🌿 Folk Prescriptions

After the Start of Autumn each year, many people with weak constitutions attempt to make medicinal soups at home, and many businesses advertise autumn tonic meals. However, countless cases of illness due to improper consumption of medicinal foods exist.
Miss Wu’s mother retired and heard that medicinal foods benefit health. She bought ginseng, astragalus, red dates, and cooked a chicken soup. Everyone enjoyed the soup at dinner, but Miss Wu couldn’t sleep all night, feeling dry mouth and thirst, constantly drinking water and running to the bathroom. Later, the doctor explained that while ginseng, astragalus, and red dates stewed in chicken soup can greatly replenish vital energy, for a healthy person like Miss Wu, it was superfluous—easily causing "fire" or internal heat.
In contrast, Mr. Li was less fortunate. He and friends dined at a small restaurant where the owner recommended a new specialty: "Aconite Lamb Stew," claiming it could warm yang, supplement the kidneys, and strengthen the body. Believing himself deficient in kidney energy, Mr. Li ordered it. After finishing the meal, he suddenly felt palpitations and chest tightness. Friends rushed him to the emergency room, stabilizing his condition. The cause was simple: unaware of proper herb pairing, the chef randomly added astragalus, aconite, and lamb in the pot. Lamb is a warming, yang-nourishing food; aconite also warms yang. Moreover, aconite contains aconitine, which can adversely affect heart rhythm. Thus, it triggered arrhythmia in Mr. Li, whose heart was already fragile.
Traditional Chinese medicinal food is not simply a mixture of food and herbs. Instead, it is a special food crafted under the guidance of TCM diagnostic and dietary theory, combining herbs, food, and seasonings into a product with medicinal effects and culinary flavor—used for disease prevention, treatment, and health promotion. Without medical knowledge, blindly preparing or consuming medicinal foods risks missteps.
One of the main ingredients in medicinal food is herbs. Among the over 4,000 commonly used herbs, about 500 can serve as medicinal food ingredients. Of these, approximately 60 are relatively safe and tasty, including Gastrodia, ginseng, Eucommia, Poria, Angelica, Adenophora, tangerine peel, pearl powder, Cordyceps, Cassia seeds, Tian Dong, cloves, astragalus, white peony, Codonopsis, goji berries, licorice, Ophiopogon, deer antler, yam, Rehmannia glutinosa, Ganoderma, Polygonum multiflorum, etc.—mostly plant-based herbs.
These "herbs and food sharing origins" must be paired and used according to TCM theory, ensuring their effects complement and harmonize. Otherwise, errors may occur or effectiveness diminished. TCM has strict prohibitions regarding herb compatibility, herb-food pairing, food pairing, and dietary restrictions for specific conditions.
According to TCM theory, human constitutions vary due to genetics, living environment, diet, and lifestyle. Different constitutions manifest differently in physiology, pathology, and psychology. The most important aspect of preparing and consuming medicinal food is "tailoring food to constitution." Adults can be categorized into different types; based on individual constitution, suitable foods should be selected. This adjusts constitution, promotes health, prevents disease before it occurs, and offers excellent health benefits.
Medicinal food differs from ordinary diet. When using it, one must consider the nature and flavor of therapeutic herbs, dietary suitability and taboos, ingredient selection and processing, cooking techniques, and adhere to basic principles of application:
1. Holistic Approach, Individualized Diet
When using medicinal food, first assess your constitution, health status, seasonal changes, and geographical environment to determine the underlying syndrome, then establish corresponding dietary principles.
In medicinal food therapy, not only the nature and flavor of non-therapeutic herbs matter, but also those of therapeutic herbs. Generally, warm and hot therapeutic herbs—such as ginger, scallions, red dates, walnuts, lamb, fennel—have warming, dispersing, and yang-supporting effects, suitable for treating cold syndromes and yin conditions. Cool and cold therapeutic herbs—such as mung beans, lotus root, watermelon, pear, lotus root, purslane, chrysanthemum—have cooling, heat-clearing, blood-cooling, and detoxifying effects, suitable for treating heat syndromes and yang conditions.
Regarding the five tastes: sour-tasting therapeutic herbs—such as plum, pomegranate—can collect and solidify; bitter-tasting ones—such as bitter melon, apricot kernels—can clear heat, descend qi, extinguish fire, and dry dampness; sweet-tasting ones—such as red dates, honey, maltose—can tonify, harmonize, and relieve pain; pungent-tasting ones—such as ginger, scallions—have dispersing and qi-moving effects; salty-tasting ones—such as kelp, seaweed—can soften hardness and dissipate nodules; bland-tasting ones—such as Poria, Coix seed—can promote urination.
2. Delicious Medicine, Convenient Consumption
Medicinal food typically uses herbs and foods with dual purposes, possessing the color, aroma, and taste of food. Even with added herbs, careful selection of herb properties ensures delicious, palatable dishes.
Cooking medicinal food mainly employs "stewing, boiling, braising, steaming"—resulting in soups. This allows herbs and food to release active components over prolonged heating, enhancing efficacy. Cooking focuses on preserving the original flavors of herbs and food, achieving both nourishing effects and delicious taste, stimulating appetite and effectively delivering benefits.
3. Select High-Quality Herbs, Scientific Preparation
Herb selection must follow the principle of "diagnosis-based treatment." Based on individual constitution, food pairing, and inherent herb properties, select fresh, high-quality herbs—never use spoiled or moldy ones. Herbs and food must be cleaned thoroughly—free from impurities, dust, mold, decay. Ensure pure color, authentic flavor, and attractive appearance, with superior quality.
To guarantee medicinal food efficacy, herbs and food require proper processing. Some need slicing, shredding, cubing, or segmenting; some must be ground into fine powder; others require traditional Chinese medicine preparation methods to reduce toxicity or side effects.
Excellent medicinal food demands skillful cooking techniques. Generally, edible herbs and those without unpleasant odors can be cooked with food. If many herbs or strong odors are present, wrap them in gauze before cooking, allowing their essence to infuse into food or soup. Remove herb residue when consuming. Alternatively, first boil herbs, filter the juice, discard the dregs, then add the juice during food preparation—minimizing nutrient and active ingredient destruction.
4. Moderation and Consistency, Targeted Application
"Eating with moderation" is a crucial TCM health preservation principle. Medicinal food therapy should also be moderate and restrained. Avoid overconsumption in short periods; don’t rush for quick results. Based on personal condition, consume small amounts regularly, persistently, and lasting results will follow.
For healthy individuals, certain health-promoting meals may be consumed moderately. For those with weak constitutions or illness, medical treatment should accompany medicinal food therapy. During recovery or for chronic conditions, medicinal food may be more suitable. Notably, although medicinal food has many benefits, its specificity and therapeutic effect fall short of drugs. Only when combined with drugs, complementing each other, can better outcomes be achieved.