Site contents:Food and diet in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
In TCM (Traditional Chinese medicine) foods are often categorised as warming or cooling, and while this is extremely unlikely to be the cause of M.E / CFS, eating the wrong foods for your constitution could just give your body something else to deal with. As I explain in the Acupuncture section, Chinese medicine uses the state of the tongue to diagnose the constitution - a swollen white coated tongue means an excess of damp and cold, a narrow red tongue would indicate a constitution with an excess of heat.
I used to drink green tea throughout the day until my acupuncturist pointed out this is a cooling drink and not good for my damp, cold constitution. I still drink it occasionally, but maybe only 1 or 2 cups a day instead of 8+. And during the winter and if my energy is going through a low phase and I'm feeling the cold I'll drink more Indian Chai tea, with cinamon and ginger to warm the system.
Hot and cold foods for health
Here are some rough and ready guidelines to hot and cold foods, which are often just common sense.
Unsurprisingly chillis, ginger, peppers etc are all considered hot. Cucumber and Melon top the list of cooling foods, and most tropical fruits except bananas are considered cooling.
Any raw food is likely to be cooling and raw food is particularly difficult for a damp cold digestive system to deal with. Tea illustrates this point, as Green tea is cooling and raw, whereas black tea is the same stuff roasted, and is warming. Of course I'm not suggesting you boil all vegetables within an inch of their lives, as they used to at my school canteen - stir frying quickly in a Wok is an ideal way to preserve all the goodness while making things easy on your digestion.
Below is a recipe for a easy to digest Miso soup. It's my favourite lunch and I never get bored of it.
Easy lunch for M.E / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
This is a very simple recipe which you can add to depending on what you have available. You'll need a small onion and small carrot, some fresh unrefined Miso and some Arame seaweed.
Miso is a slightly salty fermented brown paste made from either rice or barley. You can buy refined Miso, but it is really no different from stock because most of the goodness, (B vitamins for the nervous system) will be missing, so only buy fresh 'active' Miso that needs to be kept in the fridge. Arame is a stringy seaweed that you buy dried. Put some in a bowl of warm water for about 20 mins, and throw away the soak water before adding to the stew.
Preparation is simplicity itself. Slice your carrots and onions thinly, then cover and 'fry' them in a little water for up to 5 mins to soften them up. Then add more water and add your soaked and drained seaweed and give that another few minutes to simmer. The Miso goes in last to preserve the goodness. I add about 25g (1 ounce) to the water but that will vary according to the strength of your Miso. To keep this cooking time to the minimum, say 2 minutes, either squeeze the Miso paste between two spoons or push it against the side of the pan to help it disolve into the soup, or even mix it in small cup of hot water first.
Depending on how thick a soup I want I will add mushrooms, sweetcorn, thread noodles, or a boiled egg. You shouldn't need to add salt, the Miso and seaweed should taste salty enough, but black pepper or a pinch of chilli powder can really enhance the natural taste of the vegetables.
This a great simple recipe that gives satsifying warm feeling inside. It's a comfort food that is actually really good for you.
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