Materials and Process of Food Therapy

The Chinese drugs and food used for medicated diet should be chosen carefully and seriously. First of all, cleanness-selecting should be carried out so as to ensure that the drugs and food to be used are clean, pure and dustless, and none of them is mildewed or rotten. The next thing deserving attention is the purity of color and flavor, the beautiful appearance and good quality of the materials and food. Take Chinese-date as an example. Those which are big, purplish red, with plenty of flesh, smooth and not moth-eaten should be used; otherwise, they are of poor quality and should not be used. Take wolf berry fruit (Fructus Lycii) as another example. Those with big grains, plenty of flesh, few seeds, red in color and soft should be used; otherwise, they are of poor quality and should not be used. Click to learn Chinese herb Fructus Lycii (Gouqizi).

In order to ensure the desired result of medicated diet, it is necessary, too, for the drugs and food to be processed. Some have to be cut into pieces, cubes, sections, or to be shreded; some have to be ground into powder; and some have to be processed according to the processing requirements for Chinese drugs. For example, parched hawthorn fruit can strengthen the spleen and promote digestion; while parched hawthorn fruit charcoal can not only strengthen the spleen and promote digestion, but also stop diarrhea. Some drugs, such as Radix Aconiti (Chuanwu) root, Rhizoma Pinelliae (Banxia) (a kind of prepared pinellia during the preparation of which a decoction of ginger is used), must be processed before they are used so as to reduce their toxicity or side effects.