Traditional Chinese Medicine and Dietetics

Author: Tan Xinggui, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-06-01
Features: "Traditional Chinese Medicine and Diet Therapy" is one of the main courses in the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) health and rehabilitation program. It serves as a foundational course. According to the teaching plan of the major and the teaching outline of this course, it primarily instructs students in the basic theories, fundamental knowledge, and essential skills of TCM diet therapy, laying a theoretical and practical foundation in diet therapy and food therapy for other foundational courses and later clinical courses. This textbook is divided into three parts.
Part 1: General Principles
This part primarily elaborates on the basic theories and knowledge of TCM diet therapy, including the concept, content, and brief history of diet therapy; the characteristics, classification, and application principles of diet therapy; as well as the fundamental theories and skills of diet therapy.
Part 2: Diet Therapy Ingredients
This part introduces 160 commonly used foods and 106 special ingredients in diet therapy. It explains in detail the synonyms, botanical origins, properties, flavors, meridian tropism, efficacy, main indications, dosage, selected diet therapy formulas, components, usage notes, and references for each ingredient. In terms of classification, ingredients are divided into 10 major categories based on their natural properties and daily usage habits: grains, vegetables, wild vegetables, edible fungi, fruits, poultry, livestock meat, dairy and eggs, aquatic products, seasonings, and other auxiliaries. Medicinal ingredients are classified into root and rhizome, fruit and seed, stem and leaf, whole herb, flower, bark and root bark, fungus, and animal categories.
Part 3: Common TCM Diet Therapy Formulas
This part introduces 270 commonly used diet therapy formulas in daily life and clinical practice. It explains in detail the formula composition, preparation method, efficacy, main indications, formula interpretation, and usage notes of each diet therapy formula, following the structure of TCM formulae. In terms of classification, diet therapy formulas are divided into 15 major categories based on their efficacy:
- Expelling exterior pathogens
- Clearing heat
- Inducing defecation
- Warming the interior and dispelling cold
- Dispelling wind and warming
- Diuretic and eliminating dampness
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- Promoting digestion and resolving alcohol
- Regulating qi
- Regulating blood
- Nourishing the mind
- Pacifying the liver and subduing yang
- Astringent
- Tonifying
- Health preservation and promotion