General Introduction

The Chinese have a traditional belief in the medicinal value of food, as they believe that food and medicine share the same origin. This view could be considered a forerunner of nutritional science in China.

Chinese medicated diet is not just a simple combination of food and Chinese drugs, but rather a special highly finished diet made from Chinese drugs, food, and condiments under the theoretical guidance of diet preparation based on traditional Chinese medicine's (TCM's) differentiation of symptoms and signs.

Chinese medicated diet has not only the efficiency of medicine but also the delicacy of food, and can be used to prevent and cure diseases, build up one's health, and prolong one's life.

 Two Types of Medicated Diet

Dietetic Chinese Herbs:

Also known as "edible Chinese herb," "dietetic materia medica," or "medicinal foods," dietetic Chinese herbs refer to drink and food, which can be used either for prevention and cure of diseases, or for health care and recovery.

Dietetic Chinese herbs of this type include cereals, fruits, nuts, vegetables, seasonings, birds and animals, aquatic products and so on.

Medicated diet for dietetic therapy:

It is a diet made from beneficial drugs, food, and condiments. Concretely speaking, medicated diet can be prepared either from edible Chinese drugs alone, or from Chinese crude drugs and food according to certain prescriptions, by processing and cooking. Chinese medicated diet

In light of its form and process, medicated diet can be divided into ten kinds: fresh juice, medicated tea, drink, medicated wine, decoction (liquid extract of a material via boiling), medicated gruel, honey extract, medicated cake, medicated pancake, and soups.

 History of Chinese Medicated Diet

Chinese medicated diet has a long history. The ancient legend "Shennong Tastes a Hundred Grasses "shows that early in remote antiquity the Chinese nation began to explore the function of food and medicaments (substance used for medicine).

In the Zhou Dynasty (11th century-256BC), royal doctors were divided into four kinds. One of them consisted of dietetic doctors who were in charge of the emperor's health, preparing diets for him.

In Shennong's Herbal Classic, which was published approximately in about the Qin (221-206BC) and Han (@)"BC-220) Periods and is the earliest monograph extant on materia medica, many sorts of medicaments which are both drugs and food were recorded, such as sesame, Chinese yam, grape, walnut kernel, lily bulb, and fresh ginger.

According to history books, up to the period of the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) dynasties, about more than sixty kinds of books on dietetic treatment had been published. But unfortunately most of them are now lost.

The book Dietotherapy of Materia Medica by Meng Xian in the Tang Dynasty had a great influence on later generations. It is the extant and earliest monograph on dietetic treatment.

In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Li Shizhen collected and recorded in his Compendium of Materia Medica many medicated diet prescriptions, dozens of which were about medicated gruel alone, with dozens more solely touching on medicated wine and nothing else.

 At present

Based on the traditional process, medicated diet has been developing greatly in assortment, producing products such as , medicated cans (holding canned food), medicated sweets and so on. Salutary food and drinks produced on the basis of achievements in scientific research and being capable of curing diseases have a variety of sorts and differ in characteristics.

Chinese medicated diet has begun to go abroad. Health-care drinks, medicated wine and medicated cans have been sold internationally. Chinese medicated diet will contribute to the health of the people all over the world.

 Characteristics of Chinese medicated diet

The characteristics of Chinese medicated diet are as follows:

1. Laying Stress on the Whole, Selecting Medicated Diet on the Basis of Differential Diagnosis

"Laying stress on the whole, selecting medicated diet on the basis of differential diagnosis" mean that when doctors prescribe medicated diet, they should first make an overall analysis of the patient's physical and health condition, the nature of the patient's illness, the season the patient got ill in, and the geographical condition, etc, before forming a judgment on the type of syndrome. Only then should the doctors decide on corresponding principles for dietetic therapy and select suitable medicated diet.

Take a patient suffering from a chronic stomach condition, as an example. If the patient is suffering from a stomach condition resulting from a cold, he or she should take one kind of medicine, but if the patient is suffering from the same kind of condition brought on by a stomach deficiency, he or she should take another kind of medicine.

2. Suitable for Prevention and Treatment, Outstanding in Effect

Medicated diet can be used either to treat diseases or for healthy people to improve their health and prevent diseases. This is one of the characteristics in which medicated diet is different from treatment by medicine. Although medicated diet is something mild, it has a notable effect on the prevention and cure of diseases, health improvement, and health preservation.

3. Good in Taste, Convenient for Taking

There is a saying "Good medicine tastes bitter" among the people, because most of the decoctions of Chinese drugs are bitter. Some people, especially children, develop an aversion to the bitterness of Chinese drugs and refuse to take them.

Most of the drugs used in medicated diet are both edible and medicinal, and retain the properties of food: colour, sweet smell, flavor, and so on. Even if part of them are Chinese herbs, their nature and flavor are taken into consideration and made into tasty medicated diet by mixing them with food and carefully cooking them. So it can be said that medicated diet is good in taste and convenient for taking.

Author: Ivana