“When we eat with pleasure, the stomach directs the purest portion of the essence from the food directly to the heart and awakens our joy of life.”
Good eating habits are the most important principle for strengthening the energy of the center.
- Prefer good quality and high quality food, seasonal and local food
- Establish a daily rhythm with regular meals
- Regular breakfast, lavish lunch and light dinner, the latter before 6:00 p.m.
- Serve lots of warm / cooked food (preferably 2-3 times a day)
While eating:
- Eat slowly and chew thoroughly
- Don’t drink cold liquids with your meal, but rather clear and light soup, hot water or green tea.
- Don’t eat right away after getting angry
- Avoid exhausting discussions while eating
- Do not eat completely full
Quality of food and food preparation:
- Use organic ingredients (whenever your budget and availability permits)
- No artificial food additives, no ready meals.
- No microwave
Detailed advice:
- Simple meals (do not combine too many different proteins and carbohydrates)
- Lots of vegetables (preferably only briefly steamed or seared)
- Boiled cereals (millet or barley, bulgur – together with some soy, coconut or almond milk, also suitable as a healthy breakfast)
- Neutral foods to which you add warm and refreshing ingredients
- Soups that warm the whole stomach (e.g. Chinese style)
- Vegetables that grow in the ground
Food items with a (naturally) sweet flavour and neutral thermal properties have the following effect: strengthening Qi, harmonizing, moisturizing, relaxing, saturating, nourishing.
However the sweet flavour has no direction of action, i.e. it’s harder to digest. Therefore add other tastes. Too much sweetness creates moisture, which leads to phlegm. ‘Visible’ phlegm manifests as an excess in body fat.
However don’t be fooled by instagram and lifestyle magazine depictions of skinny and „sporty“ looking models. Healthy bodies have mainly the outline and body fat distribution visible in many Renaissence or classical art nude paintings.
