This month we'd like to focus on the principle of balance in health and wellness. The term balance is often used in nutrition - from the four food groups to those cereal commercials claiming to be 'part of a balanced diet!' But the root of discovering the importance of balance is found in Traditional Chinese Medicine and the principles of Yin and Yang.

Yin and Yang holds that all things have two opposite yet interdependent elements. This assumption maintains that balance is necessity in food and life - a way to describe the forces and four elements that surrounds us. Such opposite forces as hot and cold, warm and cool, fire and water - these are all forces we want to bring a balance to an energy that flows smoothly to all parts of the body.

Within the Yin and Yang system lays the theory that every food has a particular property that represents one of the various elements. Cold foods that are refreshing can treat disorders associated with heat, such as fever and inflammation. Hot foods that are spicy can help treat colds and spleen problems.

Be Well, Craig Harding