Chinese medicines used both as medicine and food include yam, hawthorn, black plum, papaya, white lentil, longan, almond, jujube, ginger, lotus seed, chrysanthemum, black sesame, honey, raspberry, etc.

The dual use of medicine and food is also called the homology of medicine and food. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that many foods are both food and medicine. Food and medicine can also prevent and treat diseases, that is, "medicine and food have the same origin."

There are many traditional Chinese medicines that have the same origin as medicine and food. For example, yam can strengthen the spleen and lungs, strengthen the kidneys and replenish essence, and can treat symptoms of spleen deficiency, lack of food, kidney deficiency and spermatorrhea.

Hawthorn can digest food and strengthen the stomach (promotes food digestion and strengthens stomach function), promotes qi and blood stasis, resolves turbidity and lowers lipids (cleans out turbid substances in the body and reduces excess fat in the body), and can treat meat stasis. , epigastric fullness, diarrhea, abdominal pain and other symptoms. Longan meat nourishes the heart and spleen (use tonic medicine to replenish the heart and spleen), nourishes blood and calms the mind (nourishes the blood to calm the mind and soothe the mood), and can treat insufficient qi and blood, palpitations (violent heartbeat, panic), Symptoms such as forgetfulness and insomnia.