In Traditional Chinese Medicine, we look at food with a different approach. We look at the energy of each food and the property it holds. Each food has a temperature and is considered either warm, hot, cool, cold, or neutral. We look at the flavour (salty, sweet, or bitter) and the action it takes in the body and meridian system. This is vastly different than the Western approach, which looks more to the contents in the food (fats, carbs, sugars, calories, vitamins).
When thinking about starting a family, I always advise my patients to spend some time first getting their bodies as healthy as possible first before trying to conceive. One of the first places I like to start is with food. I don’t have a cookie-cutter approach to this as I do advise each patient based on their own Chinese medicine diagnosis as to what specific foods are best for them. Now, in saying this, I do have a list of foods that are my top picks for fertility.
To make this easy, I have put the foods in order of organ systems. Each organ system is associated with a colour, and in Chinese medicine eating foods, the colour of that organ system aids in the health of that organ.
5 ELEMENTS & FOODS FOR FERTILITY
HEART
Colour: Red
Foods: tomatoes, red peppers, apples, cranberries, cherries, raspberries, strawberries, beets, pomegranates, red onions, grapes, adzuki beans, red cabbage
SPLEEN
Colour: Yellow
Foods: apricots, butternut squash, cantaloupe, gooseberries, carrots, golden kiwis, golden beets, lemons, mangos, papayas, peaches, pineapples, sweet corn, yellow apples, yellow pears, yellow peppers, yellow tomatoes, yellow watermelon, pumpkin, rutabaga, yams, sweet potatoes, taro root
LIVER
Colour: Green
Foods: Avocados, spinach, kale, chard, broccoli, grapes, peas, blue-green algae, pumpkin seeds, spirulina, edamame, green cabbage
LUNG
Colour: White
Foods: Onion, parsnips, cauliflower, potatoes, chickpeas, turnips, jicama, mushrooms, shallots, almonds, hazelnuts, sesame seeds, and coconut (including coconut oil),
KIDNEY
Colour: Black
Foods: Nori, black sesame seeds, black rice, black beans, blackberries, black plums, figs
OTHER SUGGESTIONS FOR GENERAL REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH...HERE ARE A FEW MORE FOODS TO CONSIDER ADDING TO YOUR DIET:
• Shiitake mushrooms
• Brown rice
• Sunflower seeds
• Organic, free-range eggs
• Organic, free-range chicken
• Wild fish
• Flax seeds
• Flax or fish oils
Care Consideration: Just a reminder that the above information is not a substitute for medical care and is not a substitute for medical advice or recommendations from a healthcare provider. This information is not intended to treat, mitigate, or cure any disease. That said, we encourage you to connect with an Acupuncturist in your community to learn more about this and other Traditional Chinese Medicine options. If you’ve got questions about Chinese herbal medicine or getting started with an Acupuncturist, feel free to connect with us at hello@mydaolabs.com.
