Have you ever picked a ripe tomato? There are few things I love more than eating fresh vegetables out of our garden, it’s an incredibly healthy way to eat. With each bite, I feel as if I am invigorating my chi – the energy that flows through me, my life force.

According to the Feng Shui principals of Yin and Yang, there are four basic foundations to achieve and maintain good health. These are:

1. Diet
2. Exercise
3. Adequate rest and relaxation
4. Good mental attitude

A correct and harmonious diet not only influences our health but also in more subtle aspects such as our conscience based on the Yin-Yang principles of each food and in its contribution to the Chi fuel of life. We should eat seasonally, our bodies are rhythmic and in touch with natural cycles. Chi is found in abundance in fruit and vegetables especially those matured in the sun, in plants grown without artificial fertilizers, in animals and products of animal origin from livestock adapted to the specific species and in the water from natural springs. Chi is widely preserved when foods are prepared fresh, eaten raw, carefully cooked or lightly fried.

Chi is severely reduced or disappears when foods are canned, frozen, bake for a long time, heated in the microwave or fried a lot.

Most of us possess a balanced metabolism capable of admitting various kinds of food when properly combined. Although our digestive tract was originally designed by nature for a diet of fruits and vegetables, our digestive system has evolved and is capable of producing the gastric juices necessary to digest the meat that became part of the human diet. If large amounts of animal protein do not leave you exhausted, and if large doses of sugars and starches do not make you feel nervous, you are likely to have a balanced metabolism that only needs to worry about choosing healthy foods from both categories and to combine them correctly.

As for me, the fresher the food, the better!