Diet food with medicinal herbs is different from ordinary diet. During the preparation, extra attention should be paid to the nature and flavor of medicinal herbs, the compatibility and incompatibility of diet food with medicinal herbs, choice of materials and processing, and cooking techniques etc.

And a few basic principles of diet food with medicinal herbs should be borne in mind as follows:

Delicious and convenient diet food with medicinal herbs

Most materials diet food with medicinal herbs uses are medicinal and edible, which have the food characteristics of color, smell and flavor. Even with the addition of some medicinal herbs, delicious diet food with medicinal herbs can still be made through the different match of food as attention has been paid to the choice of medicinal herbs’ nature and flavors.

The cooking of diet food with medicinal herbs mainly refers to the techniques of stewing, boiling, baking and steaming, which eventually make them the soup. These long-time heating processes allow medicinal herbs and food to maximize the release of active ingredients and finally enhance the effectiveness.

The basic characteristic of diet food with medicinal herbs is to maintain the original flavors of the food material and medicinal herbs, which can work not only as tonification, but also delicious dishes to stimulate people’s appetite so as to achieve the exact effect.

Diet food

The selection of medicinal herbs also follow the principle of syndrome differentiation. When we buy medicinal herbs, we have to take the constitution, food mix and their own nature into consideration. The medicinal herbs must be fresh and high quality. Any medicinal herbs with bad quality and moldy should be abandoned.

Medicinal herbs and food material used in diet food with medicinal herbs must be clean, without impurities, dust, mildew and rot. What’s more, we have to pay attention to its color, flavor, appearance and quality.

To ensure the efficacy of diet food with medicinal herbs, necessary processing should be taken in medicinal herbs and food material. Some need to slice, shred, dice or cut into sections, and some other need fine grinding, and some will need to be prepared in advance, following the requirements of traditional Chinese medicine, to reduce its toxicity or side effects.

We must pay attention to the fine cooking techniques in diet food with medicinal herbs. In general, medicinal and edible herbs and herbs without unpleasant smell can be cooked together with food material.

If medicinal herbs have unpleasant smell, we can wrap them with gauze and then cook them together with food material. The medicinal herbs pack can be removed after the active ingredient has been released.

Or we can decoct the medicinal herbs first, and then remove the herbs residue from the decoction. This way of adding leaching decoction during cooking process can reduce the destruction of nutrients and active ingredients.

Persist on moderate and targeted diet food with medicinal herbs

Moderate diet is an important principle of traditional Chinese medicine to health care. The same is true to diet food with medicinal herbs therapy. Diet food with medicinal herbs should not take too much in a short term, or haste makes waste. It is recommended that taking small dosage each day, which will be effective in a long run.

For those are free of disease, appropriate diet food with medicinal herbs could be used for the purpose of health care. For those physical weakness or ill, it is recommended to seek medical care first, while diet food with medicinal herbs works as supplement.

For those in the recovery period or with chronic diseases, it may be more appropriate to use diet food with medicinal herbs to adjust the constitution.

It is worth note that although there are many benefits for diet food with medicinal herbs, its relevance and efficacy is far from drugs. Only the combination of these two applications can complement each other and achieve better results.

Different constitutions may present differently in physiology, pathology and psychology.

The most important thing for the preparation and consumption of Chinese medicated diet is to give different recipe according to different constitutions.

Normally adults can be divided into different constitutions according to physical condition. Therefore, they can choose the right Chinese medicated diet according to their physical characteristics.

In this way, proper Chinese medicated diet can play an important role in good health by adjusting the constitution, as well as preventing and treating illness.

Chinese medicated diet according to syndrome differentiation and holistic philosophy

In the application of Chinese medicated diet, first of all we need to take constitution, health condition, seasons and geographical environment into account.

Chinese medicated diet

Diet therapy in Traditional Chinese medicine should pay attention to the nature and flavor of herbal medicines.

• In general, those medicinal and edible material of warm and heat nature, such as ginger, green onions, red dates, walnuts, lamb, cumin, etc., can work to warm interior, dispel cold and assist Yang. This kind of Chinese medicated diet is suitable in treatment of cold syndrome and Yin syndrome.
• Those medicinal and edible material of cool and cold nature, such as mung bean, lotus root, watermelon, pear, water chestnuts, parslane herb, chrysanthemum etc., can clear heat-fire, cool blood, and remove toxic substance. This kind of Chinese medicated diet is suitable in treatment of heat syndrome and Yang syndrome.

In terms of the five flavors in Chinese medicated diet

• The sour medicinal and edible herbs, such as ebony and pomegranate etc., have the ability of convergence and astringency;
• The bitter medicinal and edible herbs, such as bitter melon and almonds, can clear heat-fire and dry dampness;
• The sweet medicinal and edible herbs, such as large dates, honey, caramel, can work on nourishment, conciliation, relieving the acute symptoms and stopping the pain;
• The pungent medicinal and edible herbs, such as ginger and green onions, can work to disperse the internal heat, and to activate Qi;
• The salty medicinal and edible herbs, such as seaweed and kelp etc., can work to soften and resolve hard mass;
• The tasteless medicinal and edible herbs, such as Poria and Coix seed etc., can eliminate dampness and diuresis.

And the above-mentioned relation between Chinese medicated diet and constitutions is just one basic principle about Chinese medicated diet.

As for other basic principles, I will talk about them in another article of How to Prepare Diet Food with Medicinal Herbs.

And a lot of restaurants also begin to launch Chinese medicinal foods by bombarding on advertisements. However, we should beware that taking improper Chinese medicinal foods can lead to diseases too.

Improper Chinese medicinal foods

Miss Wu’s mother, who is retired, heard that Chinese medicinal foods can benefit to physical health. So she bought Ginseng, Astragalus and Jujube etc. from the herbal shop and then stewed them with chicken in a soup pot. That night the whole family enjoyed this tasty soup. Unfortunately Miss Wu found that she was so excited and could not fall in sleep at all that night. She was so thirsty that she had to keep drinking water and going to the toilet.

As a matter of fact, although chicken soup stewed with Ginseng, Astragalus and Jujube etc. can tonify blood and Qi, it is superfluous to Miss Wu, who is relatively healthy, and leads her to suffer from excessive internal heat.

By contrast, Mr. Lee was not so lucky. Mr. Lee and several friends gathered in a small restaurant. The boss recommended a new dish of “Fu Zi Yang Rou Bao” (Monkshood lamb pot) and claimed that this dish can warm Yang, nourish kidney, and benefit to physical health. Mr. Lee had always considered himself as kidney deficiency so that he ordered this dish. However, Mr. Lee felt a sudden palpitation and chest tightness after that meal. He did not feel good until his friends rushed him to hospital for treatment.

The cause is very simple. Because the chefs did not know the rules of compatibility of herbal medicines, he just randomly put Astragalus, Monkshood in the pot along with lamb. Lamb is of heat nature and can work as warming Yang, while Monkshood also works as warming Yang. What’s more, Monkshood contains aconitine, which have side effects to heart rhythm. Therefore, the dish of “Fu Zi Yang Rou Bao” (Monkshood lamb pot) has induced cardiac arrhythmia as Mr. Lee has a slight heart trouble.

Chinese medicinal foods

The traditional Chinese medicinal foods are by no means a simple sum of foods and Chinese herbs. On the contrary, Chinese medicinal foods need to be prepared under the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theoretical guidance. Chinese medicinal foods are the special food with ingredients of herbs, foods and spices, which work not only as delicious food, but also preventing and treating illness.

It would inevitably lead to above-mentioned improper Chinese medicinal foods if someone just pieces together some herbs blindly without some basic medical knowledge.

One of main raw material in Chinese medicinal foods is Chinese herbs. About 500 Chinese herbs can be used as food in commonly used 4000 kinds of Chinese herbs, in which 60 are relatively safer and more delicious with fresh fragrant smell, including

1. Tian ma (Gastrodiae Rhizoma);
2. Ren Shen (Ginseng Radix);
3. Du zhong (Eucommiae Cortex);
4. Fu Ling (Poria);
5. Dang gui (Angelicae sinensis Radix);
6. Sha shen (Glehniae/Adenophorae Radix);
7. Chen pi (Pericarpium citri reticulatae);
8. Zhen zhu Fen (Pearl powder);
9. Dong chong xia cao (Cordyceps sinensis);
10. Jue ming zi (Semen cassiae torae);
11. Tian dong (asparagus cochinchinensis);
12. Ding xiang (Syzygium aromaticum);
13. Huang qi (Astragalus Radix);
14. Bai shao (Paeoniae Radix Alba);
15. Gou qi zi (Lycii Fructus);
16. Gan cao (Glycyrrhizae Radix);
17. Mai dong (Ophiopogonis Radix);
18. Lu rong (Curnu cervi pantotrichum);
19. Shan yao (Rhizoma Dioscoreae);
20. Shu di (Radix Rehmanniae Preparata);
21. Ling zhi (Ganodorma lucidum);
22. Shou wu (Radix Polygoni Multiflori) etc.

These medicines are mainly of herbs.

The application and compatibility of these “Medicinal and Edible” herbs and food should follow the traditional Chinese medicine theory. So that they can complement each other and coordinate each other, otherwise there will be errors or poor results.

Traditional Chinese Medicine has a strict taboo on the Chinese medicinal foods, mainly including herbs incompatibility, herbs and food incompatibility, food incompatibility and avoiding certain food as someone is ill.