According to Heshoutang Natural Health, an imbalance between water and fire energy can lead to poor health.
There are three main categories of causes of illness:
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Emotions
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Weather
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Food and drink consumption, work and leisure, heredity, and sex
FOOD & DRINKS
1. Temperature and Taste Properties
Foods and drinks have five temperature properties and six taste properties.
The five temperature properties are:
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Warm
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Cool
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Cold
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Hot
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Neutral
The six taste properties are:
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Sour
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Sweet
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Bitter
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Spicy
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Salty
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Bland
Cool is the opposite of warm, while cold is the opposite of hot.
2. Cool and Cold Properties
According to the Heshoutang Natural Health System (HNHS), cool and cold properties represent water energy.
Cool and cold substances can help clear heat, hot, and fire toxins. They can also replenish water energy to help balance water and fire energy.
Cool and cold substances are used for hot or hyperfunction conditions.
However, if a person's condition is already balanced, or cool and cold substances have restored that balance, continued use may create what HNHS describes as water toxins, making the body excessively cold.
For this reason, even healthy individuals should avoid frequently consuming cold herbs.
Once cold herbs have achieved their intended purpose, their dosage should be reduced or their use discontinued.
3. Warm and Hot Properties
According to HNHS, warm and hot properties represent fire energy.
Warm and hot substances can help remove cold toxins and replenish fire energy, supporting the balance between water and fire energy.
Warm and hot substances are used for cold or hypofunction conditions.
However, if a person's condition is already balanced, or warm and hot substances have restored that balance, continued consumption of warm or hot foods, drinks, and herbal products may create what HNHS describes as fire toxins, making the body excessively hot.
For this reason, even healthy individuals should avoid frequently consuming excessive amounts of hot foods, drinks, or herbal products.
Once hot herbs have achieved their intended purpose, their dosage should be reduced or their use discontinued.
4. Understanding Your Body's Properties
To determine which foods and drinks may be suitable for you, HNHS emphasizes understanding your body's temperature properties.
Signs of a Cold Body Property
According to HNHS, the following signs may indicate a cold body property:
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Feeling cold
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Low energy
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Pale complexion
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Weak voice
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Loose or watery stools
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Symptoms that worsen in cold weather or at night
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Hypofunction of the body
Signs of a Hot Body Property
According to HNHS, the following signs may indicate a hot body property:
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Feeling excessively hot
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Red complexion
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Strong voice
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Constipation
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Hyperfunction of the body
5. Choosing Foods and Drinks
For a Cold Body Property
According to HNHS:
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Avoid or reduce cool and cold herbs, foods, and drinks.
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Favor herbs, foods, and drinks with warm or hot properties.
For a Hot Body Property
According to HNHS:
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Avoid or reduce warm and hot herbs, foods, and drinks.
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Favor herbs, foods, and drinks with cool or cold properties.
For Everyone
Neutral foods and drinks are generally considered suitable for everyone within the HNHS framework.
However, avoid overeating and eating late at night.
6. Temperature Properties of Common Foods and Drinks
The following lists present the temperature properties of common foods and drinks according to the Heshoutang Natural Health System.
GRAINS
Warm Grains
Glutinous rice, black rice, sago, sorghum.
Cool Grains
Millet, wheat, big sale, buckwheat, coix seed, mung bean.
Neutral Grains
Rice, corn, barley, rice bran, sweet potato, sesame, soybean, rice cowpea (white bean), peas, lentils, broad beans, red beans, black soybeans, oats.
MEAT, SEAFOOD & ANIMAL PRODUCTS
Warm Meat and Animal Products
Beef, beef tripe, beef marrow, lamb, lamb bones, lamb marrow, chicken, black chicken, goat milk, shrimp, cockles (clams), silver carp, hairtail, bream, catfish, halibut, minnow (white stripe), trout, freshwater eel, bighead fish.
Cool Meat and Animal Products
Duck meat, horse milk, abalone.
Cold Meat and Animal Products
Duck eggs (slightly cold), crabs, clams, oyster meat, Viviparidae (freshwater snails), mussels, river clam meat, mullet, octopus.
Neutral Meat and Animal Products
Pork, pork heart, pig kidney, pig liver, eggs, quail, milk (slightly cold), yogurt, human milk, turtle (slightly cold), loach, sea eel, crucian carp, herring.
FRUITS, NUTS & SEEDS
Warm Fruits
Peach, apricot, jujube, lychee, longan flesh, bergamot, lemon (slightly warm), kumquat, bayberry, pomegranate, papaya, betel nut, pine nuts, walnut kernels, cherries.
Cool Fruits
Apple (slightly cool), pear, reed orange, orange, strawberry (slightly cool), mango, loquat, mangosteen, water chestnut, lotus seed core, lily.
Cold Fruits
Persimmon, grapefruit, banana, mulberry, star fruit (carambola), fig, kiwi, sugarcane, watermelon, melon.
Neutral Fruits, Nuts & Seeds
Plums, shago, pineapple, grapes, olives, sunflower seeds, juniper berries, pumpkin seeds, guoshi (chicken fruit), lotus seeds, coconut juice, cypress nuts, peanuts, ginkgo nuts, hazelnuts, hawthorn, chestnuts.
VEGETABLES
Warm Vegetables
Spring onion, garlic, leek, coriander, snow red, onion, Chinese toon shoots, pumpkin.
Cool Vegetables
Tomato, celery, eggplant, rapeseed greens, kohlrabi, wild rice, amaranth, marran, spinach, lettuce, cauliflower, artemisia, tofu, wheat gluten, lotus root, winter melon, sweet potato, loofah, cucumber, sea celery, mushrooms, enoki mushrooms.
Cold Vegetables
Cigu (slightly cold), purslane, water spinach (convolvulus), Auricularia, arborescens, bamboo shoots (slightly cold), hyacinth, cabbage, kelp, seaweed, ground ear, straw mushrooms, bitter melon, water chestnut.
Hot Vegetables
Chili peppers.
Neutral Vegetables
Chinese yam, radish, carrot, cabbage, garland chrysanthemum, kohlrabi, green cabbage, hen head, tempeh, cowpea, potato, taro, ginger, jellyfish, black fungus, shiitake mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, Hericium mushrooms, gourds.
OTHER FOODS, HERBS, SPICES & DRINKS
Warm Others
Ginger, Amomum, Zanthoxylum, Perilla, cumin, cloves, star anise, fennel, Shannai, liquor, vinegar, black tea, soda, coffee, brown sugar, osmanthus.
Hot Others
Cinnamon, pepper.
Cool Others
Green tea, honey, royal jelly, hops, Sophora japonica (acacia), chrysanthemum, mint, fat sea, white peony root, Adenophora, American ginseng, cassia seed.
Cold Others
Soy sauce, noodle sauce, salt, honeysuckle, bitter cauliflower, bitter gourd tea, bitter tea, thatch root, reed root, alum.
Neutral Others
White sugar, rock sugar (slightly cool), soy milk, wolfberry (slightly warm), Ganoderma lucidum, white fungus (slightly cool), bird's nest, corn silk, yellow essence, Gastrodia, Codonopsis, Poria, hay, chicken gold, jujube seed, vegetable oil, sesame oil, peanut oil, soybean oil, caramel.
Disclaimer: This article describes the traditional dietary and energy-property concepts used within the Heshoutang Natural Health System (HNHS). These classifications are part of the HNHS theoretical framework and are not established biomedical measures of food temperature or bodily energy. Food and herbal choices should also consider nutritional needs, medical conditions, allergies, medication interactions, and professional healthcare advice. Do not stop prescribed treatments or use potentially toxic herbal substances without appropriate professional guidance.
