Treating Illness With Diet:

a brief review of three current reference texts

by Kathleen Lumiere, L.Ac.


Food is medicine.
In ancient China, nutritionists enjoyed the highest status of all medical practitioners. During the Tang Dynasty (608 to 906 CE), Sun Si Miao maintained that diet and lifestyle changes were the best first line of treatment for illness. In a well-known quote, he said that only when dietary treatment is not sufficient to effect a cure should the doctor reach for needles and herbal medicines.

Not only is nutritional therapy consistent with the values of Chinese medicine, it’s key to well-rounded modern TCM treatment. How many people have you known who could not lose weight on a diet of salads and other energetically cold foods? And what about the compounding effects of coffee and alcohol on Liver Qi Stagnation? The principles governing these effects are simple, explainable and very Chinese. But to explore the nuances of TCM dietary theory and to design individualized nutritional plans good references are essential.

The premier reference available in English is the exhaustive (and yet affordable) Healing with Whole Foods (3rd ed.) by Paul Pitchford . This crossover text combines accessible explanations of basic TCM diagnosis and treatment with basic biomedical nutritional information, along with information about a number of current dietary theories and practices and the properties of particular foods. The hefty result is a well-researched, passionate and sometimes highly opinionated compendium of nutritional healing. Although the book is well-indexed, the writing lends itself more to rumination on chapters about related topics rather than dipping in for a particular vital fact. This is an excellent source for the patient who wants to delve into the meaning of their TCM diagnosis and to understand their practitioner’s lifestyle recommendations. It’s also valuable for the practitioner who wishes to expand their knowledge about biomedical nutrition and refine their Chinese nutritional understanding.

The 3rd edition of Healing with Whole Foods differs from earlier editions in a substantial addition to Chapter One labeled Origins & Access to Healing with Whole Foods which addresses current dietary crises and emotional components. Research has been updated and expanded throughout the book. This is a truly integrative text rooted in Oriental medical diagnostic tradition and so engrossing I wish it were published in several smaller sections so I could read it in bed. The office is the place for Healing with Whole Foods though, and no acupuncturist’s office should be without it.

Another very different type of book is Joerg Kastner’s Chinese Nutrition Therapy . This is a quick reference book, with highlighted tips and information layout designed for a scanning reader. The TCM pattern descriptions are clear and concise, and helpful for patients who want a brief overview of their diagnoses and dietary recommendations. The food charts in the back listed by Five Element phase I’ve found particularly useful, as well as the individualized food classifications. This book exemplifies the art of relating significant details and the ergonomics of reading them.

Yet another option is Chinese Dietary Therapy by Liu Jilin. Of the three books reviewed in this article, this assumes most prior familiarity with TCM concepts and is most Chinese in it orientation. The bulk of the text is devoted to descriptions and applications of specific foods. This book satisfies the need for more and deeper knowledge of the subject from a specifically Chinese perspective. Opening the book at random I see instructions for preparing a pig’s kidney. It advises: “Choose a fresh kidney. Remove the fascia and after cutting it up, wash clean for use. […] For soreness in the back owing to Kidney deficiency, take pig’s kidney cooked with walnuts or eucommia bark stuffed in it. It is also used in protracted diarrhea owing to Kidney deficiency, where pig’s kidney is taken after being stewed with drynaria rhizome.” To a western TCM practitioner, this reads like the real deal. In practice I use this book for cross reference and to capture the flavor of Chinese dietary treatment.

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Healing with Whole Foods, Paul Pitchford. North Atlantic Press, 2002.
Chinese Nutrition Therapy, Joerg Kastner. Thieme, 2004.
Chinese Dietary Therapy, Liu Lilin. Churchill Livingstone, 2004.