the fire that fuels the digestive cauldron - your internal cook pot.
Yes, I eat salads, and I do occasionally eat raw foods.
I love them. I enjoy a variety of salads - warm and raw - but I eat within the season and take steps to maintain my Spleen’s Yang and pluckiness.
Let me explain.
Food energetics in Asian/Chinese medicine looks at the post metabolic phenomenon the food creates in the body. We look at temperature, direction, action, flavor and organ entered - along with a few others. The purpose of this blog is to look at the temperature of the food - thermodyndamics.
Knowing Temperatures
There are two main aspects to talk about here.
The thermodynamic temperature of the food at the time you eat it - frozen, raw, cool, warm, hot, etc.
The post metabolic phenomenon of the food. This is the nature of the food itself. Does it create heat or cool after you eat it? You can eat a jalapeno pepper raw or cooked. Both will create heat in the body after digestion, but they enter the body at a different temperature. Get it?
Raw foods cool and clear heat, which can be a blessing in the Summer and a curse in colder months or if you have weak digestion. Too many cold or raw foods will overly chill the digestive system causing contraction and tightness (cold causes spasms and a slowing of the circulation) ultimately your body will have to work harder to try to warm your food up to digest it.
We see this a lot with vegans and vegetarians who eat mostly raw foods. Asian medicine wisdom holds that the Stomach and Spleen (the major rulers of digestion) are like a cauldron and too many overly cold foods will put out the digestive fire or vitality, causing digestive issues. There’s a general baseline for nutritional standards - the Earth Element diet in Chinese medicine terms - and then how well we thrive depends on what we were born with and what we do with it - our ability to adapt as needed. Allowing our diets to naturally follow the seasons and the food abundance around us to shift to treat particular states and stages of life. I go over these general ideas in my blog My Views On Eating Well and my course Intro To Food Energetics. Go ahead and read them if you haven’t - they open in a separate window so you won’t lose your space here.
More Thermodynamics
I recommend raw foods to be consumed usually only during the warmer months, if the person’s digestion is strong, or if it is the best protocol for the disease they are currently treating. Even then, I ask them to at least eat the food at room temperature because -
Your ideal body temperature is 98.6°. Many people run a degree or two colder - that automatically puts you in the Spleen Yang deficiency. You lack fire - your metabolism is low. This presents as feelings of cold, fatigue, slow and sluggish digestion, loose stools, hypothyroid, obesity, weight gain, adrenal fatigue, low body temperature, weakened immunity, autoimmune disorders, food allergies, allergies – get the idea?
Your fridge is usually around 36-40° - that is just above freezing and at least 60° colder than your body temperature. Your house is around 68° still a full 30° cooler than your body. Your body must heat the food up to properly assimilate it. We help this process by eating cooked foods and chewing thoroughly. If these steps are skipped your body has to work harder on a slow, cold system. You will get bogged down.
The term raw runs a spectrum. It can refer to peas that you popped off the vine and ate right then on an 80° day or peas that you just pulled from the fridge. Both are raw, but there is a significant temperature difference.
Does this mean you should never eat raw or cold foods?
Absolutely not.
Enjoy the delights of fresh berries, a lovely summer slaw, some watermelon or fresh salads. Just know your digestive vitality and use a little wisdom.
Here’s some things to consider.
Chew your food. Besides cooking, chewing is the first bodily step to warming and preparing your foods for absorption and transformation into vital essences. The reasons for chewing are numerous - Yes, I have a blog on chewing.
Allow your food to warm up some. Prior to the invention of the home refrigerator in 1913, we ate our foods at fresh at room temperature, from cool root cellars, cooked and dried. There is no denying the great blessing fridges are for storage and preservation, but frankly they aren’t essential. The notion that all food needs to be cold and crisp is one based out of luxury. There’s no limp lettuce leaves in this household! Studying food history is hilarious, frankly.
Serve salads with a warm soup, tea or even a warm dressing.
Are you eating seasonally appropriate foods? I live in Idaho, there is very little raw food available in the winter if you are eating seasonal, local and sustainable. It’s the opposite in the summer when there is a ridiculous abundance of veg and fruit that we can enjoy in season. Hopefully, the rest of the foods would be stored, frozen, canned, cooked or dried for later use.
Add fermented foods that are rich in digestive enzymes, pre and probiotics. Yep - here’s my blog on that.
Use herbs and spices that aid digestion - the aromatics or pungents. Ginger, rosemary, peppermint, cinnamon, turmeric, fennel - there are thousands. Add them to your foods for flavoring or use them as teas and tinctures for digestion.
Adjust your nutrition as necessary when things shift. You may need help in learning some of these skills, some of them you may already know. Perhaps you suffer from headaches and too much cold foods trigger them. A cold may be better treated by a leek soup than a raw spinach salad. You may need to back off dairy when your allergies flare up. It’s highly personalized, but very easy to learn with a little focus and intention.
Cheers!
April
