Revised

The Yin and Yang

Neither I‘m a doctor nor have a degree or diploma in medicine. But because I have siblingssss, and when we get sick we visit ‘western’ and Chinese doctors . so even when I was a kid I already know how yin ( cold type ) and yang ( hot type ) affects us. Some sickness has something to do with what we eat and how it balance our body’s yin and yang.

When one of my sibling cough, my mom will ask is his phlegm greenish or whitish, if he said greenish ( yang ), then he will drink some coconut juice. If the other sibling has 'yin' cough, she will take some chocolates. ( of course if the cough last for more than two days they also take medicines !!! ) And for me , if I cough, aside from not eating oranges, grapefruits, I also follow most chinese doctors' advises : avoid eating seafood, spicy foods and cold drinks, .

The symptoms of a yin person : paler, most of the time their feet and hands are cold, the color of their urine is lighter, seldom feel thirsty even didn’t drink much water, sometimes have diarrhea problem.

The symptoms of a yang person : rosy faced, most of the time their feet and hands are warm, the color of their urine is darker, drink lots of water but still feel thirsty, sometimes have constipation problem .

Some example of yin foods : ( mostly vegetables, especially those grow under the ground) cabbages, green tea, pears, carrots, string beans, cucumber, melon, bamboo shoot, eggplant, orange, tomato…

Some example of yang foods : ( mostly meats ) sesame, sesame oil, ginger, chocolate, red tea, dog’s meat, mango, durian, mushroom, spinach ……

Too much of yang or yin foods are not good for the body. If you eat too much dog’s meat your nose will bleed. ( meats are eat more often during winter time to keep body warm. and dog's meat is consider one of the 'yang-est' . women are not allow to eat dog’s meat because it’s ‘too yang’ for them ) . one time a friend ( my 'friend ' includes my siblings, relatives and friends ) of mine drink ‘tiger-bone’ wine ( I don’t know whether it is made out of tiger’s bone or not, but it is a very ‘yang’ drink ) a few weeks after she give birth to her son and her caesarean wound bleeds. Same with too much of yin foods, that’s why in Chinese vegetarian restaurants, they always add some ginger and sesame oil to ‘yanger’ their foods. And fried foods is consider ‘yang-er’ than steam foods.

So every time when we eat something do we always have to ask is this yin ? or yang ? how many kg or ounce of yin did I eat today ? NO, NO, NO, you don’t have to make your life so complicated. Yin / yang are just body types, there is no such thing as yin is worse or better than yang, we just have to be either yin or yang type . It’s just when we’re coughing or sick, we have to be more careful about this matter.