Chinese Herbal Therapy
In Chinese Medicine, the properties of foods and their actions on the body have been well studied. Like individual herbs, a food is categorized by its taste. Each taste corresponds to one of the five elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal & Water) and the viscera or organs and hasa particular effect on the body. Therefore foods may be added to or eliminated from the diet to prevent disease and promote healing.

The five flavors and their associations are:
Sour – Wood – Liver, generates fluids & Yin and astringes
Bitter – Fire – Heart, clears Heat & Dampness, Sedates & subdues rebellious Qi
Sweet – Earth – Spleen, Tonifies, balances, moderates or harmonizes
Pungent – Metal – Lung, scatters and expels pathogens
Salty – Water – Kidney, flows downward and softens hardness