Taoist Nutritional Concepts Supporting, Soothing & Healing Inflammatory Gastro-Intestinal System

An Inflammatory GI system  includes a number of inflammatory bowel disturbances including ulcerative colitis, IBS, and crohn’s disease. Symptoms vary, depending on each person’s severity and where along the digestive tract it tends to flare. It is normal to have periods of inflammatory activation and times of remission. Symptoms may include diarrhea, fatigue, abdominal pain, cramping, blood in the stool, fever, anxiety, depression, anemia, eye problems, mouth sores, reduced appetite and unintended weight fluctuations.

How does the lens of Taoist Medicine view this disease process? From a Taoist medical perspective, all disease has a root cause that includes lifestyle, diet, constitution, emotion, mental state, environment, life experience, season, and stage of life (to name a few). We are all born with a certain nature or constitution. We can look at this elementally through metal, water, wood, fire and earth elements - each correlate and correspond to an organ system, sense orifice, body part, temperature, time of day, season, taste, smell and emotion. Depending on our constitution, we may be more prone to certain imbalances. In addition, certain elements are often negatively impacted by cultural norms or values. For example, the earth element tends to be deficient or excessive  in America where the standard diet is full of greasy, cold, sugary foods that we often eat hurriedly or in distress, which damage the stomach and spleen over time. This is why IBD is so common in the western world. In addition our water element can be compromised over time with overwork and the push, push, push, go, go, go mentality of override, which is so common in our modern world. This can damage our kidneys and bladder organs, bones, joints and is a large contributing factor to the underlying cause of rampant back and joint pain. 

Along with our elemental constitution, we will also each have a tendency to be more dry, wet, hot or cold, and any combination. Many irritable bowel disturbances are wet and hot in nature (damp-heat) or wet and cold (damp-cold), thus creating a damp, phlegmy, hot environment that causes upset when we eat and digest our food, or a cold damp environment where masses, constipation and cysts form. In perfect health, we will land right in the middle of wet, dry, hot, and cold, like the center of a compass. 

What can we do? The good news is, there is a lot we can do to support our bodies and health in coming into balance of yin and yang. We can also create a negentropic internal environment to give our stomachs a way to heal. Gut health is the root of all health, so what we eat matters. What we put in is what we will become. If we eat a lot of cold, raw foods, we will become cold and perhaps stagnant, unless we live in a hot climate. If we eat damp dairy foods and greasy fried foods we will become damp. If we eat too many spicy and heavy foods we will become too hot. We can also damage ourselves by not eating enough, fad diets, yo-yo dieting, or the cycle of eating too little and then binging. 

Exercise really, really matters. We need to move to be healthy. Our qi and blood needs to be nourished and to flow. When it stagnates, pain and disease forms. A balance of movement and rest is life. When we exercise regularly our mental and emotional health also naturally improves. 

Healthy Concepts to live by

Eat nourishing foods. Nutrition really, really matters. What we put into our body makes an enormous difference in how we feel and our overall health. Some wonderful questions to hold within your body and mind are: What do I need to be nourished? What will be nourishing to me and also delicious? What does my body, my soul need to be fed? Asking questions in this way contributes to our health and our embodiment. This is a very different approach from the social normative standards we have created around dieting and body image:  rather than asking what we should eat, or how much we should weigh, or which fad diet is the right one, we can learn to relate with our bodies and our nutrition in a healthy way. 

Eat simple foods and create simple meals. Great tasting food is a combination of simple ingredients. Just about anything tastes great with olive oil, sea salt, black pepper and lemon juice - garlic & onion if it isn’t too inflammatory for you. One of my favorite ways to prepare food is by batch cooking. One day per week make a large sheet of chicken or protein, a sheet of vegetables and a pot of rice or quinoa. The protein and veg are lightly tossed with olive oil, sea salt and pepper and baked @ 350 for 45-60 min. I let everything cool, put it in containers in the fridge and warm up as needed. It is so simple and so delicious. For added flavor I may use hot sauce and/or fermented foods as a garnish (like kimchi). Eat naturally anti-inflammatory foods, and limit naturally inflammatory ones. With a little bit of research, one can easily find lists of anti-inflammatory foods to enjoy. There are many, and once you adjust, it is quite simple to adhere to. Avoiding gluten is almost always a key to reducing inflammation. Even if someone does not have a true gluten allergy (celiac), it is incredibly inflammatory. 

Eat cooked, warm foods & fermented foods. The stomach and spleen must create and maintain heat in order to properly digest; a healthy digestive fire. If we eat too many cold, raw foods, especially in a cold climate, we put out these digestive fires and make it difficult to metabolize and digest our food. This can result in bloating, constipation, masses, weight gain and fatigue after eating. However, cooked, warm food is an aid to our stomach and spleen. A little bit of heat can be nice, such as pepper or hot sauce, but one needs to keep this in balance and not go over the top. The heat helps with raw food in particular - think wasabi with raw sushi. The healthiest way to cook or warm food is by steaming, baking or gently sauteing. Although warm, fried food is difficult to digest for other reasons. 

I live in Buffalo, NY, in a cold climate for most of the year. We do have a hot, humid summer, but other than that it is either cool or cold. I may be able to drink smoothies in the hot summer months, but drinking them throughout the fall, winter and spring, leads to cold accumulation in my gut. This may manifest as bloating, diarrhea or constipation. Although the smoothie itself may be full of healthy ingredients, the cold, heavy delivery system may do more damage than good. 

Eat colors. Taoism pays attention to the color of food because the color indicates a different nutritional profile. Yellow root vegetables contain different nutrients than green leaves. Eating different colored foods on your plate gives your body a more complete nutritional profile. 

Avoid drinking with your meal, or sip small amounts of hot tea. It is best not to drink with your  meal, as this washes away some of the nutrients before the body has a chance to absorb them. Think about pouring a glass of water over your plate of food. One can sip hot tea after a meal as this aids in digestion rather than hindering it. 

Chew your food thoroughly, finish your meal before becoming full. Chewing and salivating are a major part of digestion that we often miss out on when we are eating quickly or eating while stressed. It is best to just eat. Being with loved ones or friends in a happy environment is also beneficial. When possible, It is best to refrain from eating when stressed, rushed or in toxic situations. It is also beneficial to refrain from reading or watching tv while eating. Eating is its own meditation, its own celebration. Just eat. Allow yourself to be in a relaxed, restful state while doing so. Chewing thoroughly helps your body receive all of the nutrients available.

Movement and true rest are both essential. The balance of yin and yang within us allows us to access both active, solar activity, and yin, lunar embodied rest states of being. Movement  is essential to our health. Simple exercises such as qigong and walking are enough to get our qi and blood flowing, to regulate our nervous system, elevate mood and clear chaotic mental states, like worry, cogitation or overthinking. Balanced movement (not to excess) creates energy. Rest is equally important. To be restful, to lean back, to allow ourselves to simply be and to be in our bodies. This can include meditation, sleep, baths, reading, sitting with a cup of tea and gazing out the window, writing or reflection. Too much rest creates lethargy and stagnation, so these active and restful states need to come into balance within each of us.

Radical Acceptance. Most importantly, we need to be kind to ourselves, radically tender even. We are doing our best living busy, chaotic lives. Stress, pain and suffering are part of life. The way we respond to it is what matters. Our relationship with ourselves and our bodies is as important, if not more important, than our relationships with our loved ones and our responsibilities. If we can be kind to ourselves, forgive ourselves for the greasy meal, the sugary holiday treats, it makes such a difference. Do your best and live your life. We all love pizza. That’s okay! You can have pizza! Just try to be in balance about it. Let it go, enjoy your life, and move on. Find sustainable ways to eat healthy - things you can actually attain and sustain in your day to day life. Be honest with yourself. Be dedicated yet realistic. Be willing to fail, be willing to learn. What makes you feel good? What throws you off? Pay attention and observe with open, joyful curiosity. Make a plan. Does structure help or hinder you? If it helps, then write a little plan or outline for yourself with grocery lists and simple meal plans. If structure makes you feel restricted and want to rebel against it, then don’t make a plan. Eat intuitively. Pay attention to how your body feels when you eat or drink and give it what makes it feel good. That may change from week to week or season to season. That’s okay. Be easy with yourself. 

Sending love to you all. Grateful to be included in your journey.
Written by Priya (Karla) in the 2022 year of the water tiger for my cherished students and patients. May it be of benefit.