Nutrition Over Pharmacological Diet
In traditional Chinese dietary culture, there is the concept of “food and medicine sharing the same origin.” Many people occasionally use herbs like danggui and goji berries to make nourishing soups. Numerous restaurants also sell dishes infused with herbs, often at high prices—but customers still flock to them, drawn by the “pharmacological diet” label.
Pharmacological diets are not ordinary food. Yet many people today blindly consume herb-infused foods based only on superficial knowledge of herbs, without understanding their own constitution—believing this constitutes a “pharmacological diet,” which is scientifically unsound. Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes syndrome differentiation and treatment—this principle applies equally to pharmacological diets. How one consumes them depends greatly on individual constitution, illness, age, occupation, and environment—requiring personalized, seasonal, and situational considerations. Quantity matters too: some believe ginseng is highly nourishing and thus eat half a pound at once, resulting in serious harm. Before consuming any pharmacological diet, one must first understand their specific condition—no illness can be cured simply by eating such diets. For example, erectile dysfunction is often mistakenly believed to be cured by “tonics,” but causes vary widely—some cases stem from psychological factors, not merely treatable by diet.
Actually, focusing on proper nutrition and balanced food combinations is the most important aspect of diet.
For dietary health maintenance, we should adopt a scientific mindset: don’t overly emphasize the “pharmacological diet” concept, but prioritize balanced nutrition. Just as many love Northern China’s “Big Harvest” dish because it features fresh vegetables—unaware that cucumbers in it contain an enzyme that destroys vitamin C. This example illustrates that nutrient composition and food pairing are paramount.