99 Degrees is Very Important!

The body is close to 99 degrees. It functions optimally at that temperature. Food can move it out of balance either way, too hot or too cold. If you understand how to use the metabolic properties of foods to keep the body temperature even, it will be less stressed and much happier (less symptoms). This way of using food, for it’s actions of heating, cooling, drying or dampening will allow you to use your food as medicine.

Also, no matter what the food’s metabolic action, when you eat food, keep your food temperature, as close to 99 degrees as possible and the body will love that. Cold food down the chute requires the digestive organs to heat everything up to 99 degrees so it can break it down and extract the nutrients. Drinking a cold, icy drink with a meal chills the whole mass of meat, grains, starch, etc. in the gut, The organs must then work hard (put out more energy) to make heat, and that slows and weakens digestion.

Traditional medicines say the stomach is a pot, and the digestive organs (spleen, pancreas and liver) keep the fire going under the pot. Cold food douses the fire. Instead of a healthy 99-degree soup on the stomach, you then have a lump of cold sludge. It takes a lot of energy to build up the fire and then digest that food.

Over time, the organs get weak and don’t respond very well because of eating cold food this way. When called to make more fire, they can overheat, like a car wheel spinning hotly when it’s stuck in the mud. Digestion becomes weak, and is imbalanced, either too cold or too hot. There is low stomach acid, which creates acid reflux, or heartburn, gallbladder problems, burping, flatulence, bloating, etc. Just remember 99-degree soup is the way the body likes its food. Anything room temp to 110 degrees is fine. In this range, the enzymes in the raw foods are optimal