Dieting as a Pulmotonia: The Longest List of Foods to Avoid — and Two Rules That Matter Most

New to ECM? Start with What Is Eight Constitution Medicine? for the basics of the eight body types.

In Korean Traditional Medicine (KTM), the traditional healing system of Korea also known as Hanbang (한방), and within Eight Constitution Medicine (ECM), the Pulmotonia constitution (금양체질) has the most restrictive food list of the eight. I will be honest: looking at it tends to draw a sigh. But the list is not really where the weight is won or lost — two specific points do most of that work, and they are easy to miss underneath all the items.

In Summary

Pulmotonia does best on leafy green vegetables, most fish, shellfish and plant-based fermented foods; meat, dairy, flour products, all oils and fried food do not suit it.
Rule one: root vegetables are better for this type than meat — but eating a lot of them is still not good for health or for losing weight.
Rule two: heavy sweating is not good for this constitution’s health, and it does not curb appetite either — so forcing a sweat works against you twice.
On sweat, be precise: exercise is fine and sweat that comes naturally with movement is fine. What harms is manufactured sweat — saunas, heated rooms, long hot soaks, overdressing to sweat.
This type’s digestion is not especially weak or sensitive, so some Pulmotonia people digest even unsuitable foods without obvious trouble.
Above all: people of this constitution have lived long and well for generations without ever seeing this list. Treat it as a direction to lean, not a rule to obey.

What Suits and What Doesn’t

Beneficial: leafy green vegetables above all — cabbage, lettuce, kale, spinach, water parsley, pumpkin leaf, bracken, mugwort and crown daisy; plant-based fermented foods such as baechu kimchi and doenjang; most fish, with blue-backed fish (saury, herring, anchovy, hairtail, mullet, gizzard shad) particularly good — though the fat should be removed; some seafood including shrimp, oyster, sea cucumber, crab, crayfish and pufferfish; all shellfish, including abalone; fruits such as green grape, kiwi, peach, banana, cherry, strawberry, Korean melon and pineapple; and rice, barley, buckwheat, cucumber, red bean, cocoa, quince tea, salted seafood and egg white.

Harmful: all meat — beef, chicken, pork, duck, goat, lamb, venison, egg yolk, ham, sausage; all dairy — milk, yoghurt, cheese, butter; all flour products — ramen, jajangmyeon, udon, bread, biscuits; all oils and anything fried or stir-fried; root vegetables — radish, carrot, garlic, onion, lotus root, deodeok, bellflower root, bean sprouts, burdock; fruits including pear, apple, tomato, citrus, watermelon, melon and orange; some fish such as eel, loach, catfish, croaker and pollock; nuts; seaweeds; and pumpkin, potato, coffee, sugar, chili, soybean, adlay, yam, sweet potato, ginger, jujube, glutinous rice and corn. All instant foods and processed drinks are unsuitable, as are sunbathing, saunas and heated rooms.

Rule One: Root Vegetables Are Better Than Meat — but Not a Free Pass

This is the first thing to keep in mind, and it is a subtle one. Root vegetables sit on the harmful list for Pulmotonia, but they are still better than meat for this type. That relative ranking tempts people into treating them as a safe staple — and that is the mistake. Eating a lot of root vegetables is not good for this constitution’s health, and it is not good for losing weight either. Better-than-meat is not the same as good.

Rule Two: Don’t Force a Sweat — It Fails Twice

The second point carries a double penalty. Sweating heavily is not good for this constitution’s health, and — the part people do not expect — it also fails to suppress appetite. So the sweat-drenched workout undertaken in the name of weight loss costs this type on both sides of the ledger: it depletes the body and leaves the appetite unregulated.

The rule needs stating precisely, though, because it is easy to take too far. This does not mean exercise is bad, or that any sweat at all is bad. Moving your body is good, and sweat that arises naturally while you move is perfectly fine. What harms is deliberately induced sweating — the sauna, the heated room, the long hot soak, piling on layers to force a sweat, or making “sweat as much as possible” the goal of a session. Exercise freely at a comfortable intensity; simply don’t chase the sweat.

Why the Damage Goes Unnoticed

There is a peculiar difficulty for this constitution. Pulmotonia has a great many foods to avoid, yet its digestive system is not especially weak or sensitive — so people of this type often digest even the unsuitable foods without any obvious complaint. Nothing hurts immediately, so nothing signals that anything is wrong, and the list looks like fussiness rather than medicine. If you eat mainly from the beneficial side for a while, though, you may well find yourself meeting a noticeably different version of yourself.

Please Don’t Be Too Strict About This

Now let me say the thing I most want to say, because that list above can be genuinely dispiriting to read.

People of this constitution have been alive, and well, for a very long time. Generation after generation of Pulmotonia have lived out full lives without ever once seeing a food chart — eating whatever was on the table, in whatever village or century they were born into, and doing perfectly fine. A body that could only survive by consulting a list would not have made it this far. So whatever the chart says, your constitution is clearly a great deal more robust than the chart implies.

Take it as a direction to lean rather than a rule to obey. If you are not ill and have no active disease, small amounts of the harmful foods are perfectly fine — and can even do you good. The list earns its weight during illness, in recovery, or when you are trying to correct a specific problem. For a healthy person, treating it as a set of prohibitions turns eating into a source of anxiety, and I am quite sure that anxiety does more damage than the food ever would. Manage your diet as far as your circumstances comfortably allow, and no further.

A Personal Note

I am not sure whether this counts as consolation, but I will say it anyway: of all eight constitutions, Pulmotonia is the one I am most fond of, and most drawn to. People of this type are creative and optimistic, often brilliant, and unusually considerate of others. If you are reading this and recognising yourself in the description — the long list of foods to avoid comes attached to some remarkably good company.

In Summary

Pulmotonia’s list of foods to avoid is the longest of the eight, but the weight is decided by two things rather than by the list. Root vegetables beat meat for this type yet still should not be eaten freely; and forcing a sweat both drains the body and fails to curb appetite, so exercise freely but never chase the sweat. Because this constitution digests unsuitable food without obvious protest, the harm accumulates quietly — which is the real reason to lean toward the beneficial side. But lean, don’t grip: your ancestors managed without the chart, and so will you. Eat mostly your own way, hold the rest lightly, and see what a stretch of it does for you.

This article reflects the clinical observations and teaching practice of Professor Seungho Baek, Professor of Korean Medicine at Dongguk University College of Korean Medicine, specializing in Pathology and Oncology.