Food therapy, also known as food therapy, is a method of using food to influence various aspects of the body’s functions to achieve health or to heal and prevent disease. Food is generally considered to be an edible substance that provides the body with various nutrients needed for growth, development and healthy survival. In other words, the primary role of food is nutritional. In fact, Chinese medicine has long recognized that food can not only be nutritious, but also cure diseases. Such as the modern medical doctor Zhang Xichen in the “medical zhizhong ginseng xilu” has pointed out: food “patients serve, not only healing, and can fill the hunger; not only fill the hunger, more can be suitable for the mouth, with the right symptoms, the disease since the gradual healing, that is, not the right symptoms, there is no other problem”. It can be seen that food itself has “nourishing” and “healing” two aspects of the role. Chinese medicine, on the other hand, attaches more importance to the characteristics of food in “nourishing” and “healing”. At present, TCM food therapy, as a more ideal and effective health care method, has been paid more and more attention by Chinese medicine and nutrition, and has become an important part of the comprehensive measures of modern human health care.
Food therapy is a traditional Chinese habit, through the diet to achieve the purpose of conditioning the body and strengthening the body. The culture of food therapy has a long history and food therapy is a long-term health care behavior. People in the past toned their bodies through food therapy, and now people use food therapy for weight loss, skin care and hair care. Food therapy is a healthy way to be fit and healthy.
More classically, food is the best medicine for human beings to cure diseases, and food therapy is the use of food instead of medicine to cure diseases, restore cellular functions, and restore the body to health. Advanced balanced nutrients can enhance the cellular nutrient metabolism function, so that the cells get strong energy; at the same time, it can activate the cellular healthy immune genes, so that the cellular immune activity increases and the number of immune cells increases exponentially; it can make the immune cells have the ability to release a large number of specific immunoglobulins to directly kill the invading cellular bacteria and viruses, and directly neutralize and remove the physical and chemical substances absorbed by the cells; strong immune cells can directly engulf diseased and dead cells and waste metabolites, and help low-functioning cells to restore their functions for the purpose of treating diseases. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, said that medication is better than food, and that food is the best medicine for human beings to cure diseases. He believed that the body’s natural immunity is the true end of disease.
History of food therapy.
In the process of struggling with nature, primitive man gradually discovered that some animals and plants could be used for both hunger and health care, and accumulated a lot of valuable experience. With the progress of society, people began to understand and use fire. It is written in the Rituals of the Man, “The Suirens drilled wood to obtain fire, and cooked the fire from the gun, so that people had no abdominal diseases and were different from the animals.” It can be seen that the discovery of fire is a progress of human diet and nutrition health care, with far-reaching significance.
With the emergence and use of pottery, food preparation was not limited to “fire dagger burnt meat” and “stone burnt grain”, cooking methods became increasingly diverse, and the taste of food was more delicious. During this period, wine was also introduced, and there was already a record of “Yi Di making wine” in the “Lü Shi Chun Qiu”, but initially it was limited to wine made from the natural fermentation of grain crops and fruits, and later there were edible wine and medicinal wine with compound ingredients.
Yi Yin, a minister of the Shang Dynasty, reformed the cooking utensils and invented food such as soup and liquid soup, creating the food method of cooking and drenched soup. In the 5th century B.C., during the Zhou Dynasty, there was a “food doctor” who was in charge of the nutritional health of food. After that, vinegar, sauce, sugar, tofu and other seasonings and foods also appeared one after another.
During the Warring States period, the “Nei Jing” was the first medical theory monograph in China, and the “Su Wen? The “Five Permanent Treatise on Government” advocates: “To cure a disease with a large poison, remove six of ten; to cure a disease with a constant poison, remove seven of ten; to cure a disease with a small poison, remove eight of ten; to cure a disease without poison, remove nine of ten. Grain, meat, fruit and vegetables, food and nourishment to the end, do not make too much, and hurt its right.” The book highly evaluates the role of food therapy for health, and is also a major progress in the theory of food therapy for health.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Zhongjing, a famous doctor, had to “drink a liter of hot porridge to help the medicine” after taking Gui Zhi Tang when treating an external disease, and also abstain from cold, sticky, spicy and other foods during taking the medicine, which shows his emphasis on diet and its auxiliary treatment.
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, many monographs on food therapy were published, such as Sun Simiao’s “Thousand Gold Essentials”, Volume 26, which is devoted to food therapy. He advocates that “the doctor should know the source of the disease, know what it is, and treat it with food. The principle of “medicine is better than food” is reflected. Since then, the monographs “Food Therapy Materia Medica” and “Food Nature Materia Medica” have systematically recorded some food medicine and medicinal recipes. In the Song dynasty, the General Records of Shengji (聖济总錄) contains a special section on food therapy, which introduces the food therapy for various diseases. In the Song Dynasty, Chen Zhizhi wrote “The Book of the Elderly and the Parents”, which is dedicated to the health care of the elderly, focusing on the important role of diet and nutrition. In the Yuan dynasty, the book “Drinking food is about to be compiled” by Khu Sihui, a doctor of the Yuan dynasty, inherited the tradition of combining food, nutrition and medicine, and made a lot of discussions on the diet of healthy people, which is the first monograph on nutrition in China. In the Ming Dynasty, Li Shizhen’s “Compendium of Materia Medica” contains more than 300 kinds of cereals, vegetables and fruits, and more than 400 kinds of animal drugs. All of them can be used for food therapy. In addition, the emergence of Lu He’s “Food Materia Medica”, Wang Mengying’s “Food Recipes for the Leisurely Dwelling” and Fei Bo Xiong’s “Fei’s Food and Nutrition Three”, etc., has led to the comprehensive development of food therapy and health science.
Classification of food therapy.
Congee: Congee is made of rice and water, such as the addition of drugs cooked together will be called medicine porridge, but also the right amount of medicine juice into the porridge for patients to take. It includes the dual effect of food therapy and medicine therapy. For example, dry ginger is a medicine used in Chinese medicine to warm the middle of the body and disperse cold, but it has no nourishing effect, and is only suitable for the disease of internal cold; japonica rice or glutinous rice can strengthen the spleen and benefit the qi, but has no power to disperse cold. If you use dry ginger and rice together to cook porridge, it becomes a good food cure with warming the spleen and stomach, treating the spleen and stomach cold. Another example is to cook porridge with glutinous rice, add appropriate amount of onion and ginger when decocted, and blend in a small cup of vinegar after cooking, which can treat cold and prevent cold at the same time. As the grain rice cooked porridge, adding medicine especially tonic medicine porridge, can be normal as breakfast or snacks to eat, both to fill the hunger, but also for food treatment. Congee food is simple and easy to use, in ancient and modern food therapy in the most used.
Soup: Soup is also known as soup, it is a thicker soup made of meat, eggs, milk, seafood, etc. as the main raw material. It can be eaten as a meal, but also as a side dish. For example, lily and silver fungus soup, with 50 grams of lily, 25 grams of silver fungus, 50 grams of rock sugar, first lily, lotus seeds, silver fungus cooked with water, simmered with a civilian fire until the soup is slightly sticky, then add rock sugar, cold and ready to eat. Has a calming effect on the brain, served every night before bed, cure insomnia, dreaming, anxiety, forgetfulness.
Tea: also known as “tea drink”, refers to drugs containing tea or tea, crushed and mixed with coarse powder products (some drugs can be crushed without). Generally do not use the steep or overly bitter herbs. Medicine tea with boiling water steeped or boiled with water, you can drink as often as the daily drinking tea. Such as the treatment of wind and cold ginger tea, that is, from ginger, brown sugar composition. Another example is chrysanthemum tea, that is, the Chinese medicine chrysanthemum steeped in water and served frequently, can cure dizziness, dizziness, with clear heat, eyesight function.
Liquor: also known as “medicinal wine”, that is, a liquid form of Chinese medicine combined with wine, can be prepared by infusion method or brewing method. According to Chinese medicine, wine can open the blood vessels, remove the cold, and perform the medicinal potential. Commonly used medicinal wines include wolfberry wine, ginseng wine, deer antler wine, and Jianmei wine. However, the disadvantage of this medicinal wine is that it is not suitable for people who cannot drink alcohol or those with poor liver and kidney function.
Advantages of food therapy.
Traditional Chinese medicine has always emphasized that “medicine is better than food”, and using food as medicine has the following outstanding advantages.
1, food therapy does not produce any toxic side effects, while the drug treatment is not, long-term use will often produce a variety of side effects and dependence, and may also have an impact on the human health of certain;.
2, these foods are ordinary things in our daily lives, inexpensive, some even do not cost a penny, so that we can achieve the purpose of healing in our daily meals, which in turn is not comparable to the expensive medical costs.
3, food for medicine also has the advantage of no pain, so that people enjoy the process of food to get rid of pain, avoiding the pain of injections, medication, and even surgery. With these advantages that are incomparable to drugs, how can we not use food as medicine and food therapy to cure diseases? Of course, food therapy is the best prescription, food therapy is indeed very effective in preventing and treating diseases, there are advantages different from drug treatment, but it does not mean that food therapy can cure all diseases, nor can it replace drug treatment. If the condition is acute. Or if the disease does not decrease after the application of food therapy, you should seek medical guidance.
The world’s popular food therapy nine methods.
Nowadays, people are more and more interested in healthy and natural treatment methods, such as treating diseases through diet. Here are nine of the world’s most popular dietary treatments. Food therapy is useful only if you stick to it for a long time Recently, I have often been asked by patients whether the so-called “food therapy” works or not. The streets are full of restaurants under the banner of “medicinal food”; newspapers, the Internet, and television are also publicizing every day that eating this food can fight cancer, eating that food can replenish vitamins, and we often religiously follow the map, but no one can say whether it works or not after eating.
1, carrots for gout: the northeast a special carrot is rich in a large amount of potassium, phosphorus, selenium, active enzymes, vitamin c, vitamin k and other substances, the regulation of the body’s acid-base balance has a very good effect. Carrots are divided into female daikon radish and androgynous two, of which the female radish is more effective than the androgynous.
2, black tea to prevent and control the flu Japanese scientists with a lighter than average black tea water concentration of black tea liquid in the virus infection area soaked for 5 seconds, the virus will lose its infectivity. For this reason, researchers proposed: in the high season of influenza, people often drink black tea or insist on gargling with black tea water can prevent influenza.
3, vitamin B6 to prevent and control diabetes France, Italy and Japan have reported that vitamin B6 below normal values of diabetes patients, a daily supply of 100 mg of vitamin B6, 6 weeks after the numbness and pain in the limbs and other symptoms will be reduced or disappear. Usually eat more brown rice, flour, eggs, cabbage, dry yeast and other foods rich in vitamin B6, also effective in the prevention and treatment of diabetes.
4, milk to prevent and control bronchitis A recent survey by American scholars found that smokers suffering from chronic bronchitis 31, 7% of people never drink milk, while the daily milk smokers suffering from bronchitis is less than 20%. The large amount of vitamin A contained in milk protects the bronchial tubes and bronchial walls, reducing the risk of inflammation. Although milk has many benefits, but be careful!
5, royal jelly to prevent arthritis British scientists studied 200 arthritis patients and came to a new conclusion: arthritis patients who take royal jelly once a day, the pain reduction of up to 50%, joint flexibility also improved by 17%.
6, orange juice to prevent and control urinary tract infections U.S. obstetrician and gynecologist research that people prone to urinary tract infections, drink 300 ml of orange juice every day to help prevent and control urinary tract infections, the effect is better than simply drinking water.
7, pumpkin seeds to prevent prostate disease A recent scientific research paper published by American researchers pointed out that insisting on eating a handful of pumpkin seeds every day (about 50 grams) can treat prostate hypertrophy and significantly improve the third stage of the disease. This is because the active ingredients in pumpkin seeds can eliminate the initial swelling of the prostate gland and also have the effect of preventing prostate cancer.
8, starchy foods to prevent bowel cancer Research by the University of Cambridge in the UK showed that the incidence of colon cancer in Australia is four times higher than that of the Chinese, and the main reason for this is that Australians consume less starch. Experts pointed out that the butyrate in starch-rich foods such as bananas, potatoes and peas can directly inhibit the reproduction of colonic bacteria, which is a strong inhibitor of cancer cell growth.
9, spinach to prevent retinal degeneration A recent study by Harvard University showed that eating spinach 2 to 4 times a week can reduce the risk of retinal degeneration. It is claimed that the key to protecting your eyesight with spinach is carotenoids, a compound present in green leafy vegetables that prevents damage to the retina from sunlight.
A low-salt diet is the basis of dietary therapy.
It can be said that a low-salt diet is the basis of dietary treatment for the vast majority of patients with kidney disease. A low-salt diet is strictly a sodium-restricted diet. Therefore all foods high in sodium should be restricted. There are two main categories of foods high in sodium: one is salt, MSG, soy sauce, sauce and other condiments; the second is a variety of salt preserved foods, such as all kinds of preserved vegetables, pickles, bacon, preserved fish, plate duck, sausage, red sausage, etc.. Daily salt control at 2 to 3 grams (1 gram for a medium toothpaste cap) or 10 to 15 ml of soy sauce. The second type of food is prohibited on a low-salt diet. MSG, which contains half the sodium of table salt, must also be used with care in limited quantities. In addition, various noodle foods generally contain a certain amount of sodium (baking soda), so they should also be limited. Since the sodium content of various natural fresh foods is very low, it is not difficult to have a low-salt diet as long as the use of condiments is limited, i.e. less salt, MSG and soy sauce, and more sugar and vinegar. In addition, Chinese medicine “autumn stone” and commercially available low-sodium salt can be used to increase the saltiness. However, their main ingredient is potassium chloride, so you should consult your physician. They should be used with caution or not in cases of oliguria or anuria, or in advanced renal failure, to avoid hyperkalemia. A low-salt diet is mainly indicated for patients with nephrotic syndrome, hypertension and oliguria, and is the most commonly used diet for kidney disease in clinical practice. However, patients with renal disease with predominantly tubular damage generally cannot be on a low salt diet. This is because excessive sodium loss in the urine may occur in these diseases, leading to the appearance of problems such as hyponatremia and hypovolemia. Therefore, attention should be paid to sodium supplementation at this time, and it is advisable to eat high-sodium foods.
Contraindicated.
1. The following are the contraindications of drug-food pairing listed by different editors.
(1) general sweating medicine should be prohibited cold, regulate the spleen and stomach medicine forbidden greasy, swelling and Qi medicine forbidden beans, anti-cough and asthma medicine forbidden fishy, anti-diarrhea medicine forbidden melons and fruits.
These taboos mainly include: pork anti-Umei, orris, Huang Lian, Hu Gorgonian yellow, lily of the valley, Atractylodes; lamb anti-Hanxia, calamus, avoid copper, tansy; dog anti-Shang Lu, avoid almonds; carp anti-Houpo, avoid Madonnas; pig blood avoid Dihuang, He Shou Wu; pig heart avoid Wu Zhu Wu; carp avoid Zhu Sha; bird meat avoid Atractylodes, plums; onion avoid Chang Shan, Dihuang, He Shou Wu, honey; garlic avoid Dihuang, He Shou Wu; radish avoid Dihuang, He Shou Wu ; vinegar avoid Poria; Tu Fu Ling, Wei Ling Xian avoid tea, etc.
(2) the ancient people also have some taboos on food and food pairing, its reasoning is not sufficient, but in the application of medicinal food can be referred to.
These taboos are: pork avoid buckwheat, pigeon meat, carp, soy; lamb avoid vinegar; dog avoid garlic; carp avoid mustard, pig liver; pig blood avoid soy; pig liver avoid buckwheat, bean paste, carp intestines, fish; carp avoid dog meat; turtle meat avoid amaranth, wine, fruit; eel avoid dog meat, dog blood; bird meat avoid pig liver; duck egg avoid mulberry, plum; chicken avoid mustard, glutinous rice, plum; turtle meat avoid pork, rabbit meat, duck meat, amaranth The application of these taboos is mainly appropriate to make people stagnant, wind, sores, morbidity, etc.
2, the four seasons diet taboos.
Four seasons to adjust food, that is, in accordance with the four changes in nature, the appropriate adjustment of their diet. This view of the four seasons food adjustment is based on the overall concept of Chinese medicine health. Diet is an aspect of the human body’s connection with the outside world, so in terms of diet, it should also adapt to the changes in the four natural seasons of climate, and make corresponding adjustments.
Spring March, the human body liver qi when the order, so the diet should be reduced acid benefit sweet, so as to avoid the liver qi too much, especially the vegetative liver Yang hyperactive people, spring is the most appropriate relapse, so in addition to pay attention to dietary regulation, it is best to drug prevention, available sweet food to nourish the spleen.
In summer and March, the climate is hot and the body’s digestive function decreases, so it is advisable to eat light, digestible food, with special attention to eating more nutritious vegetables and fruits.
Summer sweating more, the relative lack of fluid, so the appropriate amount of drinking “mung bean soup” and other cold drinks to replenish water, heat relief. But cold drinks should not be too much, otherwise harmful.
Since ancient times, our people have the habit of drinking tea to relieve the heat. Modern research has proved that tea contains crude fiber, gum, chlorophyll, but also contains alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, vitamins, ergotinol, volatile oil, and a small amount of niacin, thiamine, folic acid, protein, minerals, etc.. Drinking tea can refresh the brain, relieve fatigue and enhance memory. Therefore, drinking tea in summer to relieve the summer heat than cold drinks better.
Autumn and March, is a good season for gastrointestinal diseases, especially at this time should pay attention to dietary hygiene, to prevent “disease from the mouth”. In addition, after the autumn, do not crave cold drinks and cold food, so as not to damage the spleen and stomach.
In March, the yin and yang are in decline, so it is a good time for the weak to take tonic. The key to winter tonic is dietary tonic, and there are many tonic products, which can be suitable for each person.
For those who are deficient in qi, such as weakness, shortness of breath, dizziness, and sweating, chicken soup with ginseng can be used; for those who are deficient in blood, such as withered face, dizziness, and numbness of hands and feet, red dates, cinnamon, animal blood and liver can be eaten; for those who are deficient in yin, fish, turtles and tamari can be eaten; for those who are deficient in yang, foods such as beef, mutton and dog meat that warm the middle and warm the body and blood can be taken.
The deficiency disease discussed by Chinese medicine can be divided into Yang deficiency, Yin deficiency, blood deficiency and Qi deficiency. So how to distinguish these deficiencies? What is yin deficiency? What is Yang deficiency? What is blood deficiency? What is qi deficiency? This is not a very discriminating question for TCM professionals. But for most patients it is very confusing. Mr. Nie Wentao, a famous scholar, summed up the four sentences of science: “Yin deficiency and fever; Yang deficiency and fear of cold; Blood deficiency and dryness; Qi deficiency and weakness.” Although these four sentences cannot cover the entirety of the dialectic, it is true that many people understand the different deficiency symptoms. Specifically.
Yang deficiency syndrome.
Symptoms: fear of cold, mouth not easily thirsty or like hot drinks, coughing clear thin foamy sputum, often vomiting clear water, thin stools or often diarrhea, often abdominal pain and discomfort, but pain can be relieved by pressing the abdomen with the hand, or abdominal pain can be improved by applying heat to the abdomen, clear and long urine, hands and feet not warm or very cold, pale face, depressed and sluggish spirit, etc. The tongue coating is white and thick, the tongue is pale and tender, and the pulse is sunken, sluggish, weak and feeble. It is easy to sweat during the day without heat, the mouth and lips are light, the mouth is often pale and tasteless, etc.
Yin deficiency syndrome.
Self-perceived internal heat, feeling hot in the palms, feet and heart, dry throat and mouth, drinking a lot of water, sometimes with heat in the afternoon, feeling sweaty at night after waking up (night sweats), dry stools, short yellow urine, red facial cheekbones, mental restlessness, restlessness, frequent insomnia, red and dry lips. Red tongue with little coating, dry and cracked tongue, tender red tongue, thin and feeble pulse, etc.
Blood deficiency syndrome.
Due to poor heart and spleen function, blood deficiency occurs due to easy blood loss, ischemia and anemia. It manifests as dizziness, weakness, palpitations, heart trouble, blurred vision, pale face, pale lips, little speech, poor spirit, pale white tongue, weak pulse.
Qi deficiency syndrome.
It refers to the deficiency of the body’s positive qi, the body’s reduced ability to resist evil, and reduced physiological functions resulting in fatigue, palpitation, shortness of breath, spontaneous sweating, night sweating, general weakness, lack of vital energy, impotence, spermatorrhea, premature ejaculation, irregular menstruation, hair loss, poor appetite, indigestion, etc. It can be divided into kidney qi deficiency, spleen qi deficiency, lung qi deficiency and heart qi deficiency, and often occurs at the same time with blood deficiency, but each has its own characteristics.
”Medicine is better than food, food is better than water, and water is the king of all medicines.” In Li Shizhen’s “Compendium of Materia Medica”, “Water” is listed as the top of the book, and tells people the health care role of water in such easy-to-understand language. And the American medical doctor Bateman in the book “water is the best medicine”, explained a new discovery: unhealthy water is the root cause of many chronic diseases, shocked the world of medicine.
”The fact that Chinese and Western scholars have such a ‘love affair’ with water in their writings is a testament to the important impact of water on health. Modern medicine has proven that indigestion, headaches, rheumatoid arthritis, stress and depression, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, allergies and more are all related to water. People want to live a long and healthy life, and I think choosing good water and developing the right drinking habits is the first step.”
Acidification – the source of all diseases in the human body.
In the past two years, “sub-health” has become widely popular, sub-healthy people are also rapidly expanding.
What many people do not know is that an important criterion for judging health and sub-health is the PH value of body fluids. The PH value of body fluid of healthy people is between 7.35 and 7.45, which is a weak alkaline body. However, this part of the population only accounts for about 15% of the population. More people have a pH value of 7.35 or less, between health and disease, which is also known as “sub-healthy” acidic body in medicine.
Gout, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular patients, almost everyone is found to be acidic. Smoking and drinking every day, big fish and meat, coupled with emotional stress, long-term medication, the body is acidified.” A nutrition expert said, “For this group of people, it is imperative to adjust the acid-base balance of the body.
What are the food therapy misconceptions?
(1) Blindly taking supplements.
The wrong direction of supplementation. Some people feel that their bodies are deficient, so they often use tonic medicines such as ginseng wine, astragalus and Huai Shan soup, ginseng and astragalus essence to supplement, thinking that it is beneficial, but it is not expected that such things are not available for people with yin deficiency (pale face, palpitations, low fever, night sweats, thirst, red tongue with less moss, insomnia and dreaminess), but use it to consume yin and fluid, making the symptoms even heavier. The above-mentioned dietary supplements are useful for people with qi deficiency, who suffer from asthma when moving, dizziness and sweating, thin stools, prolapse of internal organs (gastric prolapse, renal prolapse, uterine prolapse, prolapse of anus), so the above-mentioned supplements are the right remedies. Therefore, it is necessary to take the right tonic for the right condition. For example, some elderly patients with chronic bronchitis mostly have symptoms of lung yin deficiency (cough without phlegm or with little and thick phlegm, sometimes hemoptysis, hot flashes and night sweats, heat in the heart of the hands and feet, dry mouth and throat), if they use red ginseng, which is on the side of sweet and warm, it will aggravate their condition, they should use western ginseng and sage to benefit the qi and nourish yin and clear heat. Over-supplementation. Most elderly people have weak digestive power and weak spleen and stomach. At this time, if you use a lot of nourishing and greasy products such as longan meat, rehmannia, aconite, etc., it will weaken the digestive ability of the spleen and stomach, reduce the amount of meals, and cause symptoms such as abdominal distension and diarrhea. Therefore, too much nourishment and grease is a common mistake in supplementation. If the elderly are really Yin deficient, they should use rehmannia, aconite and so on, but they should not be too nourishing and greasy. It is also a good choice to take appropriate amount of rock sugar yellow essence soup, a product such as Huai Shan. Deer antler is a famous tonic for Yang, but if you use a lot of it suddenly, you will get a bloody nose, red eyes, dizziness and other symptoms of fire. Therefore, it is important to start with a small amount. Take the tonic for granted. Some people think that vitamins are tonic and there is no harm in using more. For example, cod liver oil contains vitamin A and vitamin D. The human body can get dry eyes and night blindness when vitamin A is deficient, and vitamin D deficiency can lead to rickets, but in fact, the intake of vitamin A from food is sufficient for physiological needs, only when you have chronic hepatitis, pancreatitis, diarrhea will appear vitamin A deficiency. In this case, on the one hand, the cause of the disease should be treated, on the other hand, appropriate supplementation of vitamin A. If taken blindly for a long time in large quantities, it can lead to poisoning, headache, nausea, vomiting, hair loss and itchy skin, while vitamin D applied blindly for a long time in large quantities can lead to hypothermia, irritability, anorexia, liver enlargement, kidney damage and bone sclerosis. Other vitamin drugs should not be used blindly as a tonic, such as vitamin C long-term use in large quantities can lead to kidney, ureter, bladder stones; vitamin B1 a large number of blind applications can lead to headache, irritability, arrhythmia, swelling and neurasthenia.
(2) Abuse of “drug food”.
In recent years, “drug food” has become popular. Once abused, these “drug foods” are very harmful. It can cause the normal physiological activities of the body to be disrupted, and even cause disease. For example, “ginseng soft candy”, “deer antler soft candy”, “ginseng milk powder”, “ginseng cookies”, etc. Ginseng has the ability to promote the secretion of gonadotropic hormones. Ginseng has the effect of promoting the secretion of gonadal hormones, and deer antler is generally used to treat impotence. If children consume these so-called “medicated foods” at will, they will mature prematurely and have premature sexual development such as growing beard and pubic hair. Some “medicated foods” (such as some drinks) contain caffeine and other stimulants, which, when used in large quantities, interfere with the body’s biorhythms and are harmful to health. There are also people who make their own “drug food”. For example, some people think that licorice is beneficial without the good medicine, plus its sweet taste is delicious, so they will be liquorice infusion as tea. This is very dangerous. This “licorice tea” served for a long time will produce similar adrenocorticotropic hormone-like side effects, so that the blood sodium discharge decreased, increased potassium discharge, resulting in high blood sodium, calcium deficiency convulsions. What’s more, prolonged consumption of licorice can lead to hyperalgesia. Once hypoadrenocorticism occurs, the problem is more problematic. Some patients will need to take adrenocorticosteroids like prednisone for life to sustain life.
(3) Failure to identify contraindications.
In the process of performing dietary therapy, it is important to identify the desirability and contraindications of food for different people. For example, many people think that eating fish is suitable for everyone. This is not the case. The fish oil contained in fish is mainly eicosapentaenoic acid, which has the effect of inhibiting platelet agglutination and is beneficial in preventing coronary heart disease and cerebral thrombosis, but because it reduces the cohesiveness of platelets, it can cause all kinds of spontaneous bleeding, including cerebral hemorrhage. Some studies have shown that the Inuit, who eat fish as their main food, hardly suffer from coronary heart disease and cerebral thrombosis, but cerebral hemorrhage has become an important cause of death. Therefore, people who have a tendency to brain hemorrhage or have already had a history of brain hemorrhage should not blindly eat large amounts of fish.
Precautions for food therapy.
Compliance with the principles of food therapy is beneficial to human health and disease prevention and treatment. On the contrary, if you do not comply with the principles of food therapy is not conducive to this purpose, or even harmful. The relevant precautions are described as follows.
1, food is not biased: reasonable diet first requires people to diversify their diet. Chinese medicine represents various foods and their characteristics with five flavors, and also believes that the intake of various foods should not be biased; if long-term partial food, it will affect the normal physiological state and even disease. For example, the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine says: “taste too sour, the liver to Jin, the spleen is extinct; taste too salty, the bones to labor, short muscle, the heart is suppressed; taste too sweet, the heart gas panting, black, the kidney is not balanced; taste too bitter, the spleen is not moistened, the stomach is thick; taste too pungent, the tendons are frustrated, the spirit is central.” Also said: “more salt, the pulse condensation weeping and change color; more bitter, the skin is haggard and hair dial; more pungent, the pulse is urgent and melon withered …….” All repeatedly illustrate this problem.
A reasonable diet also requires people to match and coordinate the coarse and fine, meat and vegetables of their meals, especially not to eat animal meals that contain too much saturated fatty acids. Because too much saturated fatty acids for most people will increase the content of cholesterol in the blood, leading to atherosclerosis and inducing coronary heart disease. In ancient times, Chinese medicine also pointed out that the “thick taste of sorghum” is enough to make people sick.
In life, people do have a preference for spicy food, there is a preference for fried, greasy, alcoholic wine; children prefer snacks, meat. These are not good for health. In the taste of preference, love to eat sweeter or saltier are harmful. Sweet food is mainly sugar or food containing sugar, because the incidence of dental caries is positively related to the amount of sugar, so we should eat less sugar and sweet food to protect teeth. Salty food is salt and food containing salt, and salt contains sodium and chlorine. Since the incidence of hypertension is positively correlated with the intake of sodium, it is not advisable to eat more salt. In order to prevent hypertension, it is appropriate to eat no more than 10g of salt per person per day. Patients with hypertension are particularly well advised to limit their salt intake. As for the consumption of high alcohol if uncontrolled, it will make the appetite decline, reduce diet, resulting in nutritional deficiencies, and in serious cases, alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver. Therefore, you should drink less or not drink alcohol, especially high alcohol. Pregnant women and children are not allowed to drink alcohol.
In addition, the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine points out that “the diet is hot without burning, cold without cang”. The “Golden Knot” also says: “Eat and drink hot and cold”. This means that you should not eat too much cold, melons and fruits, nor should you eat food that is too hot, pungent and dry. The former can easily damage the spleen and stomach yang qi and cause diarrhea and abdominal pain, or women’s menstrual disorders; the latter can easily accumulate heat in the intestines and stomach and injure yin and rob liquid, causing thirst and dry throat, burning heat in the stomach and epigastrium or abdominal pain and constipation, which are also important factors to trigger esophageal cancer.
2.Eating in moderation: Eating in moderation or proper hunger and satiety means that the diet should be moderate, not too little and not too much. It is one of the important elements to ensure a reasonable diet. Generally speaking, when the appetite is satisfied, the caloric needs can be met, indicating that one of the standards of human health weight can also be maintained normally. Eating too little to cause wasting, eating too much to cause obesity, is undoubtedly bad.
In ancient times, we pay great attention to the damage caused by too much food and drink. The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine says, “Don’t make too much of your diet, it hurts its righteousness”. The first is that “the diet since the times, the intestines and stomach is hurt. Then, it can cause certain diseases. For the diet is too rich in nutrients caused by the serious consequences of the “life of the world” pointed out: “wanton mouth and stomach desire, extreme taste of beauty, poor diet of pleasure, although the body is full of fat, look pleasant, but the cool gas internal erosion of the viscera, the spirit of deficiency!
How to master a good diet, “Drinking food is about to” said well, “good natured, first hungry and food, food do not make full; first thirsty and drink, drink do not make too. Food want to number and less, do not want to ton and more”. So far it is also very feasible.
3, pregnancy, postpartum diet taboos: pregnancy, postpartum because of the special physiological conditions such as pregnancy and fetal or breastfeeding, so we should choose the appropriate diet and avoid inappropriate diet. In general, the diet of pregnant women should get enough calories from cereal grains and animal foods, and the diet should be diversified and formulated according to the different stages of pregnancy. If you have vomiting in the early stage of pregnancy, you should eat less and more, and after the vomiting disappears in 2-3 months, you should eat more animal foods rich in protein, soybeans and dried fruits, vegetables and fruits rich in vitamins and fiber. Avoid eating too salty and sodium-rich diet, such as salted fish and bacon. If you have edema in the second trimester, you should eat a light diet, less salt, carp, crucian carp, azuki beans, coix seeds, and animal liver, meat pine, and soy products rich in iron and calcium. This period because the fetus gradually grows, affect the spleen and stomach transport, so should eat less taro, sweet potato, fava beans, bowl of beans and other foods that can cause abdominal rise. In addition, during pregnancy because the blood of the internal organs and meridians are injected in the punch to nourish the fetus, the body is relatively in the state of Yin and blood deficiency, Yang, so generally should avoid eating spicy stimulating and warm dry diet, such as ginger, chili, cinnamon, wine, mutton, dog meat, etc.
After delivery, because of the physical exertion and bleeding, the mother is in a weak state, and the need for breastfeeding, so should eat more fat, protein and can nourish the blood diet, such as animal diet, beans, dried fruit, or add astragalus, ginseng, angelica, jujube, etc. in the diet. For those who have difficulty in passing stool after delivery, they can eat more vegetables, sesame seeds, walnuts and so on. The amount of food should be gradually increased according to the appetite of the mother, and the diet should be easy to digest. Do not eat cold and hard and too fatty and thick food, so as not to damage the stomach gas.
4, sickness in the diet taboo: as early as the Han Dynasty “Jin Kui essentials” said: “the taste of food, there are with the disease is appropriate, there are with the body for the harm, if appropriate is appropriate body, harm is into disease”. It indicates that the diet should be selected when the disease is present, and that the dietary contraindications are different due to different diseases and symptoms. For example, if the spleen and stomach are cold and have diarrhea and abdominal pain, it is advisable to eat a diet that is easy to digest and can nourish the spleen and warm the middle, such as a diet containing yam, lotus seeds, jujube, sand, pepper, etc.; avoid eating cold, raw, cold fruits and greasy food, such as popsicles, cold drinks, watermelon, glutinous rice, sea cucumber, fatty meat. For those with internal heat deficiency, fever and thirst, it is advisable to eat a diet that can nourish yin and clear heat, such as a diet containing watermelon, tomatoes, celery, lotus hearts, maitong, etc.; avoid eating a warm, dry, spicy and stimulating diet, such as ginger, chili, mutton, strong tea, wine, coffee. Diabetic patients are recommended to eat a diet that helps lower sugar, such as a diet containing yam, maitake, stevia leaf, astragalus, etc.; avoid refined sugar and its products. Generally speaking, during the period of illness, it is advisable to eat a mild, easily digestible and nutritionally sound diet, and avoid eating hard, sticky, fishy and overly greasy food.
When the disease is first healed and the appetite has just improved, it is advisable to use the gruel to nourish, not to suddenly enter the daily meals or meat and other thick tasting diet. In order to avoid difficult to digest, the spleen and stomach suffer, and even difficult to heal or disease recurrence. In particular, gastrointestinal diseases are more common.
In addition to the above, general dietary hygiene is also worth noting.