03/23/2024
In TCVM (Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine), all foods have a thermal quality... that is, some foods are hot or warming, some foods are cold or cooling, and some foods are neutral...and because the balance of YIN and YANG (think cold and hot in this instance) is an important part of maintaining the health of any individual, the foods we eat can be the cause of our issues, if we eat the wrong ones, or the antidote, if we eat the right ones. This is why FOOD THERAPY is one of the five modalities of TCVM.
Picture your typical young Labrador Retriever; they're usually wild with energy, jumping and pulling on the leash, panting with big red tongues. This Lab would be Yang, and a hot dog. You wouldn't want to feed this dog hot or warming foods or you'll increase that frenetic energy even more and maybe end up with hot spots, as one example of increasing this heat imbalance.
And on the other side of the spectrum, picture a smooth coated, older Chihuahua, small and shivering, wrapped in a blanket, not wanting to venture outside, or even off the lap. You wouldn't want to feed this little nugget cold or cooling foods, as he is Yin and a cold dog already.
Examples of HOT FOODS are: lamb, venison, and chicken for proteins; and peppers, and spices like cinnamon and dry ginger. Food preparation also changes the temperature energetics of food. Cooking food warms it, baking at thigh temperatures warms it even more, and processing food warms it.
And, the temperature energetics of your animal proteins are also affected by things like: what age the animal was slaughtered for meat (young animals are hotter than older animals); what diet was the animal fed (grain fed is hotter than grass fed); wild is cooler than farm raised, etc. etc.
So now imagine that you feed your hot, young Lab a kibble (dry, baked) that has Lamb as the protein source (a warming meat, and slaughtered young), and it's all highly processed... In Western Medicine, this might be fine, as the nutritional values are all in line with the recommendations for a growing young dog. But in TCVM, you would be starting down a road of chronic imbalance for your dog, and eventually chronic imbalances lead to disease.
Examples of cold foods are: turkey, rabbit, duck, and white fish, for proteins; and watermelon, cucumber, and celery.. Eating foods raw is cooling; if you're cooking, light cooking like steaming or poaching is cooler than frying, roasting, or grilling. If you're baking, baking at a low temperature is cooler (or less warm) than baking at a high temperature, and so on.
So if you choose a cold, raw diet of turkey (considered cooling, whereas chicken is warming... and interestingly, chickens are slaughtered very young, sometimes not even two months old, while turkeys are typically a year or two old) for your elderly Chihuahua... brrr... you will be compounding the imbalance of cold that your dog is already battling with.
More on this to come, but I just love TCVM Food therapy, and for dogs; sometimes, all it takes is a diet change to solve your dog's health issue.
Below is a link to a company that has TCVM friendly diets. Check it out, they're interesting.
PET | TAO Solution Chill Canned Dog food is a TCVM energetically cooling formula to counteract excess heat. Great for dogs who pace at night, pant excessively, eat grass, prefer cool surfaces, act agitated, or live in a warm climate.
