Chinese Food Therapy is an ancient process; practitioners believe that a body can be healed by eating certain foods in certain combinations and amounts, instead of taking traditional medicine. It’s controversial because, in general, physicians don’t believe that most diseases can be cured by changing one’s diet. However, there have been several studies which have proven that eating correctly can add to the health of the body, so the basic principles behind Chinese food therapy seem to be sound.
This practice believes that most illnesses come about due to improper eating. Practitioners believe that most people know when they are eating something that does not agree with their body, and if they continue to eat or drink that particular item, they know that they’re doing harm to themselves. That part seems to be true according to most medical studies. Where the problem comes is in the determination of which foods are recommended to treat people and the types of illnesses they’re recommended to treat.
For instance, having someone ingest chili pepper to take care of nosebleeds or dry skin might seem a bit out of touch with what someone else might recommend. However, having someone suggest something like red wine to help stimulate blood circulation has been proven to be an effective treatment. Chinese food therapy tends to address multiple issues with the body and not just one specific issue, therefore it’s a combination of different foods and spices that are believed to help the body achieve overall health, as opposed to addressing only one issue at a time.
It also defines foods based on their yin or yang, something most of us have heard of but don’t know much about. The basic idea behind these two words is to describe foods in terms of their temperatures or nature. For instance, yin describes things towards the cold side whereas yang describes things towards the warm side. The belief is that too much yang will over-stimulate the body, and too much yin can bring on depression and sadness. Modifying these can help bring the body into balance, but also takes into account the seasons of the year to help determine how much modification needs to take place.
All in all, Chinese food therapy is a lot more complicated than it seems on the surface. It’s hard to say in specific terms how much it works towards healing the body if someone has a serious medical issue. However, it does seem to be a legitimate diet that can help a person’s body feel healthier.
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