Q. I’m on a diet, so why should I be so picky about choosing what to eat when dining out? Isn’t it the same if I just eat smaller portions?

Even as a practitioner, I often find myself tempted by menu boards when I'm hungry after a long day of consultations. I used to blame myself after waking up bloated the next morning because I mistakenly thought 'just a little bit of something tasty won't hurt.' However, the human body does not operate like a simple arithmetic calculator. From a Western medical perspective, restaurant meals are notoriously high in refined carbohydrates and sodium. These ingredients cause blood sugar to skyrocket and trigger excessive insulin secretion, forcing the body into a 'fat storage' mode. It is not a problem that can be solved simply by eating less; as long as insulin levels are fluctuating wildly, fat-burning enzymes essentially stop working. In Traditional Korean Medicine (TKM), we view this state as Spleen Deficiency (脾虛). When the Spleen, which governs digestion and metabolism, is weakened, it fails to transform food into vital energy and instead leaves behind a sticky residue called Phlegm-fluid (痰飮). When you add spicy and salty seasonings into the mix, it leads to Blood Stasis (瘀血), which makes the blood turbid and causes the body to feel heavy and swollen. Ultimately, 'what' you eat determines whether you clear your body's metabolic pathways or block them with waste. Making smart menu choices can revitalize Spleen function and facilitate the smooth circulation of Qi and Blood (氣血). Please remember that even if two meals appear to have the same calorie count, the chemical and energetic reactions they trigger within your body are fundamentally different.