Doctrine Of Signatures

Chinese Medicine Concepts of Food & Energy

The doctrine of signatures is a phrase we can borrow to describe an idea in Chinese Medicine that plants resembling various parts of the body can be used to treat ailments of those body parts. In Chinese medicine it actually goes far beyond the concept of plants healing body parts that they resemble. Holograms, images, microcosms, patterns and Qi are at the root of Chinese medicine thinking. This article will explore how we can understand and identify foods and herbs that are believed to treat various body parts and organ-systems.

Qi is energy, information and consciousness!

Our senses: taste; shape; color; and smell are designed to identify Qi. Think of our senses as the fine tuned receivers of information and energy.

Qi possesses another striking characteristic. Inside each part can be found a reflection of the whole. We are a reflection of the heavens, we come from the same source, we cannot be separated. In Chinese medicine we refer to this phenomena as macrocosm-microcosm theory. For more on this read Human Beings: A Reflection of the Living Cosmos.

Now, let’s explore this hologram idea, the idea that all parts resemble their energetic origins. We can extend this to parts of nature that look like each other. We can assume that a similar shape or form in nature contains a similar type of Qi network.

For example, in Chinese we have this like-treats-like saying, 吃什么补什么 chī shénme bǔ shénme, which means what type of food you eat will benefit that part of your body. You eat pork kidney it will benefit the kidney in you. You eat liver and it will benefit your liver, you eat brain it will benefit your brain, you eat joints and ligaments and cartilage, it will benefit your joints etc.

Stay with me as we extend this idea a little deeper. You eat kidney and it supports your kidneys, and if you eat kidney beans it supports your kidneys too. The shape and color of the kidney bean is so similar to your actual kidney that we assume the energy must somehow be similar. We can say that the Kidney in our body and the kidney bean resonate with similar Qi. We extend that even further in Chinese Medicine, and know that the Kidneys are associated with the color black in the Five Elements. These associated colors give us clues to energy, with black sesame and seaweed also considered good for the Kidney.

There are many different ways to use this like-treats-like theory. For example, have you seen the old Chinese men turning walnuts in their hands in the morning? You can also think of yin-yang balls, but the traditional choice is walnuts. They are doing this as a retired hobby to prevent mental decline or dementia. The hands are considered key to mental health. The more flexible and coordinated the hands, the clearer and sharper the mind. Conversely, the more stiff and uncoordinated the hands, the greater the decline in mental health.

So, you turn the walnuts to keep the hands and fingers supple and flexible, keeping the mind active and to slow the natural decline due to aging.

Now, why do they choose walnuts? What do walnuts look like? Yes, a brain, or you could also say a testicle. Well, in Chinese medicine these two body parts are connected and they are most closely associated with the Water element and the Kidney. So, if we are doing the exercise for mental alertness, then why not choose a natural object that is a perfect shape and size for the task, as well as supporting the benefits we are seeking.

In Chinese medicine, walnut is considered tonifying to the Kidney yang, and it is why we recommend walnuts for the elderly, as our natural Kidney yin and yang decline. Particularly relevant in the winter months where a few roasted walnuts a day is considered therapeutic. Even further, we can think that nature provides them in the late fall right on time for us to use in the winter.

Ok, getting a little too much, couldn’t this all be random and coincidence? Well, in Chinese Medicine theory, nothing is random or coincidental. Simply think about the energy that created form and shapes is the same energy that created us.

Remember, that in Chinese Medicine it is believed that the energy gives rise to the form. The things that we cannot see, touch, feel or measure are more important than what we can see, feel, touch and measure. This is a key-stone metaphysical difference between Chinese Medicine and Western Medical Science.

Let me provide another example to illustrate the difference in thinking. Again, think about our senses, and how the colors and flavors provide us information. For example, a green orange on a tree is sour and then as it turns more orange, we know it will be more sweet. Think about a sweet potato and a carrot and their sweet flavor. The orange color is sweet and provides nourishment to the Spleen-Stomach in Chinese medicine.

Many of us have heard about the flavors and the elements in Chinese Medicine and it is a key factor in the categorization of foods and herbal medicine. The flavor provides us information and has a general effect on the body. For Example:

The Salty flavor affects the Kidneys and bones and comes from foods such as salt, seaweed and crab. Salty foods lead the Qi inward and downward and soften hardness, counteracting the hardening of muscles and glands. It regulates moisture balance in the body, stimulates digestion and improves concentration. However, too much of the salty flavor slows the flow of the blood and the circulation.

Well, here is even another way to look at fruits and vegetables. Variety is key and you need to eat foods from all the five elements:

• Wood foods are green, specially those that grow upwards and have branches, so preserve that broccoli when the kids are young, try asparagus spears too. They tend to support growth and often cool the liver.
• Fire fruits and vegetables are red colored, often grow around bunches of seeds: spicy chillies, red peppers, pumpkin and butternut squash, but sometimes have a central stone, as with cherries, mangoes, peaches and plums.
• Earth vegetables, sweet potatoes, carrots, swede, celeriac and potatoes, grow in the ground and are more subdued in color, while earth fruits, apples and pears are dense and tightly packed.
• Metal fruit and vegetables hide their properties, so need to be peeled before eating: these include citrus fruits and bananas, ginger, radishes, garlic and onions.
• Water foods include sea-vegetables and those grown in damp conditions, including watercress, mushrooms and other fungi. This is a category that is often under represented. Think about traditional seaweed soups in Asia and mushroom soups in Europe to complete the meal!

Here are some other connected inspirational ideas from Chinese Medicine:

1. Chinese red-dates (Jujube) are very good for the Blood being that deep red color. Women who tend to have ‘Blood deficiency’ patterns and are encouraged to eat a few a day or make a red-date infusion to support the Blood. In fact, when you get married in China the bride traditionally receives a gift of peanuts and red dates from the mother-in-law. This is both a play on words, 枣生 zǎo shēng, for an early grandchild, as well as supports the Blood to aid in fertility.
2. In herbal medicine a very basic theory is that the roots of plants treat your ‘root’. The branches treat the limbs. The flowers treat the head and so on.
3. Bean sprouts are excellent in spring to get the energy up and moving and they are good to treat sperm motility… think image!
4. Pork knuckles for joints or beauty. Chicken feet too. We now think of that as collagen and explain the benefit. The Chinese have been using these ideas for thousands of years.
5. Sticky foods like Okra and Mountain Yam (Shan Yao) for ‘dryness’
6. The deer is very ‘yang’ (active) and we use the early spring velvet of the horns to benefit the kidney yang.
7. Wood-ear mushrooms are good for the lungs and Large intestine… Think image!
8. For a ‘Blood-deficient’ headache you can think about eating meat (blood). Even better use the magic of water as the medium to bring the spirit of animals into the body with a slow-cooked chicken or beef broth soup!

This is a start on food ideas and then it is extended in Chinese Medicine to the body. For example, I use acupuncture in the elbow to treat the knee, another example of like-treats-like theory. Just like the shoulder is like the hip, the wrist like the ankle. Then, we also use the wrist and ankle as the neck as the hand and face represents the head, think puppet show. Anyway, this is for another article!