A person's particular condition at a given time is an important consideration in making dietary choices. For example, someone who is recovering from the flu should eat a diet designed to counterbalance the sickness. For a high fever with parched mouth and throat, moisturizing, cooling foods are appropriate, whereas for someone with a fever accompanied by aches and chills, foods that are warming and stimulating would be helpful.
Because changes in climate and season can have a profound effect on our health, Chinese medicine takes these into account as well. A cooling diet of raw, juicy foods would be healthier for most people in the summer when it's hot and dry, while in the cold, damp, windy winter months a warming and enriching diet stokes our internal fire, strengthens our resistance and protects us from the elements.
