Our site has some of the basics in the five element nutrition theory section within the larger TCM nutrition theory section.
You are correct, however, that there is disagreement among these listings. That said, Chinese Medicine is all about relative relationships and this fluid theory is both part of the usefulness and the complexity of tcm diagnostic/treatment frameworks. In my opinion, the bulk of it is to understand these - when you are cold and weak you may need warming and strengthening foods, when you are overheated you may need cooling foods, but limited or none if you are overheated with weak digestion, etc. The five element categorizations are useful in general, but the more relative relationships between hot, warm, cold, deficient, excess, etc. are more practically useful. These ultimately result in an awareness of food as medicine and the relationships between us, the seasons, our activity levels, etc.
@RogerG we are fine posting titles to books, etc. - what we will most often remove is posts that don’t add value to the discussion, particularly if they are simply links with referral codes to texts.
My general recommendation for texts is “healing with whole foods” by Paul Pitchford - I don’t agree with every aspect of the text but I think it is the most balanced presentation.
