Eating food according to your constitution is the first step to health! Learn about foods that are beneficial to Soeumin, Taeeumin, Soyangin, and Taeyangin and foods to be careful of, and start a healthy eating habit that suits you. We also emphasize the importance of expert consultation.

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The First Step to a Healthy Life

Classifying human constitutions and studying diagnosis and treatment methods based on them has a long history in both the East and the West.
In the East, Sasang medicine, which originated from the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine, is representative, and the fact that there was a similar constitution classification based on body fluids such as bile in the West shows the universal interest of mankind in health.

The most ideal way to manage health is to prevent diseases, and this is more effective when practiced based on correct knowledge.

Blindly believing in uniform health methods without understanding constitution or determining constitution based on fragmentary information can actually cause confusion.

Since Professor Lee Je-ma, many scholars including Professor Kwon Do-won have studied and developed Sasang medicine in depth.

However, food intake by constitution also requires a customized approach that takes into account individual characteristics and health conditions.

For example, people with a soyang constitution tend to have a lot of heat in their body due to their ‘big spleen and small kidney’ body type, so beer made from barley with a cool nature is relatively good for them, and it is better to avoid soju with a heat-inducing nature.

Also, root vegetables such as lotus root, carrots, and burdock may be more beneficial than ginseng, which is rich in saponins.

In the case of diabetes, the ’cause’ of insufficient insulin secretion and the ‘result’ of high blood sugar levels should be clearly distinguished and approached.

Rather than simply lowering blood sugar levels with symptomatic treatment, the focus should be on fundamental treatment that improves the function of the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas, which promote insulin secretion.

For people with a soyang constitution, beer in the summer may temporarily help lower their body temperature, but for gout patients, it may actually worsen their symptoms.

This suggests that the constitutional characteristics and current health status should be comprehensively considered.

Health management methods can be sought not only by adding specific substances to the body, but also by activating the body’s own healing ability by removing unnecessary things. Also, it is important to note that what works for one person does not necessarily work for everyone.

From the perspective of the Five Elements, diabetes can be seen as being caused by excessive Fire energy, and excessive consumption of sweets (Earth energy) can be the cause.

Therefore, the fundamental solution is to balance the Earth energy by expelling it (泄氣, naturally expelling it through the Metal energy) or suppressing it with Wood energy (木克土).

Examples of food intake by constitution:

So-eum-in:

• Good food: Foods with a warm nature (glutinous rice, chicken, lamb, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, etc.), easily digestible foods (rice cake, porridge, etc.)
• Foods to be careful of: Cold foods, raw foods, oily foods (pork), flour foods, spicy spices
• When consuming Cheonggukjang: It is recommended to boil it in the form of a stew to relieve the cold nature. – When drinking milk: Since the digestion and absorption rate is low, warm it up and consume in small amounts, or soy milk or yogurt may be better.
• Seon-sik: It is better to boil porridge with warm ingredients rather than powdered food.
  Ma: It is good for so-eum-in with its warm nature that is easy to digest and absorb.

Banana, ginseng, red ginseng: It can be helpful for so-eum-in with its warm nature.

Tae-eum-in:

• Good food: Foods that are light and rich in fiber (beef, beans, wheat, sweet potatoes, bellflower root, mushrooms, etc.), foods that strengthen lung function (deodeok)
• Foods to be careful of: Oily foods, stimulating foods, overeating
• Milk: It is relatively suitable. Soy milk or yogurt may be better for other constitutions.
• Seon-sik: It is okay to consume it in powdered form.
• Cold fruit: It can be helpful for Tae-eum-in with a lot of heat.
• Deodeok: It is good for lung function and has a cool nature, so it is especially good for Tae-eum-in. – Ginseng: It has less heat than ginseng, so it can help reduce the heat of Taeeumin.

So-yang-in:

• Good food: Cool and mild food (barley, pork, duck, mung beans, cucumber, lettuce, etc.)
• Food to be careful of: Spicy and hot food, oily food, spicy spices (ginseng, red ginseng, etc.)
• Beer: It can help reduce the body’s heat (but be careful if you have gout).
• Root vegetables: Lotus root, carrot, burdock, etc. are good.
• Snacks: It is okay to consume in powdered form.
• Cold fruits: It is good for Soyangin who has a lot of heat.
• Deodeok, Ma: It has a cool nature, so it can help Soyangin who has a lot of heat.
• Ginseng: Be careful because there may be side effects if consumed in excess.

Tae-Yang-in:

• Good Food: Light and Cool Food (Buckwheat, Shellfish, Vegetables)
• Food to Be Careful of: Spicy and Hot Food, Stimulating Food, Oily Food
• Snacks: Small amounts are okay.

Note: The above are general food trends by constitution and may vary depending on the individual’s health status and characteristics. It is important to consult a specialist for an accurate constitution diagnosis and customized diet.