Zong Qi is one of many kinds of Qi that we use to live our lives. Food/ Universe Qi + our stomach Qi = Zong Qi.

What does it mean to think of our food as Universe Qi?

It’s the understanding that food is a manifestation and combination of the universe around us. We know that some food tastes better and is easier to digest. Food that is grown in toxic soil under stressful conditions will taste differently than food grown in healthy soil with ease of being.

How it is grown isn’t the only component of quality. How food is prepared is a huge part of unlocking or destroying the nutritional qi it offers. Whatever approach you use – raw, fermented, fried, steamed, frozen – will change what’s possible for combining with your stomach qi to make Zong qi.

Other important components of quality are the state of being when preparing food and when eating it. Can you remember a time you ate food made with love? And food made under duress? It has nothing to do with the complexity of the meal or the amount of time it took to make it. The state of consciousness during preparation is a key ingredient to healthy food.

And so is the condition of our consuming it. Eating the breakfast burrito in the car on the way to work or a quick bite en route to a meeting decreases the Zong Qi we can make of it. Dimly lit restaurants have it right – low lighting and a calm environment without many distractions are ideal for our stomach qi to do it’s work. Watching television, reading the news, and stressful conversation during eating are one more thing we have to ‘consume’ and diminish our capacity to create Zong Qi.

We can all optimize our digestion with simple changes in choosing food, preparing food, and consuming food.