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Chinese Dietotheraphy is a study of how to make good
use of common foodstuffs and natural nutriements as well as
Chinese herbal medicine based on theory of TCM
to preserve health, prevent and heal diseases, build up one's
health and pro long one's life. In China, these are sometimes
called:
a) Medicinal Food;
b) Chinese Medicated Diet;
c) Dietetic theraphy;
d) Alimentotheraphy or
e) Dietotheraphy in Traditional
Chinese Medicine.
The intake of food is necessary for the maintenance of everyone's
daily life and activity. Many people consider food as fuel,
they need it simply keep them going through the day. But food
can also prevent and treat illness as food contains various
nutrients which are essential for people during illness to
repair tissue damage, as well as to resist and prevent disease
while in good health. For instance, cardiovascular diseases
is closely tie to food habits. If we pay attention to adjust
our daily food and drink, the process of arteriosclerosis
can be greatly postponed or even prevented. It can be seen
that these is a close relationship between diet and health.
Chinese Dietotheraphy has not only the efficiency
of medicine but also the delicacy of food as there goes the
saying "Good medicine tastes bitter" among the people,
because most of the decoction of Chinese medicine are bitter.
Hence, their nature and flavour are taken into consideration
and made into tasty medicated diet by mixing then with food
and development of cooking techniques to eliminate unpleasant
tastes or ordour from medicine. So, it can be said that Medicinal
food or cuisine is good in taste and convenient for taking.
Historical and development
Chinese Dietotheraphy has a long history. It originated
among the common people and through the ages this wisdom has
been distilled and improved by Chinese phycisians, and handed
down from ancient times.
The ancient legend emperor "Shennong"
around 2737BC was
recognized as the first person who tasted hundred plants and
everything in order to tell people what to eat and what to
avoid. Unfortunately, he himself was poisoned more the hundred
times. These incidents happened unconsciously, with no thought
given to any ideas of dietotheraphy or medicinal food. This
is an important and difficult step forward towards the origin
of dietotheraphy. This shows that early in remote antiquity
the Chinese nation began to explore the function of food and
medicaments, hence the saying " Traditional
Chinese Medicine and diet both originate from the practise
and experience in daily life". Through the accumulation
of long-term experiences, it became apparent that the time
was ripe to summarize the experiences and establish theories
on dietotheraphy.
As time goes by, this form of dietotheraphy by gruel has
become the mainstream of Traditional
Chinese Medicine(TCM). At Present, the content
of dietotheraphy are being greatly expanded. Medicated diet
has further developed in multiple form, including medicinal
wines, soup, cakes, noodles, powders and etc. In recent years,
more and more people from other countries are showing great
interest in things Chinese, and Chinese Dietotheraphy has
attracted special attention. Many foreigners have expressed
their wish for a more detailed and substantial introduction
to Chinese dietotheraphy.
In short, Chinese Dietotheraphy has a long history
with rich knowledge. It will continue to contribute to the
health of the Chinese, as well as other people worldwide,
provided it can be explored by modern scientific measures.
Features of Chinese dietotheraphy
Chinese Dietotheraphy is not a simple combination
of food and herbs, but a special highly finished diet made
from herbal medicine, food and condiments under the theoretical
guidance of diet preparation based on differentiation of symptoms,
signs of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), geographical
environement and etc. Thus, theory of Chinese Dietothraphy
is closely related to Traditional
Chinese Medicine(TCM).
The art of Chinese Dietotheraphy roughly includes the following:
a)
Investigating the nature
of food for
preventing and treating disease.
b) Investigating
individual's symptoms and signs that reflecting the particular
conditions and needs by carefully selecting certain kinds
of chinese herbal medicine and adding them to food to complement
each other.Herbal medicine usually add in to enchance their
properties and actions.
For example, rice porridge is readily digested and nutritonally
beneficial to patients. However, when dioscorea and poria
are added, the porridge will have the effect of strengthening
the spleen and improving digestion. In other words, Chinese
Dietotheraphy is an unique individualized diet treatment that
based on individual body system, symptoms and signs.
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