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Abstract
In this paper I will compare and contrast Chinese views on food and dietary practices with those of Western countries. By appeal to empirical and historical research, I will provide various points of comparison and support the claim that that Chinese views and practices help promote good development, health, and well-being. I will address differences in Chinese and Western views on the properties of food, herbs, food as therapy. My aim will not be to argue that Chinese dietary theories and practice are superior to those of Western countries. Rather, it will be to show that the Chinese approach also has benefits that are largely unknown in the West.
Chinese Food Therapy and Health
Introduction
Food is related to nutrition, but do you know that the foods can also be divided into cold and warm properties? According to Traditional Chinese Medicine records, the yin and yang of food can also affect the health of body. Basically, food is not only one of the needs in life but also a key to aspect which guarantees excellent health. However, due to interrelations between different cultural groups and exchange of eating habits, foods formulas, materials and nutritional value is a source of controversy among people from different countries. Typically, Chinese food therapy is a hot topic for western scholars because Chinese food therapy use herbs in meals and has a different theory of food genearlly. “Food therapy known as shi liao in Mandarin, has a long history in Chinese medicine”. Many experts have put forward on different views on food therapy, and encourage people to pursue a healthy lifestyle by observing a good diet and proper habits regardless of whether they have a Chinese or Western diet. An authoritative American Nutrition website named Eatright shows that food’s calories directly affects health and cause disease. Additionally, there are many academic articles published by the nutrition experts and researchers that support this view. However, at the same time, another book Chines Nutrition Therapy which written by western medical doctor Joerg Kastner, claims that “Foods and herbs can both promote and impede each other in their effect on the body.” Thus, based on nutrition research which describes the differences between Chinese food theory and western about Eatright and Chinese Nutrition Therapy. In this paper, I will support the claim that Chinese food therapy can solve people’s health problems and help to prevent diseases much like western nutrition does.
The properties of foods
Everyone on this world is eager to have a strong body, but not all of us to know how to best treat our health issues. Mostly, when people become ill, they often go to the hospital. But some illnesses can be treated by Chinese food therapy because it promotes the balance among yin and yang. Under the TCM view, food therapy divides foods into several categories. As Joerg puts it: “Foods are divided into Five energetic temperature levels”, they are “Hot”, “Warm”, “Cold”, “Cool”, and “Neutral” (22). Because these views are related to yin/yang theory, it is clear that Chinese people rely heavily upon food balance in order to achieve a state of health. On this view, Yin and Yang are closely related to a person’s physical condition, and whenever a person attains a balance of Yin and Yang, the body tends to be more comfortable and relaxed. However, when yin and yang are imbalanced, the body tends to develop symptoms of diseases and illnesses.
In the Chinese food therapy, the attributes of food are very important to health, but the times at which we eat food is also very important. To eat three meals a is a very important to maintain good health. Whether one lives in China or western countries, academic researchers strongly recommend that people eat three meals a day. However, the foods to choose to eat in the morning are different in China as compared to Western countries. In China, breakfast is often warm or hot, and there is seldom a cold food. For example, Eatright recommends that people consume (raw) juices in the morning. However, according to Jörg’s book, it is recommended that people need to obey the rule of food’s yin and yang, and that people should avoid consuming cold foods like juice or cold dairy products. This is because when people consume cold foods or drinks, it breaks the balance of the yang on the morning. Joerg asserts that “[d]airy products are appropriate in small amounts when spleen qi is good. [] too cold and can easily cause dampness or phlegm”. Clearly, in the morning Chinese people prefer warm food to cold food. These recommendations apply to dairy products as well as meats.
In our Western culture, raw foods are king, and the more the better. However, a principle of Chinese food therapy is that it takes more energy, or digestive fire, to break down and digest raw foods than those that are cooked. If you’re ill, your body is depleted or you’re having digestive problems, eating raw food may only aggravate your condition. Cooking your food is a way of “predigesting” it, and a way to get more energy from each meal, because you’re not using that energy to break down raw food and fiber.
Thus, the consumption of raw meat in China is much lower than in Western countries. This is because they treat the attributes of the food differently so as to not destroy its nourishment. As Shigehisa Kuriyama wrote in The Expressiveness of the Body: “associations between light diet , light bodies, and sageliness- associations, moreover , which sometimes influenced acutual regimen”.
Herbs in meal and yaoshan
In the Wwest, herbs are usually used as spices to add flavor or change the color of meals. However, herbs in China are often use for their nutritional value or as medicine (e.g. the medicine soup “tangyao”). Chinese foods therapy believes that a single food does not completely replace the body's nutritional needs, so additional materials such as spices can augment the nutritional value of a meal.
As we know, food is an indispensable factor in healthy development. In Chinese food therapy, the function of herbs in meals influence the different factors of development. In China, people call herbs with a meal “yaoshan”, and they are taken to regulate the body’s proper functioning. Sun Simiao, an important figure in Chinese ancient medicine, provided a lot of medicinal insight for future generations. His book Qian Jin Fang has been read for several centuries. Also, professor Lu Yongxiang asserts in the A History of Chinese Science and Technology, “Qian Jin Fang was not only a works of great achievement in prescriptions, but an encyclopedia of health care”. Qian Jin Fang is foundational in understanding Chinese nutrition. The medicinal anthropology professor Nancy N.Chen wrote in the book Food, Medicine and the Quest for Good Health,
Sun Simiao (A.D. 581-682) wrote a compendium of herbal medicine, [..] Sun was reputed to have lived 101 years and was widely respected for his compendium. Both practitioners their findings on empirical observation of herbs or foods that were known to be medicinal. (2)
Accordingly, we can see that Chinese herbs have a long history and real effects for maintain proper development and good health. The most typical herbal medicine is ginseng. Aince ancient times, ginseng has been a precious medicinal herb and its efficacy is very powerful. In Chinese medicine, the interpretation of Qi is the origin of the universe. Therefore, ginseng is taken to invigorate qi and nourish the blood. As the professor Chen said “The root of this herb is reputed to have many properties related to longevity” (25). What’s more, “ginseng in combination with chicken broth as restorative dish.” (Chen, 25).
Food therapy and yangsheng (nurturing life)
At present, yaoshan is regarded as promoting good health and it is used as common method for treating health problems. In China, the practice of nurturing life is called as yangsheng. It uses traditional Chinese medicine theory as a guide a comfortable life. The idea of health in China is a fusion of medicine and nature, thus indicating that health is directly associated with nature. Because of this, Chinese medicine focuses intensely on the role of herbs in diet. In recent years, a lot of yangsheng centers have been built up and people have begun to desire and consume healthier foods. And newly opened yangsheng restaurants are popular among young people. For example, in Shanghai, there is a restaurant named Kush and all of dishes are yaoshan. As distinct from Western countries, soup in China is valued for its nutrition and freshness of ingredients more so than its taste. Most of the soup in the western countries is thick, while in China it is light. For example, duck soup is “believed to have the function of dispelling summer heat”.
Since ancient times, TCM also believes that herbal medicine importantly affects women's health. There is a traditional Chinese medicine called Siwu tang made from four kinds of herbs (angelica, chuanxiong, Paeonia lactiflora Pall, and Rehmannia glutinosa). Siwu tang, according to Charlotte Furth in A Flourishing Yin, “[has] been developed by the Northern Song Imperial Medical Bureau in the eleventh century. It privileges mild drugs that act on Bolld and has remained as staple in the fuke repertory ever since”. To date, Siwu tang has only been used in China. One of its uses is for women in menstruation. It has the effect of regulating qi and blood, and can slow down the female dysmenorrhea.
The Chinese food therapy is preferred by the modern Chinese women because of its nutritionally beneficial formula. These formulae can help women gain or regain both inside and outside beauty and health. As mentioned, Yin and Yang are related to people’s health. However, food is also extremely beneficial for a healthy living. Some food belongs to Yin like fruits, whereas meat belongs to Yang. Joerg states in his book Chinese Nutruition Therapy: Dietetics in Traditional Chinese Medicine: “Yang foods are recommended for disorders of a cool or cold nature” and “Yin foods are important therapy for heat disorders” (24). It goes without saying that diet has a long-term effect on the harmony of Yin and Yang.
Chinese food therapy specifies the cherry as a woman's treasure. Dr. Kastner asserts that the cherry’s thermal nature is warm and it “supplements the center buner, qi, and blood; supplements and moistens liver and spleen, disperses blood stasis, dissipates cold, dispels wind-dampness”. As the color of cherry are same as blood, the cherry is considered absolutely advantageous for women’s blood. It is commonly believed that the food must contain nutritional elements for growth, development, health, and survival.
Food is not only a source of nutrition; it also functions as a medicine to cure illnesses. Many suitable foods for health are promoted widely. Commonly, these include powdered grains, cereals, porridge, herbs and so on. According to Unschuld et al., “Water is yin; fire is yang. Yang is qi; yin is flavor”. Food is undoubtedly at the basis of human bodily functions. In most Western countries such as the United States, a part of the population is vegetarian. Due to adequate daily intake of fruits and vegetables, their body is usually slim and healthy. On the other hand, many people who eat a high calorie diet are obese. As a consequence, they are at a higher risk of developing various diseases.
Conclusion
For western countries, nutritional intake is calculated by calories. But the general idea in China is to eat more fruits and vegetables regardless of calories. This shows how people in different regions have different views of how nutritional value is measured. It is generally accepted that a balanced diet is the key to a healthy life. All in all, health is a basic component necessary for a good life. Health is achieved when a person maintains good sleep, eats breakfast, and works to maintain a pleasant mood. Those who are persistent in striving for these daily goals as prescribed by Chinese food therapy are more easily able to attain good health. That said, there is no one specific health method that can be applied to every person. Therefore, people must generally strive to be healthy according to needs of their particular bodies and circumstances. But, once a health regimen is selected, a person must not arbitrarily change it. Instead, they should stick to it. This is the only way to have a healthy life, and to live it fully.
References
Furth, Charlotte. A Flourishing Yin: Gender in China's Medical History: 960–1665. Univ of California Press, 1999.
Lu, Yongxiang, and Hui He. A History of Chinese Science and Technology. Trans. Chuijun Qian. Vol. 2. Heidelberg: Springer, 2015. Print.
Kastner, Jörg. Chinese Nutrition Therapy: Dietetics in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). 2nd ed. Stuttgart: Thieme, 2009. Print.
Kuriyama, Shigehisa. The Expressiveness of the Body and the Divergence of Greek and Chinese Medicine. New York: Zone, 1999. Print.
Unschuld, Paul U., Hermann Tessenow, and Jinsheng Zheng. Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen: An Annotated Translation of Huang Di's Inner Classic -- Basic Questions. Berkeley: U of California, 2011. Print.
"Yin, Yang Theory, Universal Messages, TCM | TCM World." TCM World RSS. Web. 08 May 2016. <http://www.tcmworld.org/what-is-tcm/yin-yang-theory/>.
