MAGGIE B. COVINGTON: In the case of a person with diabetes presenting with symptoms of excessive thirst, the diagnosis can be described as "internal heat that consumes fluid." Because TCM [Traditional Chinese Medicine] defines diabetes as a disease characterized by excess internal heat, an example of a dietary prescription would be to consume spinach, which is cooling. Other foods considered to be cooling and beneficial for diabetes include vegetables and grains, such as celery, pumpkin, soybeans (i.e., tofu, soymilk), string beans, sweet potato/yam, turnips, tomato, wheat bran, and millet. Fruit remedies, which act in specific therapeutic ways, include crab apple, guava, plum, strawberry, and mulberry.
MICHELE KADISON: Cooling foods are yin, which are damp and represented by the shady, cooler side of the mountain. These foods help to clear away heat and toxins, calming the blood and moistening the body. How you prepare your food also affects how warming or cooling it will be for the body. Lightly and quickly cooked foods are more cooling. Cooling foods generally take less time to grow. The color of food can also help you determine its temperature. Green, blue, and purple fruits and vegetables tend to be more cooling than those that are red, orange, or yellow. In this way, a green apple or pepper will be more cooling than one that is red.
