What does medicine and food include?

The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine says, "The five grains are nourishing, and the five fruits are helpful." In fact, most of our usual meals have medicinal properties. For example, we are all very familiar with the brown sugar ginger soup can relieve the surface dispersal of cold, the treatment of wind-cold cold at the beginning of the cold; barley porridge can clear heat and strengthen the spleen, to get rid of facial chloasma; watermelon can quench the summer heat and thirst, known as the natural white tiger soup; fungus can be detoxified and clear the body of dust and garbage. Fennel can also warm the stomach and dissipate cold, and lily can promote the lungs and relieve cough and so on. In different seasons, for different physique physique, eat different foods, can play a role in preventing and eliminating diseases.

The so-called medicine and food, roughly contains two aspects of the meaning. One is that the food itself can be part of the medicine. For example, the earliest book of traditional Chinese medicine "Shennong Ben Cao" to the Qing Dynasty "Compendium of Materia Medica", food is included in the book of drugs, in the Chinese medicine books, there are food therapy and medicinal dietary formula. However, food and medicine are different after all, food has a certain therapeutic effect, but its therapeutic function is limited, often only play a supporting role. Drugs can cure diseases, but can not be applied for a long time, while food can be consumed regularly. In addition, drugs always have adverse reactions, unlike food. On the other hand, both Chinese medicine and food can be in the theory of Chinese medicine. Like Chinese medicine, food also has four qi and five flavors, and it can also be consumed according to the difference between hot and cold, warm and cool. People know that pear can stop cough. Often patients with colds and coughs, their own purchase of pear consumption, or pear and rock sugar stewed service, can relieve cough and phlegm. In fact, this method is only useful for wind-heat colds; due to cold and cold caused by the cold, the service will not be effective, sometimes instead of delaying the cold and cough days. Therefore, to use food therapy, medicinal diet, but also to know some of the theory of Chinese medicine, know some of the theory of the medicinal properties of Chinese medicine. The first thing you need to know is that you have to know the theory of Chinese medicine, and you need to know the theory of Chinese medicine.