Many Misconceptions About "Eating for Health"
Many Misconceptions About "Eating for Health"
At the first national forum on Chinese medicinal cuisine and dietary culture held on the 4th, experts from across China pointed out that the long-held belief in “eating for health” contains numerous misconceptions!
Using medicinal cuisine for “food supplementation” is a major component of traditional Chinese medicine, widely cherished by the public for thousands of years. However, due to lack of scientific management, there are no strict standards regarding preparation personnel, techniques, or raw material specifications. As a result, many restaurant chefs mistakenly believe that simply adding ingredients like goji berries, ginseng, or cordyceps to dishes constitutes medicinal cuisine, often exaggerating claims such as “nourishing yin, beautifying complexion, tonifying kidneys, and strengthening yang.”
Mr. Huang Mingfeng, a medicinal cuisine expert at Beijing's Ting Lí Guan, said that preparing medicinal cuisine requires chefs to master basic cooking skills as well as knowledge of traditional Chinese herbal processing and standard principles. Otherwise, the medicinal efficacy may be diminished or lost entirely. Vice President Sha Fengtong of the Chinese Medicinal Cuisine Research Association emphasized that some restaurants misuse rare or exotic ingredients to attract attention. In reality, among the nearly 5,000 commonly used Chinese herbs, only 79 are officially recognized by the Ministry of Health as both edible and medicinal. Moreover, many street restaurants offer medicinal cuisine recipes that do not align with traditional Chinese medical theory—ignoring the individual’s condition and indiscriminately prescribing tonics. In fact, no single medicinal dish suits everyone.
How to correctly use medicinal cuisine for “food supplementation”? Experts suggest first practicing “diagnosis-based dietary therapy.” Different syndromes require different medicinal dishes—for example, elderly people often suffer from kidney and spleen deficiency, so they may choose formulations like female-true berry soup, softshell turtle soup, or astragalus-stewed chicken. For diabetes patients, options like buckwheat-ginseng noodles or pumpkin-potato porridge are appropriate. Second, practice “individualized and regional dietary therapy.” Since medicinal cuisine is functional food, it must be selected according to personal constitution; otherwise, long-term preference for one type may disrupt internal yin-yang balance. Also, dietary choices should match local climate—e.g., in colder regions like northwest China, stronger doses of kidney-nourishing and yang-tonifying medicinal dishes are advised, while in warmer southern areas, milder dosages are preferable. Finally, follow “seasonal dietary therapy.” The year features distinct seasonal patterns: spring warmth, summer heat, humid summer, autumn coolness and dryness, and winter cold. Choose corresponding medicinal dishes accordingly. For instance, most current medicinal cuisines focus on “tonification,” but must be adjusted seasonally as “clear tonification,” “warm tonification,” “balanced tonification,” or “hot tonification.” (Source: MaiBo Health Information)