While this may seem strange to those brought up on a western diet, the balance of foods is deemed to be criticial for continuing good health.
The Cantonese seem to have more food taboos than other dialects but I am prepared to be corrected. One of my favourites relates to foods that should not be consumed because they give one wind. Bamboo shoots are forwned upong by some.
The Cantonese produce a post-natal dish of chicken with ginger wine which is consumed from the first week of a confinement period. Reportedly it protects the stomach, promotes blood circulation, helps to ward off coldness and dispels 'wind' in the body.
The Cantonese classification of food explains why certain foods are taken and why they have paid so much attention to the body's reaction to the ingestion of various types.
Hakka, Teochew, Fuzhou and Nyonya all have their own variations of confinement dishes with the Peranakan dishes being more spicy than some.
Beans have a universal and deservedly notorius reputation for gas production. Carbohydrates in some foods which can not be broken down and absorbed in the intestine are the problem.
In New Zealand it would appear that we have a different approach to the problem of wind; we sack people.
A farting postie has failed to get his job back. He apparently falsified his time sheets as he had to make a lot more toilet stops than most. His Ying Yang balance was clearly out of kilter but maybe his defence should have been that he was 'full of beans"?
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