[...]... see them as basically interchangeable They are on the same shelf of the food pyramid and therefore people see them as being the same and our only source of vitamins and minerals However, their energies are really very different with the energy of fruit being much more sticky and dampening than that of vegetables Much of the Chinese understanding of the world began with rudimentary observation First they... have trouble because they want to keep eating the spicy curries and coriander of their native land This spice suits the climate of South India, but it does not suit the midwestern climate As a result, they can overheat themselves Another benefit of locally grown food is that it will be much fresher, and therefore more alive, when you eat it We get our life-force from the life of the food we consume Foods... developed hypotheses and then they tested them; and they discovered that there are many exceptions to every rule! But through this research they found that the energies of foods differ For instance, if you squeeze an orange, the residual juice left on your hand is thick and sticky; but if you squeeze a piece of broccoli, it’s mostly made up of water The way things are outside the body is how they will... conditions, and mad cow disease came from feeding the cows an unnatural diet (where the food included ground up cattle by-products) So if we treat the animals more naturally and humanely, they will be far less prone to disease and won’t therefore need medications In order to maintain a balanced diet, we should not always eat the same cuts of meat from the same animals either For most of us, the only form... host of other foods By limiting their diet, we impair the nutritional value of the meat Our animals should be allowed to have a natural diet 24 j The Asian Diet The Jewish tradition (Kosher) and the Middle eastern tradition (Halal) both dictate that the animal must be killed in a humane way These cultures recognize that this affects the energy of the meat; and we know that the food we eat affects our... fire that they figured out how to use it to cook food, not just for meat but for vegetables as well They noticed that the foods digested better when they were cooked and since then cooking has been a part of every recorded culture In earlier days, people used to pay attention to how their bodies reacted to their diet and adjusted their eating accordingly Sadly, nowadays we pay no attention to the ways...x j The Asian Diet many studies on how harmful our standard food choices are, read The China Study” by T Colin Campbell To learn the basics of eating right and being well, however, read the book you hold in your hands right now Acknowledgments Chinese medicine would be nowhere without building upon the work of others I would like to thank the entire lineage of Chinese medical practitioners for amassing... developed an illness or a disease, the doctor had already failed you Part and parcel of this agreement was the understanding that the patient would follow the doctor’s orders However, in the West, we are not very good at following our doctor’s recommendations In China they know that if they follow the suggestions, then the problem will not become worse; and if they don’t, then the problem will almost certainly... provided by the dairy, meat, and snack food industries What do you suppose these industries want to teach doctors about their products? When scientists stand up to the system and fight for what is right, they are discredited and bullied out of the industry Doctors are not being evil or negligent, they just tell you what they were taught by those who have products to sell For example: Diet does not affect health”,... with careful record keeping and dissemination of the lessons learned through written language They never had a Dark Age Throughout their history, the Chinese have experimented with different dietary and lifestyle choices When they found things that worked, they spread the word; when they found things that didn’t work, they also spread the word We are the fortunate recipients of the knowledge gained over . [ THE ASIAN DIET Simple Secrets for Eating Right, Losing Weight, and Being Well [ THE ASIAN DIET Simple Secrets for Eating Right, Losing Weight, and Being. themselves here and hungry, so they started eating things. Then Chapter 1: Introduction to Oriental Medicine and Diet i 3 4 j The Asian Diet they noticed