enia [IMTP])
Excessive Yin (or deficient Yang) contributes to:
- Degenerative conditions (age related changes, degenerative joint disease, etc.)
- Glandular abnormalities (canine hypothyroidism, diabetes mellitus, etc.)
- Behavior problems (canine cognitive dysfunction)
If your pet suffers from one of these conditions, food energy could be a contributing cause and an important remedy. The best means of integrating these principles into your pet’s treatment protocol is under the guidance of a TCVM trained veterinarian. I follow the Chi Institute’s general guidelines for Chinese medicine energy associated with specific foods.
- Protein: chicken (including egg yolk), goat, lamb, lobster, prawn/shrimp, venison
- Grains and beans: oats, white rice
- Vegetables and fruit: apricot, blackberry, cherry, citrus, coconut, garlic ginger, papaya, peach, plum, pumpkin, squash
- Protein: rabbit, chicken, egg white, cod, clam/mussel, duck (including egg), frog, goose, oyster, scallop, turkey, yogurt
- Grains and beans: barley, brown rice, buckwheat, millet, mung bean, wheat bran/flower, tofu
- Vegetables and fruit: banana, berries, broccoli, cranberry, eggplant, mango, mushroom, melon, pear, persimmon, seaweed/kelp, spinach, strawberry, watermelon
- Protein: carp, catfish, beef (including liver), pork (including kidney/liver), salmon, sardines
- Grain: corn, black-, kidney-, green-, red-, soy-bean
- Vegetables and fruit: apple, asparagus, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, date, pineapple, white potato
Dry food is inherently Yang, as the majority of the moisture inherent in naturally occurring sources has been cooked out. In comparison to moist and whole foods sources, dry format has a dehydrating effect, requiring the body to secrete liquids (gastric acid, bile, pancreatic enzymes) or drink water to facilitate digestion.
In returning to our Easter theme, feeding chicken to your pet has a warming effect. This consequence is increased when chicken meal or dry format is consumed (both of which I do not recommend). Over time, the heating properties of chicken can add needed heat to the body or exacerbate Yang associated illness. This is a contributing reason to why so many pets are "allergic to chicken."
Eggs are more complicated, as the yolk is considered warming while the white is cooling. Additionally, the type of fowl that produced the egg also contributes to its Yang or Yin properties.
Rabbit has cooling energetic properties that calm the fire of excess associated with skin allergies, IBD, IMHA, and cancer. Rabbit is considered a novel protein source and an option for the management of hot, itchy, skin and digestive problems.
My dog, Cardiff, has suffered three bouts of IMHA in his six years of life and I use food energy to control his disease. During his IMHA episodes, rabbit, duck, and goose are some of the Yin food sources I used to treat his illness. Now that Cardiff is non-hemolytic, he eats a combination of human grade "dog food" containing turkey (cooling) and beef (neutral).
This Easter, and on an ongoing basis, consider the food energy implications of the chicken, egg, rabbit, and other foods consumed by your pet.
Dr. Patrick Mahaney