Foods by therapeutic action
On this page
- How to use these tables
- Tonify qi (qi deficiency)
- Tonify blood (blood deficiency)
- Warm yang (yang deficiency)
- Nourish yin (yin deficiency)
- Nourish essence (jing deficiency)
- Move blood
- Move qi
- Clear damp (dampness)
- Resolve phlegm
- Clear heat (yang excess)
- Disperse cold
- Related pages
1. How to use these tables
The tables below group foods by their classical TCM therapeutic action. Once you have identified your dominant TCM body constitution and the imbalance you want to address, choose foods from the relevant action group as everyday staples and incorporate the rest in moderation. Most people benefit from combining foods from two or three action groups (for example: tonify qi + tonify blood for a tired, pale woman; clear damp + tonify Spleen for a damp-heat constitution).
2. Tonify qi (qi deficiency)
For fatigue, breathlessness on exertion, weak voice, frequent colds, sluggish digestion and Spleen-Lung qi deficiency.
| Group | Examples |
|---|---|
| Grains | Rice, oats, millet, sweet rice, sweet potato, barley |
| Vegetables | Pumpkin, carrot, squash, sweet potato, mushrooms, Chinese yam |
| Meat & fish | Chicken, beef, lamb, mackerel, eel |
| Beans & legumes | Chickpea, black soybean, peanut |
| Fruit & sweet | Jujube (red dates), longan, fig, cherry, honey |
| Herbs & spices | Ginger, cinnamon, fennel, ginseng, astragalus |
3. Tonify blood (blood deficiency)
For pale complexion, dizziness, scanty or absent periods, dry skin and Liver-Heart blood deficiency.
| Group | Examples |
|---|---|
| Animal | Beef, beef liver, lamb, chicken, eggs, oysters, mussels, sardines |
| Beans | Black beans, kidney beans, adzuki beans |
| Vegetables | Spinach, beetroot, kale, watercress, dark leafy greens |
| Fruit | Cherries, mulberries, longan, blackberries, raisins |
| Nuts & seeds | Black sesame, walnuts, almonds |
| Tonic herbs | Dang gui, shu di huang, he shou wu, goji berries |
4. Warm yang (yang deficiency)
For cold extremities, low libido, copious clear urination, low back ache and Kidney yang deficiency.
| Group | Examples |
|---|---|
| Meat | Lamb, venison, beef, chicken (dark meat), prawns, lobster |
| Spices | Cinnamon (bark), dried ginger, cloves, fennel, black pepper, star anise |
| Nuts | Walnuts, chestnuts, pine nuts |
| Vegetables | Leek, spring onion, garlic, onion |
| Beans | Black beans (Kidney-shaped — Kidney supportive) |
5. Nourish yin (yin deficiency)
For night sweats, hot flushes, dry mouth, restless sleep, hot palms and Kidney-Lung yin deficiency.
| Group | Examples |
|---|---|
| Animal | Pork, duck, eggs, oyster, scallop, sea cucumber |
| Vegetables | White fungus, black fungus, spinach, asparagus, lily bulb, lotus root |
| Beans | Tofu, soya milk, black beans, mung beans |
| Fruit | Pear, apple, mulberry, grape, watermelon (cooling), persimmon |
| Nuts & seeds | Black sesame, walnuts, pine nuts |
| Herbs | Sheng di huang, mai men dong, sha shen, gou qi zi |
6. Nourish essence (jing deficiency)
For premature ageing, infertility, low libido, weak knees and lower back, premature greying, hair loss, poor memory, developmental delay in children and Kidney essence (jing) deficiency. Jing is the deepest reserve in TCM — the substrate of growth, reproduction and longevity — and is nourished by dark-coloured, mineral-rich, slow-grown and seed-bearing foods.
| Group | Examples |
|---|---|
| Animal & seafood | Bone broth, bone marrow, kidney, liver, oysters, mussels, prawns, sea cucumber, fish roe, eggs (especially quail), black-boned chicken |
| Nuts & seeds | Black sesame, walnuts, chestnuts, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, pine kernels |
| Beans & grains | Black beans, black soybean, black rice, black quinoa, kidney beans, adzuki beans |
| Dark fruits | Mulberry (sang shen), goji berries, blackberry, blackcurrant, black grape, longan |
| Sea vegetables | Seaweed, kelp, kombu, nori, wakame — salty flavour enters the Kidney |
| Tonic herbs | Chinese yam (shan yao), he shou wu, shu di huang, gou qi zi, du zhong (eucommia bark), tu si zi (cuscuta seed), royal jelly, bee pollen |
Long-simmered bone broth is the classical TCM essence-builder — see the Chinese-style bone broth recipe. Daily black sesame paste, walnuts and goji berries are the everyday foundation. Jing is built slowly: expect consistent eating over months, not days.
7. Move blood (resolve blood stasis)
For fixed dark sharp pains, dark menstrual blood with clots, endometriosis and dark complexion.
| Group | Examples |
|---|---|
| Spices | Saffron, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon |
| Vegetables | Aubergine, leek, onion, garlic, chive |
| Fruit | Hawthorn, peach, plum, brown sugar |
| Mushrooms | Black wood ear, shiitake |
| Other | Vinegar (small amounts), red wine (1 small glass), oily fish, dark chocolate |
8. Move qi (relieve qi stagnation)
For sighing, breast tenderness, mood swings, irritability, distending pains and Liver qi stagnation.
| Group | Examples |
|---|---|
| Aromatic herbs | Mint, basil, jasmine, rose petals, chrysanthemum |
| Citrus | Citrus peel (chen pi), orange, mandarin, kumquat |
| Vegetables | Radish, white radish, daikon, spring onion, garlic |
| Spices | Cardamom, fennel, turmeric, saffron |
| Other | Buckwheat, oats, vinegar (sour enters Liver) |
9. Clear damp (dampness)
For puffiness, weight gain, heaviness, oily skin, sluggish digestion and Spleen damp accumulation.
| Group | Examples |
|---|---|
| Grains/seeds | Job's tears (yi yi ren), barley, adzuki bean, mung bean |
| Vegetables | White radish, daikon, lettuce, celery, mushrooms, asparagus |
| Fruit | Cranberry, lemon (small amounts), water chestnut |
| Tea | Pu-erh, oolong, green tea (in moderation) |
| Herbs | Poria (fu ling), atractylodes (cang zhu) |
10. Resolve phlegm
For chest fullness, productive cough, sinus problems, chronic catarrh and Lung-Stomach phlegm.
| Group | Examples |
|---|---|
| Vegetables | White radish, daikon, kelp, seaweed, kombu, lotus root |
| Fruits | Pear (cooked), tangerine peel, citrus peel |
| Nuts & seeds | Almonds (sweet), pumpkin seed, sesame |
| Herbs & spices | Fresh ginger, dried tangerine peel (chen pi), thyme |
| Other | Bone broth, mushroom broth, miso |
11. Clear heat (yang excess)
For redness, inflammation, thirst, irritability, yellow tongue coating and excess heat patterns.
| Group | Examples |
|---|---|
| Vegetables | Cucumber, lettuce, celery, watercress, bitter melon, dandelion greens, asparagus |
| Fruit | Watermelon, melon, pear, apple, kiwi, mulberry |
| Beans | Mung bean, tofu, soya milk |
| Tea & herbs | Chrysanthemum tea, peppermint, dandelion, hibiscus, green tea |
| Other | Seaweed, kelp, bamboo shoot |
12. Disperse cold
For chills, cold extremities, cold-pattern menstrual cramps, watery diarrhoea and external wind-cold colds.
| Group | Examples |
|---|---|
| Spices | Fresh ginger, dried ginger, cinnamon, clove, fennel, black pepper, chilli (small amounts) |
| Allium family | Spring onion (cong bai), garlic, leek, onion |
| Meats | Lamb, venison, beef |
| Other | Sweet basil, mustard greens, brown sugar, jujube |
