Before you chase a superfood or diet trend, start with these time-tested habits rooted in balance and simplicity.
If you’ve ever left a meal feeling heavy, bloated, or oddly tired, your body might be telling you something deeper than “you ate too much.” The same goes for when you just can’t seem to lose weight, you may think you’ve tried everything but it’s likely you need to take a look at the efficiency of your digestion.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), how you eat matters just as much as what you eat. For a guide of what to eat and what not to eat to help your digestion, check out this post.
While modern nutrition focuses on nutrients, calories, and food groups, Chinese dietary wisdom sees eating as a ritual that impacts your Qi (vital energy), digestion (Spleen & Stomach), and even your emotional state. It’s less about restriction and more about rhythm, balance, and awareness.
So today, let’s take a closer look at the 12 key principles of eating in Chinese Medicine—and how you can use them in your daily life to support digestion, energy, and overall wellbeing.
1. Eat with a Settled Yi
Your Yi is the ‘Spirit’ the resides in the Spleen. It’s the aspect of our consciousness that resonates with the digestive energy. We loosely use it to refer to our mental faculties. Wherever your focus and attention is, that’s where your Yi is. If you eat while distracted (watching TV or on your phone), angry, or stressed, your Spleen can’t do its job properly as it’s reserves are being split between digesting your food, and digesting your experiences. TCM teaches that digestion starts before the first bite—with calm, presence, and appreciation.
🟡 Try this: Take three deep breaths before your meal. Even this one minute of silence can change your state enough to make a big difference to your digestion.
2. The Stomach Doesn’t Have Teeth
Every part of your digestive system exists for a reason, if all the work is put on the guy further down the chain you get a very unhappy worker. Over time, this can weaken the digestive fire and lead to bloating, reflux, fatigue, brain fog, as well as all the other issues that come from an impaired digestive system.
🟡 Try this: Aim to chew each bite thoroughly—your gut will thank you.
3. Don’t Flood the Spleen
This is an interesting one, how often is it expected to have a big glass of iced water with our food? Chinese Medicine would say that your food and your drink are best consumed separately (and without ice!). Karamanolis et al. (2008), Digestive Diseases and Sciences found that when healthy participants consumed one 200ml glass of water within 1 minute their gastric pH rose above 4 in 10 out of 12 subjects. These elevated pH levels remained above 4 (optimal is 2) for about 3 minutes before their healthy stomachs were able to re-correct. Whilst no specific study has shown how long it takes for a weak digestion to recover it’s acidity, the Daoists still thought it was best to let the stomach fires do their work without being dowsed.
🟡 Try this: If you feel you need to drink with food, take small sips of warm water perhaps with a thin sliver of fresh ginger in there.
4. The Stomach Likes Wetness, Dislikes Dryness
This might seem like a contradiction, but it’s not. Water is an incredibly impressionable substance. When used to cook it takes on, and brings out the properties of food, as well as making them more digestible, So soups, stews, and porridges help your Stomach function smoothly so are ideal for impaired digestion.
🟡 Try this: If you’re feeling a little under the weather or run down, opt for soups and stews. Otherwise, try to include them in your regular rotation for some added nourishment.
5. Allow the Stomach Adequate Rest
There’s a big trend of intermittent fasting, and whilst it can get a bit extreme on one end- on the other it’s simply how we all ought to live. Snacking constantly or eating into the night gives your Stomach no downtime and can be really damaging in the long term. If you feel you want to do the extreme fasting windows (for one check with your doctor) make sure you consider the following two points.
🟡 Try this: Keep the snacking to a minimum, choosing a snack time and sticking to it, rather than grazing constantly. Most importantly, make sure there’s at least 12 hours where your stomach can recuperate and prepare for the following day, starting 3 hours before your regular bed time.
6. Not Too Many Ingredients
Meals overloaded with ingredients can confuse the digestive system. Simplicity supports clarity—not just in cooking but in assimilation. This means your digestion can be effective and efficient, taking maximum benefit from the food. It’s no surprise that the cuisines of some of the healthiest people can be as simple as they are delicious: I’m talking about Italian, Greek, and Japanese Food.
🟡 Try this: Focus on 3–5 main ingredients per meal and save overly complex recipes for special occasions (your gut and schedule will thank you).
7. Don’t Overfill the Stomach
I’m sure you’ve heard this one before- because it is well known to be important. Overeating heavily burdens the digestive system. You could eat the healthiest meal of your life, but as you fill there are diminishing returns until you just end up weakening your Spleen and adding to your digestive problems. The ideal is to eat until you’re about 70–80% full—satisfied, not stuffed.
🟡 Try this: Pause halfway through your meal to check in—how full do you actually feel?
8. Manage Eating Times
You’ve likely heard of circadian rhythms, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the body runs on rhythms. Regularity is critical as the body works best when it correctly anticipates activity. We can take this one step further with chinese medicine as we can align our rhythms with times that offer peak efficiency. According to the Chinese body clock, digestion is strongest between 7–11 am (Stomach and Spleen time). Which is why a big breakfast between those hours is ideal, and as the time goes further from this peak, meals should get smaller and simpler to reflect the weakening digestive energy.
🟡 Try this: Regular timed meals: Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Prince, Dinner like a Pauper.
9. Eat Fragrant Foods
If you’ve ever grown your own food, or know of someone who does, take the opportunity to smell it. Then compare that to the supermarket version, and then compare that to something processed from the stores. Let’s say you picked a carrot, what you’ll probably find is that the carrot you grew and cared for had a rich, sweet, distinctly carrot smell. The supermarket version probably smelt a bit like carrot, but largely scentless, and the boxed carrot cake either smelt like nothing or had a synthetic, almost chemical smell. This will of course vary, but the message here is that the Qi of food can be most easily perceived through the sense of smell. I’m sure it’s pretty intuitive which of these 3 options are going to be providing the most benefits to your body.
🟡 Try this: Buy the highest quality whole-food ingredients your budget will allow (and check that your budget allowance reflects the weight of food’s influence on your life), and always smell-test the produce.
10. Make Time to Eat
Eating on the go, at your desk, or in the car tells your body to stay in fight-or-flight mode. Rest and Digest is a term coined for a reason. This point is something of a reflection and re-iteration of point number 1.
🟡 Try this: Even if it’s just 10 minutes, give yourself permission to sit, pause, and enjoy your food.
11. Wash Before Eating
This one is simple and timeless. As well as minimising the spread of disease, washing your hands signals the start of a mindful transition from “doing” to “receiving.” It’s an act of respect—for your body, the food, and the process of nourishment.
🟡 Try this: Turn washing your hands into a mini ritual before every meal.
12. Eat Without Clutter
Just as stated in point 1, physical and mental clutter disrupt digestion. A chaotic room or table (or screen time during meals) distracts the Yi and stretches your energy too thin to handle the food.
🟡 Try this: Try to keep your eating space as minimal as possible. At the very least, clear your eating space before you sit down.
Final Thoughts: Nourishment is More Than Nutrition
Following these 12 principles doesn’t require perfection—just presence. In Chinese Medicine, food is more than fuel; it’s a relationship between you and your body. And just like any relationship, commitment to the right ones can mean a powerful medicine.
Before chasing a new diet, supplement, or even an acupuncture session, ask:
Am I truly nourishing myself, or just eating?
When you begin here, with simple habits and ancient wisdom, you lay the foundation for deeper healing—whether that’s through acupuncture, Tui Na massage, or simply a good bowl of soup.
Looking for support with digestion, fatigue, or stress?
At my clinic in Southampton, UK, I work with clients to build long-term wellness—not quick fixes. If your body feels out of sync, book a consultation and let’s look at your whole picture—diet, lifestyle, and beyond.
Disclaimer: This is general advice rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine principles. It is not a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment.
References:
Karamanolis G, Theofanidou I, Yiasemidou M, Giannoulis E, Triantafyllou K, Ladas SD. A glass of water immediately increases gastric pH in healthy subjects. Dig Dis Sci. 2008 Dec;53(12):3128-32. doi: 10.1007/s10620-008-0301-3. Epub 2008 May 13. PMID: 18473176.
https://chinesemedicinemelbourne.com.au/eating-with-the-chinese-body-clock
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