The recipes on The Way are intended as an East meets West look at food and its relationship to health and nutrition. Food is powerful, and every bite can either greatly benefit your system or effectively work against it. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, nutrition is tremendously healing in nature and remarkably adaptable to individual needs. Based on 3,000 years of study, Traditional Chinese Medicine seeks to treat the whole person rather than just the symptom to support and strengthen your body and your energy, or Qi.

Digestive issues are replete in our Western society - as I've talked about since launching The Middle Burner Diet and the benefits of Chinese dietary therapy, many of us consume too many processed foods and sugars and not enough fiber, fruits, and vegetables. While doctor’s offices fill with patients seeking help for gut issues, many digestive problems can be prevented by eating a healthy, balanced diet.

In Chinese medicine theory, digestion is highly impacted by your body’s spleen and stomach. Keeping these two organs in balance through healthy eating is transformative in bringing nourishment and harmony to the body.  Moreover, it's important to keep these organs "warm", which we accomplish through cooking techniques and ingredient selection (spoiler alert - that's why I use ginger in the below juice). 

The Color of Your Food and Why it Matters

With Chinese dietary therapy, there are useful relationships between food colors and corresponding body systems. It is believed that "red foods" nourish the heart, "white foods" nourish the lungs, "black and dark blue foods" nourish the kidneys, "green foods" nourish the liver, and "yellow and orange foods" nourish the spleen and stomach.

In order to combat a weak digestion, one can then incorporate plenty of yellow foods in their diet. I've been a big juicer for well, but given the constraints of consuming things that are "cold" (read this article I wrote on juicing and how it could be bad for your digestion - and how to "fix" it), I've had to adjust my ingredient strategy. Thanks to all that I have learned and experienced with Chinese dietary therapy, my juicing regimen has gone to a new level - as has my digestive health. 

Why I Selected These Ingredients

The ingredients in this simple juice recipe are an essential tool in strengthening the spleen and stomach. Following the teachings of Chinese dietary therapy, the pineapple is a symbol of hospitality and contains an anti-inflammatory enzyme called bromelain, which works as a strong digestive stimulant.

Yellow bell peppers generate a "heating benefit" to the stomach and provide a wonderful savory balance to the sweet tropical pineapple. Completed with the cleansing ginger and lemon, you have a warming, lip smacking and spleen strengthening digestive juice. Enjoy!

Chinese Medicine Benefits

Pineapple, Yellow Bell Pepper and Ginger Juice with Cilantro and Lemon accents

Serving Size: 2-3 

Preparation Time: 5 Minutes  

Cooking Time: 5 Minutes 

Ingredients:

• 1/3-1/2 Pineapple depending on size
• 1 Yellow bell pepper
• 1 Lemon
• 1/4-1/2 Bunch cilantro
• 1 Inch Ginger 

Procedure:
Juice all ingredients leaving some cilantro leaves for garnish.  Ignite your "middle burner" and experience more blissful digestive happiness.  

Dining with Culinary Artist Travis Metzger is an unforgettable experience. You can taste the passion, creativity and culinary expertise in each of Travis’s one-of-kind recipes. Most would agree that Traditional Chinese Medicine herbs in their original form taste less than delectable, but Travis has proven that TCM for today can taste great with DAO Labs. Travis develops unique flavors for each DAO formula to complement the proprietary blend of herbs and their health benefits. After extensive training at the New England Culinary Institute, Travis ran some of the finest restaurants across the country before starting his own in Minneapolis. To survive the stresses and physical challenges of the kitchen heat, Travis focused on combining natural ingredients for healthy AND delicious eating and juicing.