Reductionism means examining something by looking at its individual units. Most modern science is reductionist: we look at cells, molecules etc. in order to try to understand the whole (a body).

Holism is a different approach. It means trying to see a system as a whole. For example, many leading scientific bodies are now using approaches such as complexity theory (based on quantum physics) to examine a whole system.

Complexity theory is based on the idea that simple units operate together to form a more complex whole. For example, neurons (brain cells) have relatively simple action: they can be on or off. However, when they are connected together in certain ways, then patterns of connectivity arise, creating intelligent behaviour.  It is more about the communication between cells than the qualities of the cells themselves. This is complexity theory.

In Nutrition we can also apply these different approaches. We can look at the molecular structure of the food, such as proteins, fats and carbohydrates. We can look at micro-nutrients such as vitamins and minerals. We can analyse foods to find their molecular make-up and find out all sorts of micro-properties of the food. This has led to the use of reductionism in the field of Nutrition.

It is common for a nutritionist to recommend single foods or even single nutrients to the client. However, the way most people eat is not reductionist. Most people do not analyse the meal in front of them for individual ingredients. They do not look at each ingredient; indeed often you cannot even see the ingredients: in a well-cooked stew it is impossible to know what is inside. The individual ingredients have been combined to form a new whole....the meal.

Likewise when we order food off a menu, there is no way of knowing what is inside each dish. We can tell what type of meal it is: it may be warm and hearty such as a thick meaty stew; it may be light and cleansing such as a salad. But we do not know if the salad contains lettuce or tomato or radish or rocket.

Thus we do not select food in a reductionist way. So, within the field of nutrition, can we find a way to teach our clients about which foods to choose which is holistic?

Rather than give long lists of individual ingredients that are "good" and "bad" for the client, we could instead teach them to read a whole meal; to grap its energetic qualities and thus understand its effect on their health and energy.

People do not commonly tend to select food based upon each ingredient within the meal. It is thus unhelpful to teach clients only individual foods that will benefit them: we need also to recommend meal types. We need to teach clients to “read a whole meal”:

is this meal building? Or is it cleansing? Will it warm you up or cool you down? Will it have an overall acidic effect on your body? Will it satisfy your hunger? Will it balance your blood sugar? These are the types of questions that are practical and helpful in the realistic world.

If we start trying to choose our food using reductionist principles, we end up trying to both analyse and control our intake, neither of which are nourishing ways to eat. It is also impossible to implement in the practical world: you cannot see from the menu card each ingredient, and the only way to find out is to ask the waiter, who has to ask the chef....

Taoist Nutrition is concerned with energetics. Energy or chi exists in every whole system. A tomato on its own operates as a whole system, and thus we can examine its energetic properties (it is cooling, has sweet and sour flavours, can remove toxins and nourish the yin). However, as soon as we throw that tomato into a stew, what becomes more important is the energetics of that stew. The stew may be vegetarian, with cooling herbs (e.g. mint and marjoram), lightly cooked vegetables and plenty of water added, making it a cooling and cleansing meal. However, the stew might be with lamb and warming spices, with cream added to the tomato sauce, making it a warming and building meal. The individual properties of the tomato have to be considered as part of the whole.

Therefore, although understanding individual units can be helpful, we also need to be able to look at food in a holistic way. As well as guiding clients towards individual nutrients and individual foods, we need to be able to guide them towards types of meals that will bring them balance. It is helpful if we can teach them to look at a meal and grasp an idea of what effects it will have on their body. As nutritionists we should be teaching people in which ways their body is out of balance and thus how to restore harmony.

Modern nutrition is slipping away from the original art-form of healing with food. When one goes to a nutritionist only to be given several pots of supplements, then we are not being healing with food, but with pills. They may be more “alternative” than pharmaceuticals, but still they are pills. Clients can only be empowered in their healing when we guide them to understand the links between what they eat and how their body responds. Then we have educated them to heal themselves, and this is what the healing arts is truly about.