5 Element Balanced Immune Boost - Recipe
The summer is coming to an end, and the change of seasons approaching generally makes the body have to find its rhythm to keep up with the changes. A lot of times when we exhaust the body, either through emotional stress, physical changes (excessive drinking or binging on junk food in the summer holidays) we put the body in a place where it has to exert more effort to cope. This is when we find many people tend to fall sick.
Anticipating naturally occurring changes that our body needs to keep up with, it is great to have grounding soups. Root crop vegetables, colourful variety and warming spices all aid in achieving this assistance, which in turn prevents the falling sick we see during this time of year.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, balancing the palates is quite important in allowing for the appropriate digestive enzymes to optimally function. The Qi, or energy force moving free of blockages or dulled stagnation allows for the body to properly metabolize and assimilate foods and its nutrients. This is really very important when you think about how many people suffer from constipation, bloating, reflux, ulcers, food sensitivities and more..
I've shared a recipe below, which balances the palate out, and is tonifying to the body. The palate contains the following fives sensory components: Salty, Sweet, Spicy, Bitter, Sour. In Western society, we are predominantly exposed to Salty or Sweet palates, with some cuisine have occasional spice or sour elements in diet. Any one in excess can cause an imbalance, and seeking to have foods that are balanced will assist digestion and metabolism.
