Traditional Chinese medicine believes that diets need to be matched with each other, "five grains are the supplement, five vegetables are the supplement, five animals are the benefit, and five fruits are the help", indicating that the diet should be based on five grains, vegetables are the supplement, meat is the non-staple food, and fruits are the supplementary nutrition.
At the same time, diet should follow some basic principles, including moderate diet, quantitative regularity, appropriate food temperature, balanced diet, no partial eclipse or excessive consumption of certain foods, and care for the function of the spleen and stomach, and choose different foods according to different seasons, environments, ages, genders and constitutions. Common constitutions are as follows:
Yang-heat constitution: usually manifested as thin and strong figure, red face and lips, high voice and thick breath, active and irritable, usually fond of cold and afraid of heat, dark urine color and so on.
Deficiency and cold constitution of spleen and stomach: usually manifested as pale complexion and lip color, sometimes feeling abdominal distension, loss of appetite, pale mouth, fatigue, cold hands and feet, and thin stool.
Yin-cold constitution: usually manifested as fat and weak figure, easy to sweat, pale complexion and lips, usually afraid of cold and warmth, cold hands and feet, clear and big urine color, thin stool and so on.
Internal heat due to yin deficiency: usually manifested as hot flashes, night sweats, emaciation, dry mouth and throat, fever of hands and feet, feeling upset at times, insomnia, short and red urine and dry stool.
Phlegm-dampness constitution: usually manifested as physical obesity, mental fatigue, feeling that the body can't bear the burden, lethargy, laziness, love to eat greasy food, and a sticky feeling in the mouth.
If you want to know your physique, or have any questions about the health of your diet, you can ask Chinese medicine.
Characteristics of food
Chinese medicine believes that food, like Chinese medicine, has four qi and five flavors, and the four qi are four natures, namely, cold, cool, warm and hot, while the flat nature is called slippery. Five flavors take the taste or function of food as the standard, and divide food into five flavors: sour, bitter, sweet, pungent and salty. Those with inconspicuous taste are called light taste. The main function of food is to supplement nutrition, qi and blood, and regulate the balance of yin and yang and the function of viscera.
1 .4 gas
Chinese medicine believes that different foods have different effects on the human body. For example, most cold foods such as mung beans, celery and watermelon have heat-clearing effects; However, vegetables, mutton, peppers and other isothermal foods have the function of keeping out the cold. As for rice, soybeans, carp, strawberries and other vegetarian dishes, they are peaceful in nature and can be eaten by people of all physiques.
2. Five flavors
Different tastes of food also have different effects on the human body.
Sour food (including astringent taste) has astringent, antiperspirant, antitussive or antidiarrheal effects. Such as ebony and pomegranate, can relieve the symptoms of diarrhea caused by thirst or spleen and stomach deficiency and cold.
Bitter food helps to dry dampness and reduce diarrhea. For example, bitter gourd tastes bitter and cold, which can clear away heat and dampness and treat summer-heat dampness syndrome.
Spicy food has the function of regulating qi and blood and dispersing exterior. For example, onions and ginger can sweat to treat colds.
Salty food has the function of tonifying kidney, softening or relaxing bowels. For example, kelp can soften and resolve phlegm.
Sweet food has the function of nourishing qi and blood. For example, red dates can tonify qi and blood and treat the syndrome of qi and blood weakness.
Mild food has diuretic and dehumidifying effects. For example, adzuki bean can induce diuresis and reduce swelling.
Diet and health-cereals
Grains generally refer to cereals, including cereals and beans. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that most legumes are sweet and flat, and have the function of strengthening the spleen and stomach. However, some of them have their own characteristics, such as: glutinous rice is sweet and warm, which has the functions of warming the spleen and stomach, benefiting qi and astringing sweat; Mung beans are sweet and cold, and have the functions of clearing heat and relieving summer heat, diuresis and detoxification. The following are some cereals for daily consumption:
[Wheat] Sweet in taste and cool in nature. It is the traditional staple food of northerners. Wheat porridge can clear away heat, relieve annoyance, promote fluid production and quench thirst, nourish the heart and sweat; Wheat made into pasta can nourish heart qi, liver blood, spleen and stomach, increase strength, strengthen bones and muscles, and harmonize five internal organs.
[Barley] Sweet and cool. Its efficacy is similar to that of wheat, but it is more inclined to strengthen the spleen and replenish qi. Can be made into soup, porridge or ground into powder.
[Glutinous rice] has a sweet taste. Has effect in invigorating middle energizer, invigorating qi, warming stomach, relieving diarrhea, and astringing sweat. Can cook porridge, steam rice, cook rice and make wine. People with spleen and stomach deficiency and cold can eat it often, which is helpful to relieve diarrhea due to spleen deficiency and spontaneous sweating fatigue.
[Millet] Sweet, salty and slightly cold. Has effect in invigorating middle energizer, invigorating qi, invigorating spleen and kidney, and relieving restlessness and diuresis. It is especially suitable for women with thin body, early recovery after illness or postpartum. Millet porridge, after cooking a few times, is covered with cream oil, which is rice oil. Sweet taste, nourishing qi and yin, and rich nutrition.
[Corn] Hong Kong is known as corn. Sweet and flat in nature. Tonifying middle energizer, invigorating stomach, removing dampness and diuresis. It can be cooked or made into pasta. Grinding porridge can be used as a tonic for physical weakness after illness, and it is also a health food for middle-aged and elderly people. Corn soup can strengthen the stomach, eliminate dampness and induce diuresis, and can be used for spleen and stomach deficiency, diet loss or diarrhea.
Coix seed is also called Coix seed. Sweet in nature, slightly cold. Has effect in invigorating spleen, eliminate dampness, harmonizing middle warmer, clearing heat and expel pus. Coix seed porridge can tonify the spleen and stomach, induce diuresis to stop diarrhea, and prevent constipation, upset thirst and wet swelling. Fried coix seed can be used for diarrhea with spleen deficiency and dampness. When raw coix seed is taken in water, it tends to clear away damp heat and reduce swelling. Coix seed wine can help dispel wind, remove dampness and benefit joints.
[Soybean] has a sweet taste. Has the effects of invigorating spleen, invigorating qi, clearing away heat and toxic materials, promoting diuresis and reducing swelling. Cooking soybeans or grinding them into soybean milk and boiling them can strengthen the spleen and replenish qi, nourish blood and soothe the nerves, enhance physical fitness and supplement nutrition; Used for emaciation, fatigue, milk retention, etc. Raw soybeans can be ground and eaten to clear away damp heat.
[Black beans] are sweet and flat. Has the effects of nourishing yin, tonifying kidney, nourishing blood, blackening hair, promoting diuresis, relieving swelling, and clearing away heat and toxic materials. Black beans are rich in nutrition, and cooking can nourish yin and kidney, nourish blood and soften liver, improve eyesight and blacken hair; Regular consumption can enhance physical fitness and delay aging. Black bean cooked food can also remove stomach heat, regulate spleen and stomach and promote defecation. .
[adzuki bean] has a sweet taste. Eating red bean porridge has the effects of invigorating spleen, promoting diuresis, promoting blood circulation and detoxifying.
[Mung Bean] is sweet in taste and cold in nature. Has effect in clearing away heat, relieve vexation, relieving summer heat, promoting fluid production, induce diuresis, relieving swelling, invigorating middle warmer, invigorating qi, and removing toxic substances. Mung beans can be used as porridge rice, fried food and cooked food. Mung bean soup can dispel summer heat, promote fluid production, clear away heat and vexation, and induce diuresis and detumescence. It is a common health drink in summer.
Diet and Health-Vegetables
Chinese medicine believes that vegetables help digestion and supplement nutrition. Some vegetables are pungent and warm, such as garlic and ginger, which can warm the stomach and drive away the cold; There are also some vegetables that are sweet and cold, such as celery and lotus root, which help to clear the heat toxicity of gastrointestinal tract. Here are some vegetables for daily consumption:
[Cabbage]: Chinese cabbage produced in the south. Sweet, slightly cold. It can clear lung and stomach heat, help digestion and facilitate defecation. However, people with spleen and stomach deficiency and cold should not eat more.
[Mustard]: It tastes pungent and warm. It can strengthen the spleen, warm the stomach and help digestion, and also has the functions of resolving phlegm and benefiting qi, dispelling cold and relieving exterior syndrome. Can be used for treating stomach cold, anorexia, cough due to cold phlegm, and exogenous wind-cold.
[Spinach]: Sweet and cool. It can clear stomach, promote fluid production to quench thirst, nourish liver and improve eyesight.
[Radish]: Sweet and cool. It can clear away heat and promote fluid production, eliminate phlegm and relieve cough, help digestion, especially the food accumulation caused by eating pasta, and can play the role of digestion and stagnation. Carrots, on the other hand, are sweet and flat, and tend to moisten the lungs, promote fluid production, nourish the liver and improve eyesight.
[Leek]: It tastes pungent and warm. Has the effects of invigorating kidney, strengthening yang, warming middle warmer, stimulating appetite, promoting qi circulation and removing blood stasis.
[Wax gourd]: Sweet, slightly cold. It can clear away heat and toxic materials, quench thirst and relieve annoyance, and induce diuresis. It is an ideal summer melon and vegetable. In addition to being used as soup, winter melon skin boiled water instead of tea also has a good effect of relieving summer heat and diuresis, which can be used for summer heat and polydipsia.
[Luffa]: Sweet and cool. It can clear away heat and phlegm, cool blood and detoxify. It is especially suitable for lung heat, body heat, polydipsia and cough.
[Bitter gourd]: Bitter but cold. Has the effects of clearing away heat, relieving summer-heat, clearing liver-fire and improving eyesight. Known as damp heat and liver fire, it is the best.
[Mushroom]: Hong Kong is commonly known as mushroom. Sweet and flat in nature. Has effect in invigorating spleen, regulate stomach, invigorating qi and tonifying kidney. It is especially suitable for people with weak spleen and stomach and poor appetite. Long-term consumption can enhance physical fitness.
[Auricularia auricula]: Including black and white Auricularia auricula (namely tremella). Sweet and flat in nature. Has effect in invigorating qi, strengthen brain, moistening lung, promoting fluid production, nourishing yin, nourish stomach, cooling blood and stopping bleeding. It can be used for cough due to yin deficiency and lung dryness, and dry throat and thirst due to stomach yin deficiency. Auricularia auricula is a good product for nourishing yin and tonifying kidney; Tremella is good at nourishing yin and moistening lung, benefiting stomach and promoting fluid production, and can be stewed with rock sugar.
Diet and Health-Fruits
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that fruit can supplement the deficiency of staple food and provide nutrients needed by human body. Most fruits, such as Sydney, sugarcane and olives, have the functions of nourishing yin, promoting fluid production and clearing away heat. Some fruits, such as litchi, longan and chestnut, are sweet and warm, and have the functions of benefiting qi and nourishing blood, strengthening spleen and tonifying kidney. Here are some fruits that you eat every day:
[Apple]: Sweet and cool. It has the effects of invigorating spleen, stimulating appetite, promoting digestion, moistening lung, resolving phlegm and relieving cough, and the apple peel also has the effect of stopping diarrhea. Lung dryness and cough can be supplemented by rock sugar stew.
[Sydney]: Sexual taste is sweet and slightly sour. Has the effects of clearing away heat, promoting fluid production, moistening lung, resolving phlegm, and relieving cough. It can relieve lung dryness and cough.
[Papaya]: Papaya, eaten as a fruit in the south, is sweet in taste and flat in nature, and has the effects of invigorating the middle warmer, invigorating qi, moistening the lungs and relieving cough, and promoting milk circulation. It is most suitable for lactating mothers and also suitable for people with lung deficiency and cough.
[Persimmon]: Sweet, slightly cold. It can moisten lung, relieve cough, promote fluid production and quench thirst. Persimmon is sweet and flat, which can moisten the heart and lungs and benefit the stomach. The white powder cream on persimmon is called persimmon cream, which is sweet and cool, can clear away heat and moisten dryness, eliminate phlegm and relieve cough, and can relieve lung heat, dry cough and sore throat.
[Orange]: Sweet and sour. It can moisten lung, promote fluid production, regulate qi and stimulate appetite. Orange peel, named tangerine peel, is pungent and warm, and can regulate qi and strengthen spleen, regulate stomach, stop vomiting, eliminate dampness and resolve phlegm. Besides, oranges and grapefruit are similar to oranges. Oranges are good at moistening lung and resolving phlegm, and grapefruit is good at digestion and stomach strengthening.
[Longan]: Sweet, slightly warm. Has effect in invigorating heart and spleen, promote salivation, moistening dryness, calming heart and tranquilizing mind. Can be used for treating palpitation and insomnia caused by deficiency of both heart and spleen and insufficient blood gas.
[Horseshoe]: Also known as horseshoe. Sweet and cold in nature. It can clear lung-heat and stomach-heat, eliminate phlegm and relieve sore throat, promote fluid production to quench thirst, and relieve annoyance and diuresis. It is especially suitable for people with lung heat and cough, upset and thirsty.
[Grape]: It tastes sour and sweet. Tonify qi and blood, nourish liver and kidney, invigorate spleen and stomach, and induce diuresis. This is a nutritious fruit.
[Watermelon]: Sweet and cold. It can clear away heat and relieve summer heat, promote fluid production to quench thirst and induce diuresis, and is a good fruit to eat in summer.
[Sugarcane]: Sweet and cold. Has the effects of clearing away heat, relieving vexation, moistening lung, resolving phlegm, nourishing stomach and promoting fluid production. Boiling bamboo cane water with cogongrass rhizome can clear away heat and promote diuresis, nourish the stomach and produce fluid.