Seven Castles

Chinese Medicated Diet

                                      

July 8, 2008

 

The Chinese have a traditional belief in the medicinal value of food, as they believe that food and medicine share the same origin. This view could be considered a forerunner of nutritional science in China.

 

Chinese medicated diet is not a simple combination of food and Chinese herb, but a special highly finished diet made from Chinese herbs, food and condiments under the theoretical guidance of diet preparation based on differentiation of symptoms and signs of traditional Chinese medicine. It has not only the efficiency of medicine but also the delicacy of food, and can be used to prevent and cure diseases, build up one's health and prolong one's life.

 

Confucius (551-479 BC) died at the age of 72, which was considered a long life 2,000 years ago. It is because he had a special diet. He once wrote in Analects of Confucius that, among many other principles, food with changed flavor, corrupt food, and food with bad color could not be eaten.

 

In The Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic, a medical classic in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) that appeared approximately in the Warring States Period, several medicated diet prescriptions were recorded.

 

In Shennong's Herbal Classic, published approximately in the Qin and Han dynasties and is the extant earliest monograph on materia medica, many sorts of medicaments which are both herbal drugs and food were recorded, such as Chinese-date, sesame seed, Chinese yam, grape, walnut kernel, lily bulb, fresh ginger, Job's-tears seed, etc.

 

In the book Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases written by Zhang Zhongjing, a noted medical man in the East Han Dynasty, some noted medicated diet recipes were recorded, such as Soup of Chinese Angelica Root, Fresh Ginger and Mutton, Decoction of Pig-skin, etc., all of which now still have important values.

 

In the Tang Dynasty, Sun Simiao, a well-known doctor who died at the age of 101, once said that when a person is sick, the doctor should first regulate his or her diet and lifestyle. In most cases, these changes alone are enough to bring about a cure over time. He listed and discussed such questions as dietetic treatment, dietetic treatment for senile health care and health preservation, etc. in his books Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold for Emergencies and A supplement to Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold for Emergencies.

 

In the Ming Dynasty, Li Shizhen collected and recorded many medicated diet prescriptions, dozens of which were about medicated gruel alone, another dozens touched on nothing other than medicated wine.

 

Medicated diet has been developing greatly in assortment on the basis of traditional process, for example, medicated can, medicated sweets and so on. Salutary food and drinks produced on the basis of achievements in scientific research and having the effect of curing diseases have a variety of sorts and vary in characteristics. There is medicated food suitable for patients suffering from diabetes, obesity and angiocardiopathy; there are healthcare food and drinks suitable for athletes, actors, actresses and miners; there are also healthcare food or medicated diets suitable for the promotion of children's health and growth, or for prolonging life of the aged.

 

Chinese medicated diet has begun to go abroad. Medicated cans, healthcare drinks and medicated wine made from traditional Chinese medicine have been sold at the international market. Medicated diet dining-halls have been set up in some countries. 

【作者: zhangliping】【访问统计:】【2008年07月8日 星期二 05:23】【注册】【打印】