If you observe carefully, you will find that many of the foods we eat on a daily basis have higher nutritional value the darker their color. This is especially true for many black-colored foods, such as black rice and black sesame seeds. Of course, since we all want to improve our health, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) experts recommend that the darker the food, the healthier it is for you. However, many people may not be fully aware of the benefits of black foods.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, foods or medicines of different colors are associated with the five major organ systems of the body: red corresponds to the heart, green/blue to the liver, yellow to the spleen, white to the lungs, and black to the kidneys. Therefore, choosing our diet based on color is a simple and practical method in our daily lives. Moreover, the nourishing and protective effects of black foods on the kidneys are highly affirmed by experts.
Black foods are generally rich in trace elements and vitamins. For example, the so-called "Five Black Foods" we often talk about—including black rice, black soybeans, black sesame seeds, black jujubes, and walnuts—are the most typical representatives.
If you study the nutritional value of the "Five Black Foods" closely, you will find that each of them is an expert in nourishing the kidneys. Black rice, a treasured grain, is also known as the "black pearl." It is rich in protein, amino acids, and trace elements such as iron, calcium, manganese, and zinc. It is known to stimulate the appetite, benefit the middle jiao, stop leakage and replenish essence, strengthen the spleen and warm the liver, and relax muscles and activate blood circulation. The soybean was praised by the ancients as "the grain of the kidney." Black soybean is sweet in taste and neutral in nature. Not only does its shape resemble a kidney, but it also has the effects of tonifying the kidney, strengthening the body, activating blood circulation, promoting urination, detoxifying, and moisturizing the skin, making it especially suitable for patients with kidney deficiency. Black jujube, known as the "warehouse of nutrition," is warm in nature and sweet in taste, and functions to tonify the middle jiao, replenish qi, nourish the kidneys, and benefit the stomach and blood. Walnuts have the effects of securing kidney essence, promoting urination to expel stones, lubricating the intestines to relieve constipation, and warming the lungs to stop wheezing, and are often used for conditions like kidney-deficiency back pain and urinary tract stones. Black sesame seed is neutral in nature and sweet in taste, and has the effect of nourishing the liver and kidneys, and moistening the five organs. It is particularly effective for dietary therapy and health care for dizziness, white hair, hair loss, soreness in the lower back and knees, and intestinal dryness and constipation caused by deficiency of liver and kidney essence and blood. When these five foods are cooked together into a porridge, it becomes an exceptional remedy for nourishing the kidneys.