Food Therapy

Food therapy is also called diet therapy in traditional Chinese therapies.

It is using the characteristics of food to regulate body functions to achieve health or cure diseases and prevent diseases.

Food is an edible substance that provides the human body with various nutrients needed for growth and healthy survival.

Traditional Chinese therapies believe that the most important role of food is not only nutrition, but also curing diseases, because one of the causes of diseases is improper daily diet which is caused by the accumulation of time.

And developed Medicated Diet Therapy(Herbal Diet) on the basis of diet therapy.

Originator of Diet Therapy

Meng Xu, a well-known medical scientist in the Tang Dynasty, his work “Diet Therapy Materia Medica” is the earliest existing monograph on diet therapy in the world.

Which is a collection of ancient diet therapy and is consistent with the principles of modern nutrition.

In his book, he expressed his thoughts that the changes and demands of physiological and biochemical activities in physical body deponed on seasons, human factors and Geographic location.

In different seasons, different charactics of food can help us to nourish different organs, such as:

In Spring, less acid but more sweeten charactics of food to nourish spleen.

Less bitter food to increase lung qi in Summer.

In Autumn, less bitter but more acid food is for nourish liver.

In winter, salty and bitter food can nourish heart. On the eighteenth day of January in Chinese calendar, less sweet and salty food to nourish kidney.

In his book, he not only pays great attention to the seasonal changes of diet therapy, but also emphasizes the regional nature of diet therapy.

It gives a detailed description of the different dietary habits in the south and the north and the different effects of eating the same food.

It also contains dietary applications rich in algae and fungi.

In addition to recording the nature and flavor of food and herbs medicine, and food taboos, there are also many simple and practical diet therapy prescriptions, etc. which are very practical and widely spread among the people.

Eight major cuisines are the main categories of cuisines in China.

Their taste, ingredients, cooking way and other production techniques are all realized under his guidance.

This guiding ideology is to adapt to geographic location, seasons and physique of local people.

Practice has proved that compliance with dietary principles is beneficial to human health and disease prevention. Failure to observe the principles of dietary therapy is not conducive to this purpose, and even harmful.

Traditional Chinese diet emphasizes balance, to maintain the biodiversity of food sources, mainly cereals in daily diet.

Intaking more vegetables, fruits and potatoes in the diet, enough beans and their products every day.

Fish, poultry meat, eggs, milk and its products such as cheese or yogurt should be in moderation.

The traditional Chinese dietary structure has four major advantages:

The main and non-staple foods are distinct. Grains are placed a great emphasis in the traditional diet.
Fresh vegetables do more health effects.

Green veges must not out of the daily diet. It has become the golden rule of traditional Chinese diet.

To emphasize the dietary principle of you can have no meat for a day but you can not without beans for a day.
Green vegetable and tofu daily can help you keep health.

Traditional Chinese dietary adhere to low-temperature cooking method for staple food.

For example, the staple foods such as steamed buns, rice, noodles, dumplings, porridge, etc. are all cooked in a water environment and heated at a temperature of about 100C.

Stir-fried dishes are also completed in a short time.

This cooking method is not only beneficial to keep the nutrients of the vegetables from being lost, but also meets the need for sterilization on the surface of the dishes, and at the same time reduces the oxidation of oils.

Therefore, adhere to the traditional diet structure of the Chinese nation, follow the methods of diet therapy: more natural foods made by “gods” and less man-made processed foods. This diet therapy can reduce the chance of getting sick.

Effect of food therapy

One of the most notable features of food therapy is that it not only just cures disease, but also strengthens the body when it has no disease. Food therapy basically has no toxic side effects on the human body.

Food(diet) therapy uses the biased characteristics of food (grain, fruit, vegetables, meat) to treat certain diseases and syndromes in a targeted manner or as an auxiliary treatment, to adjust yin and yang balance.

It contributes to physical diseases treatment and mental health recovery.

But food is food after all, it contains various nutrients necessary for the physical body. Food therapy mainly makes up for the constant consumption of yin and yang(qi and blood).

Therefore, food therapy has a wide range of adaptations, mainly for sub-healthy people, followed by patients.

As an auxiliary means of drugs or other treatment measures, it is naturally accepted along with daily diet.

Food therapy integrates treatment with food, not only can achieve the purpose of health care and prevention of diseases, but also can give people sensory and spiritual enjoyment.

While enjoying the delicious food, people can unknowingly achieve the purpose of disease prevention and treatment.

It is easy to accept by people. It can be used for a long time.

Food therapy is especially suitable for the conditioning and treatment of chronic diseases.

Regimen and anti-aging of food therapy

Aging is a one-way street that cannot be driven in the opposite direction, but you can choose to slow down and extend the time to the end.

The principle of anti-aging diet is to reduce the intake of food that produce free radicals, and eat more food containing antioxidants.

Nutrition should be balanced and adhere to the rounding method of diet.

Four Tyepes Food Round Down

Fat: Avoid high-fat and deep fried food.

High-calorie, high-fat, especially deep fried foods are prone to free radicals, it accelerate aging.

Reduce the intake of this type of food, it will reduce the chances of being damaged by free radicals in the body.

As well as the appearance of dark spots and wrinkles on face, the risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and other diseases.

Cholesterol: The general increase in cholesterol levels is the main reason for the rapid increase in coronary heart disease morbidity and death.

Under normal circumstances, more than half of the cholesterol needed by the body is synthesized by the body itself, and the produced cholesterol also enters the blood circulation in the form of lipoproteins.

Almost all cholesterol in the diet comes from animal foods, among which poultry eggs and animal organs and brains are the most abundant.

About 40% of the cholesterol in food can be absorbed by the small intestine.

Too much cholesterol intake will cause hypercholesterolemia, which will lead to coronary atherosclerotic heart disease.

Salty food: Too salty food is not good for kidney and heart.

Long-term consumption of over-salty food not only causes kidney deficiency, but also causes myocardial hypertrophy.

A light diet is the first choice for staying healthy.

Alcohol: Alcohol is a high-calorie food, but most of the heat produced by alcohol metabolism cannot be used by human cells and is lost.

Alcohol inhibits the secretion of digestive enzymes by the pancreas causing low digestion.

Alcohol also damage the villi of the small intestine and affect their absorption of nutrients. It causes the body to be in a state of malnutrition easily.

When there is no food to provide energy, the glycogen stored in the body will be consumed.

When glycogen is depleted, glucose needs to be converted from other compounds (such as aino acids) to generate heat.

At this time, if there was a lot of alcohol in the body, then its metabolites will inhibit the body from converting glucose, which is prone to hypoglycemia.

The brain needs 150 grams of glucose a day to supply energy, otherwise it will not function properly.

Relying on the conversion of fats and amino acids to obtain glucose has put the body in a state of “abnormal operation”.

If this conversion is still inhibited by alcohol, it will affect the normal operation of the brain.

Alcoholics are often in a morbid body and mind.

Five Types Food Round In

Fiber food; Vegetable protein; Food’s rich in carotene, vitamin C and E; Calcium-containing food.

Fiber food: Cellulose can strengthen the body’s detoxification function.

It can also strengthen intestinal peristalsis to avoid the suffering of constipation.

Foods high in fiber include vegetables, brown rice, corn, oats, whole wheat flour, mung beans, edamame, black beans, almonds, sesame, raisins, etc., all of them are good helpers for anti-aging.

Plants protein: It is mainly derived from rice, wheat and beans. Traditional Chinese therapies believes that plant protein is an important source of human dietary protein.

Plant protein is low fat, low calorie, zero cholesterol, not easy to gain weight, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Plant protein does not contain lactose and can be eaten by people with lactose intolerance.

Plant protein contains polyphenols and other nutrients can help antioxidant.

Food rich in carotene, vitamin C and E: Food’s rich in carotene, vitamin C and E; Calcium-containing food.

They are rich in vitamin C, E, beta carotene, lycopene, polyphenols and other foods have antioxidant effects.

They can protect collagen from free radical attack and damage.

Calcium-containing food:

Precautions of food therapy:

Reasonable diet,no partial eclipse

A reasonable diet first requires people to have a diversified diet.

Five flavors represent various foods and their characteristics according to Chinese traditional therapy.

It is believed that the intake of various foods should not be biased.

If the partial eclipse is long-term, it will affect the normal physiological state and even cause disease.

A reasonable diet also requires people to match and coordinate the thickness of meat and vegetables.

Especially animal-based diets that contain too much saturated fatty acids.

For most people, too much saturated fatty acid will increase the blood cholesterol content, leading to atherosclerosis and inducing coronary heart disease.

A moderate diet

It means that the diet should be moderate, not too little or too much.

It is one of the important contents to ensure a reasonable diet.

Generally speaking, when the appetite is satisfied, the calorie needs can be satisfied.

And the body weight which is one of the standards of human health, it can also be maintained normal.

Eating too little can cause weight loss. Eating too much can cause obesity. Both of them is undoubtedly bad.

Blindly tonic with food therapy

Some people does not know if their physiques are suitable for some certain food.

But they heard from other people that some certain food are good, then they may think that food may work for themselves too.

And they may intake for a long time then it may cause some uncomfortable issue such as fart a lot, abdomen distention, sweat a lot, insomnia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, headache, constipation, dry mouth or throat, etc..

The correct mindset has to kept in the head, individual is different for even the same food.

It must be symptomatically tonic. Talk with your doctor or a practitioner.

Indiscriminate on food

In the process of diet therapy, it is very important to distinguish food taboos for different people.

Final words

Health control by yourself, self-discipline on your diet, a moment on the lips and forever on the hips – a healthy physical body will last for more longer time.