Warming and cooling characteristics of common foods. Each type of food has its own unique characteristics. Since ancient times, traditional Chinese medicine practitioners have used the warming and cooling nature of foods to balance the bodys yin and yang  to prevent and treat disease. Advertisement The ancient Chinese medicine practitioners discovered that most foods have either cooling or warming characteristics. When you eat cooling foods, they are adding cooling effects to your body and eating warm foods will add warming effects to your body. Therefore, warming and cooling foods can be used to balance the body which may be deficient in yin or yang. Chinese medicine has categorised many common foods into three thermal natures 1 Cooling foods. Warming foods. 3 Balanced, neutral foods neither cool nor warm1 Effects of cooling foods. Cooling food has effects of clearing heat and toxins, cooling and calming the blood and nourishing yin. These types of food are suitable for people who have heat constitution of the body. Usually these people have the following symptoms The body feeling hot, perspiration, thirst, constipation, pungent odourous wind and stools, burning of the anus area after bowl movement, anxiety, red eyes, red face, emotional, head aches, vivid dreams, ulcers in the mouth or tongue, cold sores around the mouth, red tongue with a thick yellow coating on the tongue, rapid pulse, heart burn and dark or yellow urine. If you have any of the symptoms listed above, the following cooling foods are suitable to be eaten Advertisement Cooling foods. Healing With Whole Foods By Paul Pitchford' title='Healing With Whole Foods By Paul Pitchford' />Juicing tips and recipes, and smoothie recipes for vision health, and for glaucoma, cataracts, macular degeneration, conjunctivitis, diabetic retinopathy, and optic. Herpes Red Marine Algae helps control Herpes with antiviral properties to fight the virus and as an immune boosting superfood to strengthen your immune system. The Institute for Integrative Nutrition was founded by Joshua Rosenthal in 1992 and provides a global online learning experience to thousands of students each year. A Abigail Aiyepola, N. D., LM Professor and Associate Dean, School of Naturopathic Medicine. Abigail Aiyepola, N. D., LM, serves as the Associate Dean of MUIHs. Its All Inside our FREE Report. The Liver Detox Blueprint. Inside youll discover 7 Liver Detox SUPER Foods Your Doctor Isnt Telling You About 5 Dangerous Foods. For SpleenStomach Qi and Yang Deficiencies for Food Poisoning Digestive tonics Warm and cooked foods and moderatesized meals Congees and soups not creambased. List of foods based on your Chinese medicine diagnosis. Effects of warming foods. Warming foods have the effects of raising the yang, energy qi of organs and warming and improving the circulation and dispelling the cold. The Doctor Phil Family Update On The Dark here. These types of food are suitable for people who are yang deficient. Healing With Whole Foods By Paul Pitchford 3rd Edition' title='Healing With Whole Foods By Paul Pitchford 3rd Edition' />Usually with the following symptoms cold hand, cold feet, cold body, diarrhea, stomach pains or discomfort after eating or drinking cold things, bloating after eating, lack of energy, sore joints, oedema and fluid retention. If you have any of the following symptoms listed above, it is suitable to eat more of the following warming foods Advertisement Warming foods. Foods which are neither warm nor cold, and are suitable for any type of body Neutral foods. The food we eat every day affects our bodys balance. In the clinic we find that many diseases are caused, or made worse by eating the wrong foods. Therefore it is important to know your own bodys constitution so you can find out what foods are best for you. If you do not know your constitution you can make a visit to an experienced TCM practitioner to find out. Traditional Chinese medicine also believes that during different seasons we should eat more certain cooling or warming foods which can help to combat the changing weather. As Chinese medicine also considers that the human body and health are associated with the environment, so changes in the weather can affect our body and therefore our health. For example, in summer, it is very hot and dry, which can cause the body to acquire heat and can dry out our body leading to dry skin, constipation and lack of fluid in the body. Thus if we eat more cooling food, it can balance the body which has been attacked by the hot summer. Usually we suggest you to eat local seasonal fruit and vegetables as they are most suitable for the body during a particular season.