The Concepts of 'Hot' & 'Cold' in TCM

“Hot” and “Cold” in TCM

Why do Chinese people often choose to drink hot rather than cold water?

Many people who live outside of China find it interesting to see Chinese people drinking hot water, no matter the season! 

Growing up as a Chinese person, drinking hot water was not just common, but the drink of choice. But why hot water? You asked us, hot water vs. cold water, which one is better and why? 

So far in ours blogs, we have written about some major concepts such as YIN(阴), YANG(阳) and Wu (Five) Xing (Elements) (五行). Based on TCM theories, practitioners consider that everything in the world has its feature and function. In the West, many people consider nutrition as a study of parts of food such as protein. They generally consider these food parts when it comes to food consumption. 

However, according to TCM, food should also be considered based on its energetic properties and how these properties affect the body. Through the conversion of Ying, Yang and Qi, what you eat has a crucial role in helping your body reach a desired level of equilibrium. 

Foods are generally classified as heating, cooling, drying or damp. The physical temperature of a certain ingredient may or may not be the main factor used to classify its energetic property.

However, in the case of water, due to its neutral property, the actual temperature of the water is the deciding factor when classifying its energetic property.

To illustrate, hot water can warm your internal organs and maintain or increase the Yang in your body. For example, hot water can warm your stomach. This may help increase the functionality of your internal organs generally, and to decrease some gastrointestinal diseases.

As for cold water, it may decrease the temperature of your internal organ environment, which may slow blood circulation. Cold food may also solidify fats in your stomach, which can cause digestive problems, whereas hot liquids may aid in digestion.

Foods or ingredients that have no neutral energetic properties are also sometimes considered as “warming”, and thus with a “mild” property. 

Foods or ingredients that have distinctive energetic properties are the keys to helping adjust your internal balance of Yin and Yang and restoring the harmony of your Qi. With this knowledge, many Chinese people choose to use foods and drinks for their medicinal properties. Thus, many Chinese people choose to drink warm water to help with the internal balance of their body systems.

 Foods, Drinks and Herbs in TCM

TCM practitioners will conduct an examination and analysis to determine the nature of a disease. Part of this analysis is to classify the symptoms into Yin, Yang, exterior, interior, cold, heat, deficiency (XU虚) and excess (SHI实) types of symptoms, which are used to explain the location and pathological changes as well as the cause of the disease in TCM terms.

Based on the findings and understanding of this TCM clinical theory, practitioners will prescribe the appropriate herbs to help obtain an internal balance of Yin, Yang, and Wu Xing (阴阳五行). 

Each Chinese herb also has a particular property of energy: cold, hot, warm, and cool; it also has a particular taste: spiciness, sweetness, sourness, or bitterness. Further, herbs may have ascending, descending, floating or sinking properties and correspond to a targeted internal body system. Recall, TCM defines various words very differently than normal English speakers would expect. Describing an herb as descending has little meaning to an untrained person, but to a TCM practitioner, such description is used in diagnosing and treating each patient.

TCM Practitioners will use these properties of herbs to stimulate the body to heal and encourage the body to regain its homeostasis or balance. The medicinal nature of substances, herbs and foods has been determined through years of accumulated experience. Often TCM practitioners will recommend to their clients to consume or avoid certain foods, including to many trying to conceive the recommendation to consume warm water. 

The aim of restoring the balance of Yin Yang in your body is to promote longevity, heal and restore imbalances, and treat disease processes. When the body is balanced, mental health will also be optimized because it often reflects the state of your physical health. In this state, your body is naturally ready to conceive a baby and hold a healthy pregnancy. 

Examples of food and ingredient properties according to TCM

1. Neutral foods are neither warming nor cooling, hence they are suitable for anybody’s constitutions.  

Most staple foods such as rice, potatoes, and carrots are neutral foods.

2. Cooling foods cool the body down, nourish yin energy. What are some examples of cooling food? Look for foods that grow in the water, such as spinach and seaweed. Cooling foods are also often low in calories.

Vegetables: Cucumber, bitter melon, spinach, celery, lotus, watercress, and asparagus

Beverages and condiments: chrysanthemum tea, peppermint tea

3. Warming foods generate heat in the body, stimulate blood circulation, and eliminate cold. A good example of warming foods is foods that grow underground, such as ginger and Chinese yams.

Vegetables: Squash, pumpkin, onion, leek, chives

Fruits: Raspberry, guava, coconut, chestnut, cherry, apricot, durian, jackfruit

Beverages and condiments: ginger tea, butter, garlic, chilli, cinnamon, black pepper, basil, rosemary, brown sugar

We look forward to seeing you and providing the highest level of care we have always strived to achieve.  

Total Wellness Staff