I am flying to China tonight to see my family and celebrate the Chinese New Year. With a civilization spanning some 5,000 years, my Chinese heritage has taught me a few things. One of the most important is a healthy and balanced diet based on the laws of nature.

For thousands of years Chinese medicine has observed that health and longevity depend on a balance of the five elemental energies: wood, fire, earth, metal and water.

Each of those elements corresponds to a color. Wood corresponds to green, fire to red, earth to yellow and orange, metal to white, and water to black, blue and purple.

“The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine” (an all-time Chinese classic on health and longevity) recommends a diet that includes the five elemental energies every day. So you can follow this simple rule and use color as a guide to obtain a balanced and healthy diet.

Here are some examples:

Green (Wood) – veggies (broccoli, cabbage, kale, Swiss chard, asparagus and spinach), fruits and nuts (avocado, lime, melon, pumpkin seeds and pistachios), beans and grains (lentils, mung beans and rye).

Red (Fire) – veggies (hot red peppers, red bell peppers and tomatoes), fruits and nuts (watermelons, apples, cherries and pecans), beans and grains (adzuki beans, red lentils, red beans, buck wheat and amaranth).

Orange/Yellow (Earth) – veggies (pumpkins, squash, yams and carrots), fruits and nuts (oranges, bananas, peaches, pineapples, papayas, mangos and cashews), beans and grains (chickpeas, garbanzo beans, corn, millet and brown rice).

White (Metal) – veggies (cauliflower, daikon radish, celery, garlic and onions), fruits and nuts (pears, bananas, pine nuts and macadamias), beans and grains (soy beans, white beans and white rice).

Black/Blue/Purple (Water) – veggies (red cabbage, eggplant, seaweed and black mushrooms), fruits and nuts (blackberries, blueberries, raisins, figs, chestnuts, walnuts and black sesame), beans and grains (black beans, navy beans, quinoa and black wild rice).

Sounds good to me! So why not include a food from each category, color your diet and enjoy great health and longevity! The Chinese believe eating is as much a necessity as it is an art. What are you creating today?

Begin to track your diet and observe how it affects your energy, mood and PMS symptoms using our Mood Runner Mood and Period Tracker/Calendar.  Live vibrantly!