In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), there are five basic colours classified under the Five-Element System (FES). The FES categorizes everything into five groupings by association. The five elements are wood, fire, earth, metal and water. Hence, the colours correspondingly are green, red, earth, white and black. In the FES, a stand-along entry like ‘green’ does not represent much, but when they are associated, shades of meaning begin to appear. So for example, wood and green together represents growth and the spring season.

Hues and Their Associations
Shades of colours will still apply depending on which five basic colours are dominant. For example, a bluish green will fall under green (wood), whereas, a deep blue will fall under black (water). Shades of blue are generally categorized under black of the water element as the ocean becomes black as one proceeds to greater depth.

The organs’ correspondence with the colours and common foods in the FES will be:

Liver, Gallbladder	Green, Wood	Lime, Kiwifruit, Celery, Green Carp, Chives etc.
Heart, Small Intestines	Red, Fire	Black tea*, Red wine, Apple, Tomato, Cherries etc.
Spleen, Stomach	Yellow, Earth	Fresh ginger, Sugar cane, Chicken, Pineapple, Turmeric etc.
Lungs, Large Intestines	White, Metal	White radish, Almond, Bird's nest, Tofu, White onion etc.
Kidneys, Bladder	Black, Water	Black glutinous rice, Shitake mushroom, Black beans, Black sesame seeds, Black-boned chicken etc.

* The Chinese call it ‘red tea’ (hong cha)

We can then say, based on the FES, that all red colour foods like red wine and tomatoes have strong influence on the heart and small intestines. Or all white colour foods like radish and tofu have strong influence on the lungs and large intestines. But we should not stretch further than this principle. Nevertheless, this idea is an inexpensive and useful complement to dietary guidance and self-care. We can also infer that in order to eat healthy, our meals should be as colourful as possible. This idea of a ‘rainbow diet’ is not new, but is has been gaining a new twist in the West recently as in the “5-colour a day” US schools and public programmes.

Enhancing the Effectiveness
By adding the association of taste, the effectiveness of the principle of food colour and organs is greatly enhanced. As such you will tend to find the following associations:

Green	Liver, Gallbladder	Sour
Red	Heart, Small Intestines	Bitter
Yellow	Spleen, Stomach	Sweet
White	Lungs, Large Intestines	Pungent
Black	Kidneys, Bladder	Salty/ Bland

Thus, we see that lime is green and sour, making its influence on the liver and gallbladder very strong. And radish, white and pungent, has very strong influence on the lungs and large intestines. A sour and green tomato will influence more of the liver and gallbladder whereas a red and sweet tomato will influence more of the heart, small intestines, spleen and stomach. A fresh young ginger that is sweetish and yellow is more effective in influencing the digestion (stomach and spleen) as compared to dried pungent ginger. Dried pungent old ginger is food for cold and cough (lungs) and stopping diarrhoea (large intestines).

A VERY GENERAL GUIDE IS THAT:

• Too much of red and yellow colour foods will cause excess heat.
• Too much of white colour foods will cause excess cold.
• Too much of green and black colour foods will cause stagnation, which eventually leads to pain.
  

TASTE-WISE, IN GENERAL:

• Pungent and Sweet – Warming
• Bitter, Salty and Sour – Cooling
• Bland – Neutral

The Sum of All Parts
Nutritional science, until recently, is very reductionistic. All foods are reduced to its single micronutrient content and their relationship to disease. You’ve definitely heard, or even used this framework yourself. “Take milk for the calcium to prevent osteoporosis. Take oranges for the Vitamin C to prevent colds. Take bananas for the potassium to have a healthy heart.”

While there is a direct relationship between that single micronutrient content and the disease, it is wise to remember that the disease is multi-faceted, and therefore so must its cure. In the last decade, nutritional principles have gone beyond understanding the basic nutrients of protein, carbo, fats, vitamins and minerals. With the advancement of technology and more sophisticated assays, nutritionists realize that there are more than 170 useful compounds in an orange, 217 chemicals in carrots and apples, at least 150. Hence orange is more than Vitamin C and carrots can do more than just for the eyes. So, colours obviously have a biochemical component to them. The green pigment is chlorophyll, useful in improving liver functions and retinal health among others. The red from carrots comes from the beta-carotene and other red flavanoids, good for the heart. Also, the redness of wine and tea is again due to the red anthocyanins combined with tannin. Anthoxanthins, the yellow pigment in turmeric, helps reduce inflammation hence is useful for gastric ulcers. And the melanin found in black-boned chicken, binds the haemoglobin and protein of the meat in a unique way, thereby purportedly earning this type of chicken the Chinese designation ‘medicinal chicken’.

So the next time you take a meal, treat your plate as a palette and colour your way to health.