Food and the Five Elements

25 November 2010

The ancient Chinese observed that fresh food (harvested within 24 hours or so) had the best nutritional value to us. The Chinese placed great emphasis on eating the meat or the vegetables while the Chi energy is still vital within the food. Our Chi energy will therefore become stronger and more balanced if we can eat in this way. We should not depend so much on eating frozen tinned and preserved food; we should eat foods that are fresh and this means buying particular foods during their appropriate season. Seasonal food is so important to our Chi – this is a fantastic way to eat – enjoying the strawberries in summer and the kale and cabbage in winter.

They also observed that local food is the most appropriate to eat. This has the Chi energy which is innate to us – we live in a region or locality and the same air we breathe is helping to grow the food we eat. We are fortunate in Ireland that we can by and large get local produce.

So our menu follows nature’s laws, acknowledging the importance of eating fresh foods with an emphasis on regionally grown and seasonal produce and, most importantly, food that should be eaten at the correct time of day. This form of nutrition is based on the ancient Chinese 24 hour Clock/Law of Midday and Midnight that your body obtains exactly what it needs, at the time it’s really needed. For instance according to the Chinese Clock the stomach has the most energy available to it from 7-9am. Conversely the Stomach has its weakest energy from 7-9pm. It is therefore best prepared for digesting food in the morning and much less so late in the evening. Our habit of eating a main meal in the evening is not ideal from the point of view of our health. There is a wise saying ‘eat breakfast like a king lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper’..

The menu according to these principles also re-enforces our wisdom that nourishment is not just for your body, but also essential for the mind and spirit. This means that the joyful experience of eating is expertly represented within your enticing menu, carefully selected by colour, smell and taste.

In November 2003 I was introduced to CF-EA by my sisters - they brought me from an A & E Department to Declan Rothwell CF-EA Practitioner. I didn't know where I was going and I didn't care I felt so bad. l had lost a lot of weight and was far too thin, I had spent most of 2003 in A& E with an irregular heart beat. I had a lot of problems I was suffering from depression, anxiety, digestive and heart problems, low blood pressure and many more. Little did I know on that day in November my life was about to change forever. From my very first treatment I could feel the change.

I had often wondered what had happened to me that I had become so ill and it wasn't until I had treatments of CF-EA that things became clearer to me. I had not grieved. In 1990 I and my daughter suffered a terrible loss. We lost a husband and father whom we loved so very deeply. Between 1990 and 2003 I was constantly ill - the strep throats were the worst, I was hospitalised on numerous occasions. CF-EA has helped me work my way through the many stages of grief and once I started to deal with the grief, very slowly I began to feel better I started to put on weight and from there all my complaints started to disappear one by one. The journey back has had its ups and downs and has been a long but also amazing one and I firmly believe that without CF-EA I would never have made it back from that dark place. I continue to have Acupuncture to help me deal with the stresses of everyday life.

My life now is very different thanks to Classical Five Elements Acupuncture - I'm Flying High.

Connie, Drogheda, Co. Louth

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