The thermal behaviour provides information about the energetic dynamics of a food.
Cold to hot
Slowing or acceleration of physiological processes by the dynamic Qi forces of the food. Qi movement strong or only slight
Thermal behaviour = Yang aspect, as it reflects an active energetic expression.
(cf. type of taste = Yin)
Hot, Warm, Neutral, Cool, Cold
This does not mean the temperature in degrees Celsius at which the food is served to us. It is the specific sensation of temperature that arises in us after eating it, or the thermal effect that unfolds. Here the transitions are fluid.
Cool, cold
Slowing, condensation, accumulation. Substance is replenished, fluids are made available. Morning dew on the meadow, condensation as on misted-up windows. Gathering of the material, processes are led downwards and deposited (Yin aspect) The cool ones drain heat off.
Supports the structive energies.
Raw food, salads, fruit, soft drinks, ice cream, banana, watermelon
Everything with ice from the refrigerator: cold shock
Warm, hot
Active unfolding, acceleration, dynamisation, hence dissolution, that is, a force directed against materialisation, dispersing, accelerating, lifting upwards. (Yang aspect)
The hot and warm ones compensate for cold and support the active energies.
Spices, lamb, beef, alcohol, chillies
Ideal for digestion: warm, neutral
If too hot -> qi flies out of the chimney.
Ideal for moistening: neutral, cool
“What is cool, one warms; what is warm, let one cool.”
I.e. in the case of cold symptoms one should eat warm or hot foods, in the case of heat symptoms cool or cold ones.
Neutral
Preservation, symbolises the centre, where moistening, gathering forces are in balance with moving, consuming ones. Unite both aspects, Yin and Yang, within themselves: supplying and preserving fluids, providing active energy.
Overview of foods and their thermal behaviour
| HOT | WARM | NEUTRAL | COOL | COLD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| METAL pungent resolves stagnation leads upwards | Herbs Cayenne pepper Chilli Curry Nutmeg Clove Pepper Allspice Star anise Tabasco Drinks Grain schnapps Whiskey Vodka Yogi tea | Grains Oats Vegetables Spring onion Leek Horseradish Onion Meat Pheasant Red deer Partridge Roe deer Quail Wild boar Dairy products Harz cheese Cheese, fermented Munster cheese Mould-ripened cheese Drinks Rice wine Herbs Basil Cumin Dill Ginger cardamom Garlic Coriander Caraway Lovage Bay leaf Marjoram Masala Chives Mustard | Meat Hare | Grains Rice Vegetables Kohlrabi Radish White radish Meat Goose Turkey hen Turkey cock Herbs Cress Drinks Peppermint | |
| EARTH sweet moistens relaxes distributes | Herbs Fennel seeds Cinnamon Drinks Fennel tea | Grains Amaranth Sago Sweet rice Vegetables Fennel Chestnut Pumpkin Sweet potato Fruit Apricot Currant Peach Raisin Sweet cherry Dairy products Coconut milk Herbs Amasake Vanilla Nuts / Seeds Pine nuts Pistachio Walnut Drinks Mead Liqueur Fortified wine | Grains Millet Maize Vegetables Cabbage varieties Dwarf beans Peas Carrot Potato Turnip Climbing bean Fruit Date Fig Plum Grape Meat Veal Beef Dairy products Butter Egg Cheese Cow’s milk Cream Herbs Saffron Sweeteners Honey Malt Marzipan Cane sugar Nuts / Seeds Peanut Hazelnut Coconut Almond Sesame Drinks Corn silk tea Malt beer Liquorice tea Grape juice | Grains Barley Yeast bread Vegetables Aubergine Avocado Cauliflower Broccoli Button mushroom Chinese cabbage Chard Sweet pepper Black salsify Celery Asparagus Spinach Courgette Fruit Apple, sweet Pear Honeydew melon Papaya Soya products Tofu Soya milk Herbs Tarragon Kuzu Arrowroot flour Sweeteners Maple syrup Nuts / Seeds Cashew nut Sunflower seeds Cooking oils Olive oil Sesame oil Soya oil Sunflower oil Wheatgerm oil Drinks Apple juice Vegetable juice | Vegetables Cucumber Fruit Banana Persimmon Mango Watermelon |
| WOOD sour preserves the fluids | Grains Green spelt Meat Chicken Herbs Vinegar Parsley Drinks Cherry juice | Grains Spelt Wheat Meat Duck Dairy products Curdled milk Fresh cheese Kefir Sour milk Soured cream Swedish milk Quark Raising agents Baking ferments Yeast Sourdough Vegetables Sauerkraut Sprouts Fruit Apple, sour Apple compote Blackberry Strawberry Bilberry Currant Orange Lingonberry Sour cherry Gooseberry Drinks Bread drink Champagne Fruit juice Rosehip tea Hibiscus tea Mallow tea Lemon balm tea Prosecco White wine Wheat beer | Vegetables Mung bean sprouts Sorrel Tomatoes Fruit Pineapple Kiwi Rhubarb Lemon Dairy products Yoghurt | ||
| FIRE bitter dries out leads downwards | Meat Mutton Lamb Sheep Goat Grilled meat Herbs Fenugreek seed Drinks Bitter liqueur Cognac Mulled wine | Grains Buckwheat Dairy products Sheep’s cheese Goat’s cheese Goat’s milk Herbs Mugwort Turmeric Cocoa Poppy seed Oregano Hot paprika Rosemary Thyme Juniper berry Drinks Grain coffee Coffee Red wine | Vegetables Lamb’s lettuce Brussels sprouts | Grains Rye Vegetables Artichoke Chicory Iceberg lettuce Endive Green lettuce Dandelion Olive Parsnip Radicchio Beetroot Fruit Elderberry Grapefruit Quince Herbs Sage Drinks Altbier | Drinks Gentian tea Lady’s mantle tea Green tea Burdock root tea Dandelion root tea Pils Yarrow tea Black tea Vermouth |
| WATER salty softens leads downwards | Fish Eel Perch Trout Prawn Lobster Cod Salmon Spiny lobster Mussel Plaice Shrimps Anchovy Tuna Smoked fish | Pulses Aduki bean Pea Lentil Red soya bean Broad bean Fish Carp | Pulses Yellow soya bean Chickpea Black soya bean Fish Calamari Cuttlefish | Seaweed Iziki Kombu Nori Wakame Pulses Mung bean Fish Oysters Caviar Herbs Agar-agar Miso Salt Soy sauce Drinks Mineral water |
Influencing food temperature
I can also influence the food temperature by cooking.
| Colder | Cooler | Neutral | Slightly warmer | Markedly warmer | Heating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preparation in the kitchen | |||||
| Freezer compartment Ice cream, sorbet Drinks with ice cubes | Soaking in water Leaving to swell Leaving to sprout | Making juices, possibly with sugar Syrup, possibly with sugar Compote, possibly with sugar Mash Purée Pulp Chopping finely Grating, e.g. apples, carrot Mincing, putting through the mincer | Boiling Stewing in water Steaming Braising Blanching | Baking Grilling Roasting Frying Deep-frying Braising in fat Braising in wine Alcoholic preparation | |
| Preservation | |||||
| Serving cool and cold Pickling in salt Curing | Chilling Steeping in soy sauce Steeping in oil | Fermentation Fermenting (yoghurt, tofu) | Drying (dried fruit, dried fish) Bread-making Yeast dough Sourdough Shortcrust pastry | Pickling in vinegar Steeping in wine | Alcoholic preparation |
| Industrial preparation | |||||
| Milling (grain flour) Hulling, polishing (rice, grains) | Refining (refined flours) Sugar refining with simultaneous drying |
Chewing is also warming!!! Or seasoning etc.
A chilli pepper will still be hot by temperament even when it is taken out of the refrigerator, and a glass of buttermilk is still cool even when it has been warmed.
Manipulation leads to different thermal and biological behaviour. Taste is largely preserved. It is only less pronounced when cold, or rather, through heating the taste becomes more pronounced.
Usual here: very cold drinks and meat on the grill, roasting -> very hot. All extremes! No neutral foods.
Fruit: cool, as rich in water, Yin. Pressed juice + sugar + cooking -> warmer
Apple raw = cool -> possibly diarrhoea. Grated, cooked -> warmer -> against diarrhoea!! Possibly also with cinnamon -> even warmer.
Food additives + processing -> different energetics
The sensation of taste gives information about where a food acts: at what depth, layer, level. Tendency of action.
We take the term “taste” from the translation of the Chinese word, which denotes both the taste (the nature) of these particles and the particles themselves, which have a particular taste. Taste comparatively stable and difficult to influence (Yin), whereas the thermal behaviour can easily be changed by the various methods of preparation such as cooking, freezing etc., which corresponds to the yang aspect.