Those who do not understand dietary suitability cannot sustain life
Autumn winds blow, and people naturally recall autumn nourishment. At this time, the South Korean TV drama "Dae Jang Geum" presents many secret imperial health food recipes to viewers. Many elderly or weak individuals, burdened by illness, are stirred up and rush to consult me: "Are the palace health foods shown on TV really so miraculous? Can we also nourish ourselves like this?" I tell them these "health foods" are neither bad nor wrong—only whether they suit you or not.
Traditional Chinese medicine holds that ordinary people or patients should not have a uniform diet. There is a need to consider individual differences based on person, place, season, and condition—this is what TCM calls "suitability" and "avoidance" in diet. The essence of dietary suitability and avoidance emphasizes targeted nutrition, akin to "tailoring meals to the person." Just as medication treats disease, nutrition should also follow the principle of "diagnosis-based diet" and "pattern-differentiated diet."
Ancient dietary nutritional concepts were built upon the balance between appropriateness and inappropriateness—i.e., suitability and avoidance. As Han dynasty physician Zhang Zhongjing said: "The flavors consumed may either benefit the illness or harm the body. If suitable, they strengthen the body; if harmful, they cause disease." Later physicians strongly supported this view and expanded upon it. For example, Tang dynasty physician Sun Simiao stated: "The foundation of life must rely on proper diet. Those who do not understand dietary suitability cannot sustain life." Therefore, when evaluating the nutritional value of food—whether for tonification or therapy—one should not base judgment on rarity, exoticism, fame, or cost, but on whether the use is appropriate.
Dietary suitability and avoidance manifest in constitution, region, season, age, illness, as well as food pairing, method, and dosage. Based on physiological characteristics, Traditional Chinese Medicine's constitutional theory identifies different temperament types. For instance, those with thin build, high activity, and quick temper are "wood-fire type"; those with obesity, sluggishness, and excessive sleepiness are "phlegm-damp type"; those with pale complexion, cold limbs, and aversion to cold are "yang-deficiency type," etc.
For different constitutions, dietary choices vary accordingly. For "wood-fire type" individuals, it is advisable to consume fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, and moistening foods like dairy and eggs, while avoiding beef, lamb, dog meat, scaleless fish, exotic birds and beasts, fresh seafood, and spicy, fire-inducing, yang-nourishing foods. For "phlegm-damp type" individuals, fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, and light or diuretic foods are recommended, whereas fatty meats, dairy, oils, and greasy, phlegm-producing, dampness-promoting foods are contraindicated. For "yang-deficiency type" individuals, fish, poultry, meat, eggs, and moderate amounts of pungent-warm foods are suitable, while cold dishes, cold drinks, and excessive fruits and vegetables are avoided.
Generally, residents in high-altitude, cold, and damp regions should favor pungent-warm, pungent-hot, yang-nourishing, and fire-stimulating foods—such as moderate amounts of star anise, fennel, Sichuan pepper, chili peppers, lamb, deer meat, and dog meat—while avoiding cold-cooling, descending, and draining foods like millet, buckwheat, bitter melon, cold drinks, and cold dishes. In warm, hot, and humid regions, one should prefer pungent-cool, sweet-cool, sweet-cold, and cooling, fire-reducing foods—such as fruits, vegetables, cold foods, cold drinks, cold dishes, and freshwater seafood—while avoiding pungent, fire-stimulating, and yang-nourishing foods.
Regarding seasonal dietary suitability, the ancient text "Zhouli·Tianguan" (circa 2,000 years ago) already provided specific guidance—for example, recommending more soups and broths in summer due to profuse sweating, and slightly more pungent beverages in winter due to cold weather.
China’s ethnic groups have distinct food flavors related to climate, geography, and even their own constitutions. The so-called "sweet in the south, salty in the north, spicy in the east, sour in the west" reflects physiological and environmental needs.
TCM advocates that dietary suitability varies with age. Children are considered "pure yang bodies" with delicate constitutions, thus avoiding pungent-warm, qi-tonifying, warming, yang-nourishing, and greasy, thick-flavored foods. Currently, among single children, overconsumption of milk, chocolate, royal jelly, fish, meat, eggs, and poultry leads to obesity, poor appetite, indigestion, and even endocrine disorders. For general elderly individuals, TCM views them as having "yin often deficient, yang often excessive." Clinically, symptoms include dry mouth, dry tongue, thirst, dizziness, flushed face, irritability, impatience, limb numbness, tremors, constipation, etc. Thus, dietary regulation should emphasize lightness, with tonics preferably from dairy, eggs, soy products—moderate, nourishing, and cooling tonics—while avoiding lamb, dog meat, shrimp, deer fetus, deer antler, ginseng, and all kinds of "penis wines" for seniors without special conditions.
Dietary restrictions related to illness are more complex. Generally speaking, based on the nature of illness—cold, heat, deficiency, excess—dietary choices should differ accordingly in terms of cold, heat, warmth, coolness, ascending, descending, tonifying, and purging. Appropriateness is suitable; inappropriateness is forbidden.
The classic "Huangdi Neijing" (Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon) states the principles of "moderation in eating and drinking" and "careful harmony of five flavors"—principles consistently upheld in TCM nutrition. The former requires moderation in food content and quantity, avoiding indulgence; the latter stresses balanced food combinations to prevent monotony or selective eating. This is also crucial for achieving dietary suitability and avoidance.
The "Neijing" also says: "When consuming food, avoid scorching heat and freezing cold; maintain moderate temperature." Observing various ethnic dietary patterns reveals how ancient people applied the theory of balancing yin and yang, cold and heat, to achieve equilibrium. Thus, cold foods like fish, shrimp, and crab are often paired with warm ingredients such as green onions, ginger, and garlic. Stir-fried bitter melon with chili peppers, or cold spinach salad with mustard, follow the same logic.
In daily life, some young people excessively eat cold drinks, sunflower seeds, candies, or develop monotonous diets—over-consuming oily, onion, garlic, chili, and other pungent, dispersing foods—which are discouraged in TCM. Conversely, overly pursuing a light diet, relying solely on vegetables, fruits, and limited coarse grains, is also opposed by TCM. Currently, clinical cases of hypoglycemia and other nutritional deficiencies due to long-term restriction of fats, proteins, and sugars for weight loss are not uncommon.
To achieve proper dietary suitability and balanced nutrition, the "Neijing" offers a comprehensive guideline: "Five grains nourish, five fruits assist, five livestock supplement, five vegetables fill out, combined in flavor and aroma, taken together to replenish vital energy."
In short, human constitutions vary in strength, weakness, abundance, and decline; illnesses differ in deficiency, excess, cold, and heat. Regardless of your daily diet, if it suits your constitution and condition, it is a good diet.