The Five Elements framework is one of the foundational keys underpinning TCM cosmology, offering a comprehensive guide to the interplay of the essential elemental energies that shape our lives. These elements and their correspondences help us navigate everything from the hyper-individual to the universal, giving us clues about our personal constitutional needs, as well as unlocking generalized seasonal wisdom for optimizing health on the mind-body-spirit levels. One of the elemental correspondences that offers an accessible way to practice TCM wisdom relates to flavor, which classifies the therapeutic properties of foods and herbs. Autumn is the time to work with pungent or spicy flavors to support the greatest needs of this season: moving Qi, enhancing circulation, supporting the respiratory system, and expelling toxins.
Pungent and spicy flavors are typically Yang in nature, meaning they generate warmth in the body. This is particularly important in cooler seasons like Autumn and Winter, as the body tends to accumulate more Yin energy; incorporating pungent and spicy flavors is one way of counteracting those accumulations to cultivate balance. It is the dynamic and cyclical dance between Yin and Yang that creates Qi, also known as life force energy—the abundance, quality, and unobstructed flow of which is absolutely foundational to our sense of well-being. During Autumn, the body's Qi starts to consolidate and move inward, so stimulating its movement and dispersal with warming foods like ginger, garlic, and chili, helps prevent stagnation that is a primary cause of illness.
Blood is considered the substantive and Yin aspect of Qi, which likewise often requires stimulation during this time of year to move in a way that supports health and healing. Pungent and spicy foods have a vasodilatory effect, meaning they help expand the Blood vessels, facilitating better Blood flow so that warmth and nutrients are distributed throughout the body. For example, foods like ginger and garlic are commonly used to "warm the middle" and stimulate Blood flow to the extremities. This speaks to the dispersing action of pungent and spicy foods, actually helping to expel cold from the body. By warming the body's internal environment and promoting circulation, these flavors help push out cold pathogens, thereby preventing illnesses like colds, flu, and respiratory infections.
In observing nature, we can intuit that Autumn is an especially important season for letting go, and it’s associated with the elimination pathways of the Skin, Lungs, and Large Intestine—all crucial for detoxification. Pungent and spicy flavors help open the pores and promote sweating, which is another way to disperse cold and release toxins from the body. Pungent flavors also help the Lungs expel external pathogens, such as wind-cold or wind-heat, which are seen as the root causes of respiratory conditions like colds, coughs, and flu. For example, radish has a pungent flavor with an expectorant action that helps eliminate phlegm and detoxifies the Lungs, supporting respiratory health. Spice also helps stimulate digestion, ensuring that the foods we eat are properly metabolized and that waste is efficiently moved out of the body.
The belief that nature is inherently intelligent shines through all of TCM, which encourages us to align ourselves with that intelligence in the pursuit of truly vibrant health. Flavors play an important and synergistic role in this system and we are invited to approach food as medicine, which is the fundamental premise of Chinese tonic herbalism. Isn’t it empowering to realize that we can gather abundant information about function from the taste of foods? So, this Autumn, experiment with pungent and spicy foods like onion, garlic, radish, and chilis. Herbs like cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and tangerine peel help to amplify the actions of the tonic herbs during this season, so try our herbal extracts in deliveries that feel cozy and warming.
