This is What Confucius Would Say.

On the recommendation of the doctor I saw a few days ago, (refer to previous posting), I picked up, "Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition," 3rd. edition, by Paul Pitchford. It's huge, and from what I can see does a very good and thorough job of looking at the subject of nutrition. 

For now I'm going to stick with the raw food approach. Within this domain, however, I can also concentrate on foods this book recommends for people with dampness related issues:

• Carbohydrate-rich veggies like carrots, parsnips, turnip, garbanzo beans, black beans, sweet potato, peas, yams and pumpkin....   
• Pungent vegetables and spices like onion, leek, (dried) ginger, cinnamon, fennel, garlic and nutmeg.... cherries and dates....    
• According to TCM, other foods that dry dampness are: rye, amaranth, corn, aduki beans, celery, lettuce, alfalfa, kohlrabi, raw honey and all bitter herbs, like chaparral as well as chamomille.

The doctor also suggested I start by reading the section on the Earth Element which is related to the Late Summer season. (Rightly or wrongly, I take that to be the equivalent of our Indian Summer.)

• Recommended foods for people of this type are mildly sweet or yellow or gold in colour, such as: millet, corn, carrots, tofu, rice, sweet rice, chestnuts, filberts, apricots and cantaloupe.  

It is a time of transition and dishes should be simple and everything, preparation to presentation, needs to done in moderation.

That leaves me with a fair bit to work with -and think about.