"Water" foods have a salty taste. This element in the body is represented by the kidneys and the bladder. Too much of anything salty and watery such as miso, mushrooms, kidney and mung beans, soy sauce, olives, watermelon, and pickles causes problems-thirst, hunger, water retention and even anxiety. And in its respective season-winter-we usually tend to eat many of water element foods.

And in the spring, the wood element becomes prominent, especially through foods such as oats, rye, wheat, apples, citrus fruits, green vegetables, and green lentils. These have a cleansing effect on the body and affect the liver and gallbladder. For example, ingesting a cup of warm water with lemon juice can help process fats, especially after a heavy, rich meal.

So after all of this, take an evaluation of your eating habits. For example, do you need coffee to wake up? Do you use too much spice or crave sweets or salty foods? Ask yourself which taste you tend to gravitate to and eat more than others. This will be a clue as to where you are out of balance.

So as for any rules here's a few: balance all five tastes and colours on your plate, make sure to eat foods associated with the current season, and above all, sit down to eat regular meals and chew your food well. Pretty simple I'd say.