Abstract】：In Chinese health culture, “tonic” is an enduring topic, health treatment advocates “medicine is not expensive, the right disease is the spirit; food is not in the tonic, the mouth is precious. Ye Tianshi, a famous doctor in Qing dynasty, elevated it to the theory of “stomach is happy as tonic”. In this paper, we discuss the theory of “stomach liking as tonic” in Chinese medicine and suggest the clinical significance of paying attention to people’s dietary habits in the process of disease prevention and treatment. Chen Zetao, Department of Health Care, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
“Stomach preference is a tonic” means that under different physiological and pathological states, the body should follow the preferences of the spleen and stomach, and the food that suits its taste is beneficial to the body. Food and drink are the essence of life and livelihood of the people. In Ye Tianshi’s “clinical guide to the medical case of deficiency labor”, it is written: “the youth form of decay taken, see the symptoms have been labor and timidity, the vitality of the gas is less, the medicine is difficult to work, seeking medical help is not beneficial, food since the appropriate person, that is, the stomach like for tonic, to support the day after, hoping that it will be extended for a long time”. “Stomach happy as a tonic” is not only the inheritance and play of the theory of “five flavors into the stomach, each to the favorite”, but also one of the effective methods of clinical prevention and treatment of diseases, the implementation of food therapy.
1. Specific manifestations of “stomach likes as tonic”.
1.1 “Stomach likes” the body needs, the use of a degree
With the physical, environmental and climatic changes in the stomach, the body’s qi, blood, yin and yang also change, and the pathological process has different resistance to disease and evil. Jing Yue Quan Shu: “Those who like cold will have heat inside; those who like hot food will have cold inside”, high fever patients, heat injury and fluid deficiency, there will be thirst reaction, the same reason people with cold body like to eat warm products. Geographical differences cause physical differences, different dietary preferences. The “Nei Jing”: “fish and salt land, seaside near the water, its people eat fish and salty fish make people hot, salt is better than blood, so its people are black sparing ……” four times the cold and summer change, people to the air of heaven and earth, the law of the four seasons into, such as the heart is strong in the summer, the summer heat, the human body Like cool to benefit moisture to clear the summer heat, nourish Yin and benefit Qi, five organs belong to the heart, suitable for clear tonic. At the same time, we like to eat lightly to reduce calorie intake.
1.2 If the stomach likes to be untreated, it becomes a source of disease
The stomach likes to be tonic is not a tonic if you like the food you eat, and it is not a tonic if you encourage the patient to eat what he likes without fear. There are different appetites and each has its own. For example, the spleen and stomach like sweet, sweet into the spleen, eat more sweet to tonic, sweet people are full in the middle, if you take too much, it will be full. The “Nei Jing”: “gas increase and long, the cause of premature death. Diet since the times, the intestines and stomach is injured. Disease starts with overuse, over is also hurt its right, if greedy mouth and forget to avoid taboos, the disease is latent, over addicted to tobacco, alcohol, fat, sweet, spicy, etc., for a long time also hurt damage to the stomach and intestines. Over-eating fatty and sweet phlegm, over-indulgence in alcoholic brew is drinking, melon and fruit pastry, wet from the inside, the development of swelling and fullness of diarrhea. Phlegm and dampness trapped in the spleen, the spleen in the orifice for the mouth, the mouth tasteless, and further like to eat things with a strong flavor, so forming a vicious circle. This kind of “gastric delight” is actually “mouth delight”, not the same concept.
1.3 “Gastric aversion” self-protection, discomfort signals
Gastric aversion is a special kind of gastric happy performance, this kind of “gastric happy” performance is the protection of the body function, but also a signal of disease. Such as food stagnation in the stomach and epigastrium, anorexia due to lack of decomposition; damp heat in the liver and gallbladder, spleen loss of health and moisture flow, anorexia of greasy food; worrying about the spleen, spleen qi is damaged, the stomach and internal organs are not in harmony, fullness and inappetence. After pregnancy, the Qi of the Chong Chakra is reversed, affecting the harmony of the stomach, resulting in anorexia in pregnant women. The book emphasizes the importance of “and the things you think about”, and includes a special section on “Why do you need to abstain from eating, and stop eating cold, hard and greasy things”, pointing out that when a person is sick with swelling and pain, the pain hurts the stomach qi, and he does not like all the tastes; until after the ulcer, once the pus and poison are out, the stomach qi will return, and then he will want to eat. At that time, if you like what you want, you can give it to the spleen and stomach. If the thing you think about, not with, this is to go against its stomach gas, but also can not eat. It is important not to overdo it, but avoid, raw and cold injury to the spleen, hard things difficult to dissolve, fatty and slippery intestines, so forbidden, the rest of the casual use. Diet
2 Modern research evidence of “stomach like for tonic”
2.1 Regulation of the body through the influence of nutrient absorption and utilization by preference
Combined with the modern view of nutrition, I believe that “stomach preference is a tonic” can be used to obtain sufficient nutrients and active substances to fight diseases by avoiding the harmful effects of the preferred or undesirable foods. Now it is confirmed that nutrients and active substances can influence the expression of genes related to cell proliferation, differentiation and growth and development of the body, and regulate the expression of disease-causing genes. At the molecular level, nutrients themselves and their metabolites act as signaling molecules, regulating the action on cellular receptors, thus activating cellular signal transduction systems and interacting with transcription factors to activate effects on gene expression. At the overall macroscopic level, the human body for the absorption of nutrients in gastric hi food is higher than that of ordinary food. Ding reported exotic experiments where the experimental volunteers were women from Sweden Thailand, in the face of the same Thai dish, Thai women who liked this dish could absorb more iron from it. In contrast, when the volunteers were given hamburgers, potatoes and beans, the Swedish women who preferred these foods absorbed more iron. At the same time, another experiment was conducted on the same subjects, giving all volunteers a paste with high nutritional value, but bland and tasteless. Neither absorbed more iron at this time.
2.2 Mechanisms of protection of the organism
Darwinian medicine new science that humans in the evolutionary process produced a variety of iron control mechanisms, so that bacteria to its essential nutrients to reduce access to iron, so as to kill bacteria, a study found that when sick, the human body on the usual favorite iron-rich foods such as ham and egg yolk appetite reduced, but prefer to eat light porridge, is the human body so that the effective adjustment of bacteria can not get iron. Abnormal secretion or excretion of bile in liver and gallbladder diseases leads to lack of bile involved in digestive function, making it difficult to digest and absorb fatty and greasy foods, gastritis and gastric ulcer can also lead to for insufficient power or too much stomach acid, all of which can cause an aversion to greasy reactions. There is evidence that nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy, as well as anorexia, is to prevent toxin damage and malformations in the developing fetus. Gastric pleasure as a tonic is a protective mechanism produced by the body in abnormal states and can also be one of the signs of disease.
3 Specific application of “Stomach happy as tonic”
3.1 Leveling yin and yang, correcting deviations with deviations
Through the “Stomach Delight”, we can indicate what the patient lacks and use the bias of the four qi and five tastes to adjust the bias of the internal organs. For example, if the patient is hot and thirsty, he should be given a cool diet such as watermelon, cucumber, water chestnut, fresh lotus root, etc.; if the patient is cold and has abdominal pain, he should be given a warm diet such as dried ginger, pepper, mutton, brown sugar, etc.; if the patient has Yin deficiency and stomach heat, he should eat lily, pear, lotus root, honey, milk, etc.; if the patient is stagnant, he should use kumquat, radish, orange peel, etc.; if the patient lacks stomach acid, he should eat hawthorn, ume, vinegar or acid-producing substances, etc. As Zhang Xichen said: “where the patient cool thing, not force to prohibit, I have seen suffering from dysentery, there is wanton drinking cold water and healed, there is full of watermelon and healed. In short, people’s endowment is not uniform, the disease of perversion, especially in the evidence, carefully with the news ear.” Li Yu, “Leisurely sentiments”: “Things that are cool by nature can be used as medicine” Through the verification of their own experience, to adapt the diet therapy, to achieve the purpose of treatment of cold is hot, hot is cold, deficiency is tonic, the real is diarrhea.
3.2 Awaken the spleen, open the stomach, and draw in the grain qi.
If you can eat, the situation is heavy but still salvageable, but those who can not eat, the situation is light but will be extended to the drama. “Light drink light porridge, people are evil; or pungent or salty, people like it. Or they are good things, can also be discretionary, to wake up the stomach gas”. Ye Tianshi has treated diarrhea and dysentery as an example: “to take rice drink 2 times a day, between not greasy and slippery things, eat some less not more, to show that the stomach likes for the tonic, must have stomach gas gradually wake up, there is a turn for the better”. Stomach for the sea of water and grain, not weak, weak, then all diseases are into the carry on, or think meat, such as, although contrary to the disease, but also make less food, Figure lead the pulp porridge, this power change way. If the light porridge exclusively to blame. Then the patient is unhappy and food reduction, a long time, the disease increases loss of life. Zhang Congzheng in his “Confucianism” to give an example to verify: a man slippery ejaculation for more than ten years, medicine and moxibustion are used, large meat withering engaged, fainting feet swelling, ejaculation like slop, day and night, want to eat raw goat liver, with the two small jian Xu, paste porridge sent, so more than a month and safe. The essence of the supplement is not flesh and blood sentient products can not, here lamb liver to stop diarrhea, the stomach like it to self-tonic. Pu Fu-chou had treated an elderly patient, fever and sores, long-term medication, although the fever has receded but the stomach gas has been defeated, water and food can not be accepted, the entrance is vomiting, the attitude of dying, the family has prepared a coffin at the side. Pao Lao asked that the patient had a taste for tea, asked his family to take “Longjing tea” two money bubble, drink a little, but unexpectedly drink and did not vomit and the next day the spirit turned better, and even ask for food, after the treatment and healed. In recent years, Li has reported a case, female, 36 years old, diarrhea for a year, bedridden, can not take care of their own food and two stools, large meat has been taken off, thin body like wood, cold body limbs, Chinese and Western medicine treatment is ineffective, occasionally found alfalfa sprouts made of tofu, eager to eat, after eating the symptoms alleviated, the spirit improved, homeopathic recuperation for a week to stop diarrhea, more than a month to take care of household chores, half a year to participate in labor, and so on, all supporting evidence. “The stomach likes to be tonic.” In clinical practice, both consumption and tonic are applied, and those who are evil are attacked and those who are liked are induced.
3.3 The five flavors of the desire to detect the disease
The same nature of food, different meridians, different affinity for different internal organs, positioning food effect is different, different internal diseases, odor likes and dislikes also have corresponding changes, by asking its desire for five flavors, to know where the disease is, such as pear clearing heat and moisten the lungs, thirst, for lung heat cough and asthma, on the contrary, like to eat fresh pear, or because of heat in the lungs, like to eat sweet, mostly because of spleen deficiency, and the same reason with the use of drugs, do not know the meridians and use food, the effect of general and no quick effect, insist on eating sweet, and the spleen deficiency, and the same reason with the use of drugs, do not know the meridians and use food. The effect of the food without knowing the meridians and no rapid effect, and the food is administered by the meridians, too harsh can cause harm. The patient’s favorite food should be accurately judged as the missing food, and not to stick to the general contraindication of a certain disease, which emphasizes the disease factor but ignores the individual differences.
3.4 Feedback on medication and adjustment of medication
In clinical diagnosis and treatment, the stomach likes and dislikes is also one of the main indicators of diagnosis and treatment. The stomach likes and comfort is reduced if the medicine is right, but on the contrary, the body is averse and resistant, suggesting that the medicine may not be right. According to the “stomach like” to administer the same flavor of medicine, so that the drug directly to the disease. If the spleen qi is deficient and likes to eat sweet taste, use sweet and warm spleen strengthening coix seeds, poria, jujube, etc. If the heart fire is strong and likes cold fruits and melons, use sweet and bitter heart nourishing yellow lily, scutellaria, Zhi Mu, etc., close to what they like and far from what they hate, in order to improve the effectiveness of treatment.
4 Conclusion
“The stomach likes as a tonic” is an extension of “the spleen and the stomach are the foundation of the latter”. Choosing what you like is the right dietary choice, and this dietary principle, by extension, is also applicable to healing and recovery. We must pay attention to the things we like to benefit the organism, but not too much, to prevent changes. In addition, there is the stomach of the favorite, there must be the stomach of the evil, the favorite advocate with, the evil avoid into, different things with the same reason, should not be ignored. The meaning of “stomach to like as a tonic” is that in the diet to take care of the taste of the diet, the body likes or can accept the food, in the nutrients can be fully absorbed at the same time can also assist in the treatment of disease. On the contrary, foods that cause strong rejection and disgust are not only detrimental to the full absorption of nutrients, but also affect compliance, and may have the potential to aggravate the disease. In conclusion, “stomach like as a tonic” is meant to emphasize the use of people’s dietary habits in the process of health care treatment, not only has its theoretical basis, but also received satisfactory results, it is necessary to be discussed in depth. o(∩_∩)O~