What are the four qi in nutritional supplements

The "four qi" often mentioned in nutrition and diet supplements are based on the four food properties of cold, hot, warm and cool in the dietary therapy system of traditional Chinese medicine. They are also often referred to as the "four properties". They are one of the core basis for judging the suitability of food for people and consumption scenarios in traditional nutrition. In some classifications, foods with mild properties and the widest range of applications are classified as "neutral properties", but the mainstream view still uses the collective name of "four qi".

In fact, many people have not learned the relevant knowledge, and have already applied the logic of the four qi in their lives: when they get angry and develop aphthous ulcers, their first reaction is to cook mung bean soup, when they are caught in the rain or cold, they quickly make ginger tea, or when they have no appetite in the summer, they always want to eat two pieces of watermelon. In essence, they all follow the experience of "what will happen when food is eaten into the body" summed up by the predecessors, and there are not so many mysterious ways.

According to the judgment logic of traditional Chinese medicine, the division of the four qi has never been based on the temperature of the food itself, but on the effect it produces after entering the human body: eating foods that can make people heat up, dissipate cold, and boost qi and blood are classified into warm and hot categories, such as ginger, mutton, longan, and pepper. On the other hand, eating foods that can clear away heat, reduce fire, and moisturize dryness are classified into two categories: cold and cool. Watermelon, crab, mung beans, fresh lotus roots, and chrysanthemums are all included. If you eat it when you have a sore throat, aphtha, constipation, or heavy breath after staying up late recently, the effect of alleviating symptoms is often immediate.

There has been a lot of controversy about the four qi in recent years. There is no concept of "four qi" in the modern nutrition system. Many researchers prefer to link the corresponding somatosensory reactions with the specific ingredients of food: for example, most cold foods contain high water content, low sodium content, or contain active ingredients that can fight inflammation and soothe. After eating, it can help the body dissipate heat and reduce inflammatory reactions, and you will naturally feel like "reducing the heat"; hot foods tend to have higher protein and fat content, or contain irritating ingredients such as capsaicin and gingerol. After entering the body, they will accelerate energy metabolism and increase body surface temperature. After eating, you will naturally feel warm or even hot. There are also some practitioners who combine Chinese and Western nutrition, who will combine the two logics. For example, they will adjust the diet for patients recovering from surgery. They will not only avoid food habits that conflict with the patient's constitution, but also calculate the daily protein and calorie intake, and will not rely solely on food habits to judge whether they can eat.

Don’t mention it, I encountered a typical counter-example two years ago: a young girl who worked on the Internet stayed up late all year long to catch up on projects, and suffered from repeated aphthous ulcers. She always felt that she was "deficient in qi and blood." I heard others say that ginger tea replenishes qi and blood, so she drank a large cup of strong ginger tea on an empty stomach every morning. As a result, the aphtha grew more and more, and even the gums became swollen. When I saw that her tongue was red and the tongue coating was yellow, she had a typical constitution of excess heat. Ginger is hot, which is equivalent to adding fuel to the fire. Later, I asked her to stop ginger tea and drink half a cup of freshly squeezed raw lotus root juice every afternoon. After three days of drinking, the aphthous sores disappeared. This is the benefit of using the four qi.

However, there is no need to treat the four qi as absolute standards and stick to labels. I have seen many people who have just learned some food nutrition knowledge and found out that a certain food is cold. Even if they are sweating profusely in the hot summer, they dare not touch it. It is completely unnecessary. The four qi are inherently relative attributes and are not a black-and-white judgment. Take the most common apple, for example. Some food and nutrition books say it is warm in nature, and some say it is cool in nature. After years of debate, there is no conclusion. In fact, if you feel comfortable eating it, don’t have diarrhea or get angry, then it is suitable for you. It is completely meaningless to worry about which category it belongs to. My hands and feet get cold in winter, and I have a cold constitution. In summer, when I go out for a walk and get hot all over, I will also eat half a piece of iced watermelon. As long as I don’t eat too much, I won’t have stomach upset at all, but will feel very comfortable.

In the final analysis, whether it is the traditional four-qi theory or the composition analysis of modern nutrition, the core logic is "people-oriented". Tonifying and nourishing is never about following a book. It is more effective to find out the true reaction of your body than to memorize the dietary properties of many kinds of food.