Making Aligned Food Choices Based on Your Element

The Five Elements is an extraordinarily perceptive and elegant framework for understanding yourself and others. Mapped out by Chinese physicians, more than 2,000 years ago each of the Five Elements -- Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal -- resonates with every single person on the planet. Knowing your element is immensely helpful in making choices that are for your highest good including choices related to food!

If you don’t know your Element yet, go ahead and take this fun quiz, designed by Dondi Dahlin,one of the world’s foremost experts on the Five Elements. Once you know if you’re a Water, Wood, Fire, Earth or Metal, come back and take a look at the guidelines below. You’ll gain deeper clarity around your relationship with food which can go a long way in helping you make better food choices.


Special note: The guidelines below are adapted excerpts from Dondi’s fascinating, in depth book -- The Five Elements: Understand Yourself and Enhance Your Relationships with the Wisdom of the World’s Oldest Personality Type System. To find out more about the Five Elements check out Dondi’s book here.

Water

Waters live to eat! Comfort food doesn’t begin to describe their enthusiasm for food or capacity to indulge and enjoy. Most Waters love heavy sauces, rich creams and large portions. But because the body has to work overtime to process these dense meals, it’s especially important to support the organs with regular physical movement and hydration.

Wood

Woods are ruled by the liver and gallbladder, meaning that they are deeply affected by the functions of these organs. As such, Woods need to eat whole, healthy foods more than any other Element. Occasional juice fasts can help to detoxify the liver but the real key is for Woods to practice healthy eating in their day to day with a special focus on eating smaller meals of fresh, unprocessed food.

Fire

Fires usually have a much faster metabolism than other Elements. They are able to burn off calories easier than most people and strong Fires seem to be able to eat just about anything they want to! However, in order to balance themselves mentally, emotionally and physically, most Fires need foods that have the power to cool the body such as ghee, avocados, mint and unrefined olive oil and coconut oil.

Earth

Earths often have an overabundance of food around and they have a tendency to overeat. They’re governed by the stomach, spleen and digestive processes so having too much to eat is definitely not a good thing! An effective way for an Earth to get healthy -- other than to avoid overindulging -- is to follow a gluten-free diet. Once they eliminate gluten, most Earths will find that they lose weight, have more energy and feel less irritable.

Metal

The large intestine and the lungs are the dominant organ for Metals. The energy of the large intestine (colon) is directly connected to the lungs. A clogged colon can be the source of various health issues such as asthma, acne, migraines and weight gain. Breathing from the belly, going for regular colon irrigation and eating nutritious meals that include fresh foods such as leafy greens, fruits and herbs can be a big help in keeping the colon clean and healthy.