Sunshine Coast Hinterland Times

The Taste of Good Food

Richard Giles

Would you believe that every piece of food you eat has its own Chi and you can influence the way your body works and grows by the types of food that are regulars in your diet. This is probably obvious to some. The Chi or energy food of your diet will have an effect on everything you do and once the food is inside and absorbed into the cells it becomes part of your life stream.
The first thing to consider here is the freshness of your food. A piece of fruit, vegetable or meat that has been imported from another country or distant part of Australia has the frozen Chi of the cooling method used to preserve it or the chemical method used to maintain its freshness. When you ingest it you take that in as well. Food from distant parts has basically died way back and has little or no freshness or active alive Chi. Think about that with apples, oranges and pineapples from overseas. In my local supermarket I recently found asparagus from Peru. From a Feng Shui point of view this has no Australian Chi in it and therefore has nothing it can add to your body from your own country.
Think about root vegetables such as carrots or parsnips – they push into the soil and are thus good at moving past obstacles. You can adapt their energy into your body. Vegetables that grow on top of the soil such as pumpkins are more relaxed as they sprawl across the garden and impart that Chi to you. Meat and fish – animals that are killed for your food supply will carry the Chi of the moment of death and the fear that accompanies it. Free range chickens, as an  example, live their lives in a relaxed, sunny environment and have totally different Chi to those that are brought up in a tiny metal cage. Animals that are caught, like fish, have a similar Chi from the catching process. Vegetables and grains, nuts and seeds and fruit don’t come from the same affected environment. Their Chi is more easy and natural. If it’s your own, or neighbour’s produce, it’s all the better for your own body Chi.
Finally, cooking methods – something that’s cooked fast and hot will have a lot of Fire Chi and enter into your body quickly making it more expressive. Something cooked in a slow oven or hotpot will give you more slow-burning energy and make your energy persist. Next month I’ll look at the Chi of foods from the Chinese Elemental view point.