The Need for Balance

The idea of health as being a matter of balance is central to many systems of medicine. The term 'homeostasis' is used by orthodox and complementary practitioners alike to describe the body's in-built checks and balances that aim to keep things running smoothly. Whether or not we fully comprehend the mechanisms involved, it is becoming clearer how food has an important part to play in maintaining, or undermining, the functioning of mind and body.

Different medical systems use different models to describe and explain the idea of balance. When applied to the food we eat, each system offers an insight into what we could eat more of, and what we may need to eat less of, in order to feel well. All approaches to nutrition appear to start by grouping foods in one way or another. Problems are then associated with either too much, or not enough, of one or other cate­gory of food. Solutions are suggested which require a change in the balance of foods eaten. Ideally, individual characteristics are also recognized and accommodated by adjusting the combination of foods suggested.

Most of us are familiar with the idea of eating a 'balanced diet' and of the need to eat a variety of different foods to help us become - or remain - healthy. This idea of balance can vary between cultures but, whichever way we choose to view foods, all approaches have something to offer our understanding of the relationship between food and mood.

In the west we are used to thinking of foods as being divided up into protein foods (such as meat, fish, beans, cheese, eggs), carbohydrates (such as bread, pasta, potatoes, cakes, biscuits) and fatty foods (such as butter, cream and oils). In practice, a complete and largely unrefined food is likely to contain some protein, carbohydrate and fat, although one of these substances probably predominates. The protein, carbohydrate and fat groupings relate to how these food components are used by the body.

Eastern systems of medicine and philosophy divide foods according to the subtle effects they have on mind and body.

More common to eastern systems of medicine and philosophy are ideas of dividing foods according to the range of subtle effects they can have on mind and body. These approaches to food may use terms in pairs of opposites, such as the 'yin' and 'yang' of rnacrobiotics, or have groupings such as the three 'doshas' of Ayurvedic medicine or the fve 'phases' of Oriental medicine.



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