Zoey Gong on Harnessing the Power of TCM and Food Therapy
Shanghai-native Zoey Xinyi Gong is a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner, a food therapist, a registered dietician and nutritionist, a chef, a published cookbook author, a social media influencer and more. Bridging modern recipes and a thousands-year-old practice for holistic wellness, Zoey’s TCM philosophy embodies the Chinese cultural idea that food and medicine are at once synonymous and inseparable.
“TCM isn’t quite like a religion, but a holistic way of thinking that can enlighten your well-being and improve your overall relationship with your own body, mind, and surroundings,” remarks Gong. By learning to harness the power that food has on all aspects of the human body, Gong is aiming to bring TCM practices yet again to the fore – specifically for the younger generation – through her accessible tips and suggestions via her personal social media channels.
We sat down with this TCM guru to learn more about her personal journey with TCM and food therapy, her favorite TCM-centric spots around town, how she dispels TCM misconceptions, and some helpful ways to incorporate TCM into our own daily lives.
Let’s start with your backstory. How did your journey with alternative medicine and cooking begin?
When I was 16, I moved from my hometown of Shanghai to Pennsylvania for high school. I had always eaten home-cooked food, so my diet drastically changed when I introduced so much processed food. Within three months I had gained over 15 pounds (7 kilos) and started having a skin rash and joint pain. Within a year I found a breast tumor.
Upon returning to China to have the tumor removed, my doctor suggested I eat less red meat because of the added hormones and antibiotics. I altered my diet to fit a more “Western-minded” healthy diet – think chicken breast, Greek yogurt, and the like. While that did help with my weight and joint pain, I lost my period for over two years. Doctors prescribed me birth control and other hormone regulators, but nothing worked. My mom finally took me to an acupuncturist, and within three months of taking herbs and doing acupuncture, my monthly cycle returned normally. Yet, the tumor eventually came back.
After my second surgery, I decided to go fully plant-based. This was also around the time that I realized I had developed an allergy to dairy. After trying so many skincare products, the only thing that worked was removing dairy entirely from my diet – the root of the cause of the skin issues. This made me realize how big of an effect diet has on one’s life and ultimately served as my impetus to study nutrition. I wanted to learn to harness the power food has on all aspects of the human body.
I enrolled at NYU, but throughout my study I just came across more unanswered questions. Seventy-two percent of dieticians in the United States are Caucasian, of which 93% are women. As an Asian student, I not only could see the difference between my other (mostly blonde) classmates and me, but I could recognize a difference in values, culture, and background.
My textbooks preached black and white responses to health and diet-related case studies, ones that I felt depended on so many other factors. What was considered “healthy” food was really just taking into account the Western diet – acai bowls, avocado toast, chicken breast. As I was also working in the culinary world at that time, mostly at ‘health food-centric’ restaurants, I found myself bored by the same redundant ‘healthy food’ recipes by Western chefs knowing there was really so much else out there.
I decided to explore that nudging sensation within me further and bought a cookbook from the Qing Dynasty. Within the first minutes of reading the intro, I was hooked. Even back then, the author was already talking about the concept in Chinese culture that food and medicine are synonymous. The saying is 医食同源 (yi shi tong yuan) meaning, “Food heals. Medicine is food. The two are inseparable.”
There were so many seasonal recipes employing vegetables I’d never heard of and cross-referencing foods as Traditional Chinese Medicine. And this is really where my passion for TCM and cooking stem from. This pivotal moment of reading the cookbook felt like so many experiences in my life up until this point were clicking into place.
Serendipitously, right around that time, I went to a dance class and met a woman who was graduating from TCM school in New York. As if the universe was guiding me, the next morning I enrolled, and the rest is history. I now am a registered dietician, food therapist, and a TCM chef.
What brought you back to Shanghai most recently?
The number one reason is my own heath. I lived in the USA for 13 years, the last decade of which was in NYC, a city full of excess stimulants (busy, dirty, crowded, loud). This all began to take i’s toll on my mental and physical health.
The second reason is because China is the birthplace of TCM, my life’s work and passion. To explore more about Chinese culture while digging deeper into TCM, China is really the best place to do it.
You’re not the ‘traditional image’ of a TCM doctor. How has your look, age, and social media presence effected (both positively and negatively) your role in this industry?
Overall, it’s been mostly positive. I see myself as a practitioner that provides public education. My focus isn’t necessarily private consultation. I want to share tips with a broader audience, so my eccentric look actually spurs more interest. Once I have people’s attention, the TCM knowledge is enough to keep people interested and coming back to learn more.
Why is now the best time for anyone – of any age – to start adding elements of TCM into their lives?
While the younger generation may think of TCM as just bitter herbal concoctions, it’s really so much more than that – it’s a holistic way of living that teaches us to be aware of (and create harmony and balance with) our body and surroundings. It’s all about finding balance to create better relationships with yourself and your peers.
TCM isn’t just applicable to Chinese people either. TCM has similarities with many other holistic styles of medicine – ayurveda, homeotherapy, acupuncture, etc. – that span the globe and focus on the principal of treating everyone individually as opposed to a statistic.
At all key moments in the life cycle, it’s important to introduce TCM elements into daily lives. The time right before puberty is a crucial moment where TCM can assist in preventing future health issues. During pregnancy and post-partum, TCM can help the body recover and regenerate while also assisting with anti-aging. Throughout adulthood, TCM can assist with sexual wellness in both men and women, in addition to digestion issues, fatigue, and emotional balance. And into menopause, TCM assists in mellowing some of these major hormonal shifts. In short, there’s never a bad time to incorporate elements of TCM into your life.
What are three ways everyday people can start to incorporate TCM into their modern lifestyles?
First, I’d suggest anyone interested to start out by reading some basic information that will help enlighten your way of thinking. Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine by Efrem Korngold and Harriet Beinfield is a must-read. I also have written a TCM cookbook entitled The Five Elements Cookbook where the intro section explains TCM in a comprehensive yet approachable way.
Second, I would encourage people to eat with the seasons. The basics of TCM food therapy is surprisingly similar to Western nutrition: eat a balanced, mindful mix of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, good oils, and healthy animals. It’s as simple as that.
Lastly, I would suggest massaging your meridians. While it may seem strange to foreigners at first when they see the ayis and shushus in the park patting their shoulders, arms, and legs rhythmically, there’s really something to it. This type of self-massage does wonders for removing stagnation. Just five minutes in the morning (and you can easily look up a tutorial online) is like a coffee for the body without the unnecessary jolt from caffeine, almost like a softer form of acupuncture.
You recently published The Five Elements Cookbook as an ‘accessible guide to cooking with TCM.’ What is the key takeaway from the book?
My book is really a tour guide for those starting out with TCM and food therapy, rooted in a thousands-year-old practice for holistic wellness.
Named after a foundational theory of what balance and optimal health looks like, The Five Elements Cookbook is an introduction to the beginner concepts of TCM and offers a photographic guide to the most commonly used medicinal ingredients (American ginseng, turmeric, reishi, and more), their healing properties, and how to use them seamlessly in your cooking—whether in a warm tea, restorative bone broth, a sweet smoothie, or your favorite dinner.
Each of the over 50 delicious recipes ingeniously incorporate a food-as-medicine ingredient, with consideration for seasonality, digestion, body constitution, and specific concerns, like menstrual pains, nausea, anxiety, blood circulation, respiratory health, and more. For those with dietary restrictions, each recipe also includes a key for vegan, nut free, dairy free, gluten free, plus the TCM energetics and uses. Recipes span all day and every meal, plus beverages and desserts.
Do you have any favorite recipes?
While I love all of my recipes, my favorite section is definitely the desserts. I have a real sweet tooth, so being able to make dessert medicinal exemplifies the range that TCM can span (beyond the more conventional broths and congee). For example, as we move into autumn, I love the herbal poached pear recipe. It’s a fusion of French-style poached pear made in a Chinese way with TCM herbs and spices.
How do you come up with a new recipe?
I want to create a bridge between what people think TCM recipes are (bitter, herbal drinks, for example) and what they can be (delicious, well-rounded robust meals featuring many modern ingredients). After working in the culinary industry for over seven years, my brain is just wired to come up with delicious recipes. I start from either a key ingredient, a season, or a symptom I want to alleviate, and I build from there, adding in a mix of both TCM and delicious components.
I also like to add in fusion elements by thinking of classic dishes from other cultures and how I can alter it to make it more interesting for both (or all) food cultures involved.
Beyond diet, how can TCM be incorporated in daily life via beauty products, clothing, or activities?
TCM is a lifestyle, so you can incorporate it however it fits for you. I love to integrate it in my home: I always make sure to have medicinal incense to clean the air as these herbs have oils with antibacterial functions. During Qingming Festival (in April), all of the TCM pharmacies sell these cute little bags with dried herbs that are perfect for putting in a clothing drawer for keeping everything smelling fresh and clear of harmful bacteria.
Facial acupuncture is another way to incorporate TCM into your beauty regimen for boosting collagen production. It really leaves you with an immediate glow.
Are there any TCM-centric venues (restaurants, bars, shops, beauty stores) in Shanghai that you would recommend visiting for those trying to add more TCM elements to their daily life?
I just moved back to Shanghai, so I’m still learning. However, there are many good tea shops I’ve visited, particularly本草小匠, where they boil the herbs in-house. They offer many flavors too, which is a great bonus.
I’ve also started to do some consulting for O’Mills to incorporate more TCM ingredients into their seasonal dishes, so be on the lookout for that new menu release soon.
How do you see the interest in TCM growing over the last few years (especially in the younger generation)?
After COVID, there was a larger surge of people, particularly in the West, turning more towards holistic medicine and TCM, regardless of age. But, on the flip side, in China, I’ve noticed that the interest in TCM is still primarily in the older generation. While there are a few venues bringing TCM to the forefront in town – such as TCM ice cream shops and coffee shops that put TCM herbs in certain coffee beverages – it’s less for actual health sake and more for fun.
So, this is where I hope to come in and teach about TCM – my own culture’s medicine – and how it can really make a difference. The most advanced TCM research does happen, after all, here in China.
What is the main misconception about TCM you would like to dispel?
The number one argument I hear is that TCM is not based in science. True, there are some outdated “old wives’ tales” passed down through word-of-mouth that aren’t necessarily relevant today, just as is the case in Western medicine. But overall, TCM is backed fully by research, and every year more and more information is coming out about it. For instance, the only Chinese Nobel Prize winner in medicine – Youyou Tu – was awarded this honor for her work in combatting malaria, using – you guessed it – a solution rooted in TCM.
Furthermore, I’ve been on social media for years so nothing anyone is going to come at me with in the comment section of my Instagram, Xiaohongshu, or website is going to impact my feelings towards TCM. But, I do believe it’s my responsibility to reply to ignorant comments. I start out by asking for credentials or concrete evidence. In most cases, there is none, which immediately dismisses the argument. Beyond that, I have engaged people on numerous occasions both online and in person about TCM, and I have yet to come across anything that has weakened my beliefs.
How can That’s Shanghai readers learn more about TCM practices in their everyday lives through your social media, TCM tours, and offline channels?
First, visit my website, by clicking here. I will be adding a Shanghai events page where I will publicize info about upcoming TCM tours, discussions and meetups. I also have a WeChat Group Chat, and interested participants can be added by sending a request through my website.
I work with China Wellness Tours for weeklong deep dive tours into TCM in specific regions of China. Check out their website here to book an upcoming tour with me.
The Five Elements Cookbook can be purchased through Amazon by clicking here, or on most other book purchasing platforms of your choice.
And for daily TCM content, follow me on Instagram: @zoeyxinyigong and on Xiaohongshu: 好好吃饭的Zoey
[All images courtesy of Zoey Gong via Tommy Park @tombo.97, Cassie Zhang @cassiezyz, Charissa Fay at Food & Wine Magazine, Lærke Rose Møllegaard]
