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Yang Deficiency Diet Recommendations

Yang deficiency occurs when the energy responsible for warming and activating bodily functions is depleted. Symptoms include feeling cold and slowed bodily functions. Foods that tonify yang include grains like quinoa and sweet rice, vegetables like leeks and radishes, fruits like cherries and peaches, nuts like chestnuts and walnuts, fish like trout and shrimp, meats like chicken and lamb, and herbs and spices like ginger, cinnamon, and garlic. Foods should be cooked to preserve yang energy and avoid cold foods that further drain yang.

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423 views1 page

Yang Deficiency Diet Recommendations

Yang deficiency occurs when the energy responsible for warming and activating bodily functions is depleted. Symptoms include feeling cold and slowed bodily functions. Foods that tonify yang include grains like quinoa and sweet rice, vegetables like leeks and radishes, fruits like cherries and peaches, nuts like chestnuts and walnuts, fish like trout and shrimp, meats like chicken and lamb, and herbs and spices like ginger, cinnamon, and garlic. Foods should be cooked to preserve yang energy and avoid cold foods that further drain yang.

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Jonny San
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Yang deficiency

Yang represents the energy that is responsible for warming and activating bodily functions. When this
energy is depleted your body begins to slow down, displaying signs of under activity and sensations of
coldness. Foods to tonify yang include;

Grains Quinoa, sweet (glutinous) rice, wheat germ


Vegetables Leek, mustard greens, onion, radish, scallion, squash, sweet potato, turnip, watercress
Fruit Cherry, litchi, logan, peach, raspberry, strawberry
Nuts and seeds Chestnuts, pinenuts, pistachio nuts, walnuts
Fish Anchovy, lobster, mussel, prawn, shrimp, trout
Meat Chicken, lamb, venison, kidneys (both beef and lamb)
Herbs and spices Basil, black pepper, caper, cayenne, chive seed, cinnamon bark, clove, dill seed, fennel
seed, fennugreek seed, garlic, ginger, horseradish, nutmeg, peppermint, rosemary, sage,
savory, spearmint, star anise, tumeric, thyme, white pepper
Beverages Chai tea, jasmine tea
Common Algae, brown sugar, Korean ginseng, malt sugar, vinegar
supplements

Foods especially useful to tonify Kidney Yang Deficiency.


Fruit raspberry
Nuts / seeds chestnut, pistachio, walnut
Fish lobster, shrimp, mussels, prawn
Meat lamb, venison, both sheep and beef kidney’s
Herbs / spices basil, clove, rosemary, chive leaf, fennel seed, fennugreek seed, horseradish
Beverages jasmine tea
Supplements algae

Examples of every day western foods that can be used to build yang, include
• Roast chicken with sage and thyme
• Roasted vegetables with and rosemary
• Rice porridge with cinnamon, nutmeg and a little brown sugar
• Leek and potato soup with black pepper
• Or by adding any of the many spices as listed above to dishes when cooking.

Foods to avoid. It is important to avoid foods that will further drain the body’s yang energy. Cold food and
liquids fall into this category. Here ‘cold foods’ refers not only to those directly taken from the fridge but also to
raw foods, as these require extra energy for digestion compared to pre-cooked foods. This may mean choosing a
pasta salad over a green salad or switching from muesli to oat porridge for breakfast.

Using a warming method of cooking will also enhance the body’s energy by preserving yang, therefore soups,
porridges and slow roasted foods become the dishes of choice for those with a predominate yang deficiency. The
herbs and spices mentioned in the charts above are warming and as such in small amounts encourage digestion
and circulation throughout the body. While it may seem reasonable to achieve an enhanced warming effect by
using the stronger spices such as black pepper liberally, care needs to be taken as these can be used to excess,
inducing sweating which in fact actually has a cooling drying effect on the body.

Compiled by Debra Betts author of “The essential guide to Acupuncture in Pregnancy and Childbirth” © 2006
Website [Link]

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