🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Autumn is an ideal time for weak individuals to supplement their bodies. Fish are excellent aquatic foods for nourishment—delicious in taste and rich in nutrients. Their protein content is twice that of pork and consists of high-quality protein with high absorption rates. Fish are rich in thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin D, and certain minerals like calcium, phosphorus, and iron. Though fish fat content is low, its fatty acids have been proven to lower blood sugar, protect the heart, and prevent cancer. Vitamins D, calcium, and phosphorus in fish effectively prevent osteoporosis. Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes eating fish according to individual constitution—only when fish is consumed appropriately will its nutritional and medicinal value manifest. Below are common fish’s medicinal properties and therapeutic effects for reference in selection.
Empress Cixi’s Four Beauty Formulas
Carp: Also known as *fù yú*, sweet in taste, warm in nature. Functions include diuresis, reducing swelling, strengthening qi, invigorating spleen, unblocking meridians, promoting lactation, clearing heat, and detoxifying. Treats edema, ascites, insufficient milk after childbirth, gastric ptosis, rectal prolapse, etc.
Spanish Mackerel: Nourishes the five viscera, expels wind, kills parasites. Especially suitable for those with weak spleen and stomach, poor digestion, and dry skin. Can serve as an auxiliary treatment for chronic hepatitis and persistent hepatitis. Regular consumption moisturizes skin and maintains skin hydration and elasticity.
Black Carp: Tonifies qi, strengthens the stomach, removes dampness, promotes urination, expels wind, relieves irritability. Consumed to treat qi deficiency, fatigue, cold stomach pain, foot qi, damp arthralgia, malaria, headaches, etc. Zinc, selenium, iron, and other trace elements in black carp also possess anti-cancer properties.
Common Carp: Sweet in taste, warm in nature. Functions include diuresis, reducing swelling, strengthening qi, invigorating spleen, unblocking meridians, promoting lactation. Treats edema, blocked milk flow, fetal growth retardation, etc.
Grass Carp: Also known as *huàn yú*, comes in green and white varieties. Sweet in taste, warm in nature. Functions include calming the liver, expelling wind, activating blood, treating malaria. Ancient people believed grass carp flesh is thick and tender, especially good for treating physical weakness and wind-induced headaches when eaten head-first.
Loach: Sweet in taste, neutral in nature. Functions include warming the middle energizer, tonifying qi, clearing urine, detoxifying, and treating hemorrhoids. Loach meat is tender and highly nutritious. Its slimy secretion has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects. Treats damp-heat jaundice, difficulty urinating, post-illness night sweats, etc.
Note: Individuals with the following conditions should avoid eating fish:
- Gout patients: Fish contains purines, and gout results from disrupted purine metabolism.
- Bleeding disorders: Patients with thrombocytopenia, hemophilia, vitamin K deficiency, etc., should eat less or avoid fish, as fish contains eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), which inhibits platelet aggregation and worsens bleeding symptoms.
- Can taking 10 vitamin C tablets daily prevent hepatitis B?
- Liver cirrhosis patients: During cirrhosis, the body struggles to produce clotting factors, and low platelets increase bleeding risk. Consuming fish rich in EPA (like sardines, black carp, tuna) can rapidly worsen the condition, akin to adding snow to already frozen ground.
- Can tuberculosis patients get married?
- Tuberculosis patients taking isoniazid may experience allergic reactions if consuming certain fish. Mild cases show nausea, headache, facial flushing, conjunctival congestion; severe cases may involve palpitations, numbness of lips and face, rashes, diarrhea, abdominal pain, breathing difficulties, elevated blood pressure, even hypertensive crisis or cerebral hemorrhage.