Recently, some media reported that a 29-year-old boy in Hangzhou "didn't eat after noon" for five years. Results The gastric mucosa was hyperemia and erosion, and there were two huge ulcers (more than 2 cm in diameter), bleeding and brown blood scab.

In recent years, many people believe in "not eating in the afternoon", mainly because a famous Chinese medicine expert has been saying that "not eating in the afternoon is good for health and longevity", and most people who oppose this statement point their finger at Chinese medicine. So, is "no food in the afternoon" really a health care method advocated by Chinese medicine?

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"Don't eat in the afternoon" comes from Buddhism rather than medicine.

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According to the author's research, Yu Chang, one of the three famous doctors in the early Qing Dynasty, was the first doctor to talk about "no food in the afternoon". In his medical case monograph "Yi Yi Cao", he introduced a medical case of "blood syndrome and phlegm syndrome treatment" and mentioned the importance of diet recuperation. He thinks that not only the fat and sweet taste is easy to produce phlegm, but also the eating time is related to phlegm. According to the changing law of yang in human body, spleen should be supplemented before noon. In the afternoon, the sun gradually declined. If you eat again at this time, your diet will become difficult and become phlegm.

From the point of view of modern nutrition, there is a misunderstanding in Yu's statement that the human body is a warm-blooded animal, and the change of its digestion and absorption ability is related to the overall health status, activity mode, variety and quantity of food eaten, which is inconsistent with the diurnal change of nature. According to the rhythm of modern people's life, China Residents' Dietary Guide gives a three-meal model: nutritious breakfast, good lunch and proper dinner.

The reason why Shi Yu quoted Buddhism "no food in the afternoon" to talk about aftercare was related to his experience of going from Confucianism to Zen and from Zen to medicine. After three years in Beijing, I was depressed, cut my hair and became a monk, and fled into an empty net. While studying Buddhism, he also studied medical skills intensively, and finally chose the road of "not being a good doctor, but being a good doctor", kept his hair down the mountain and went back to Guan to practice medicine until his death. Therefore, Yu's reference to "not eating in the afternoon" comes from Buddhism and has high credibility.

After Yu, many doctors also wrote similar works. Besides, other doctors pointed out in unison that this theory came from Buddhism, not medicine. For example, "Buddhists don't eat in the afternoon", saying that "the stone family has the precept of not eating in the afternoon", and Cao Cishan said that "the stone family has the theory of not eating in the afternoon".

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Monks will eat tea soup and "substitute tea" in the afternoon.

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The so-called "no food in the afternoon", the accurate statement of Buddhism is "no food in the afternoon" and "no food out of season". The "noon" here is not the noon in the 12 time system, but refers to the noon at Ding Keke Trade 12. According to Mr. Zhao Puchu's explanation, Buddhists only eat one meal before noon every day, in order to cherish the support of lay people, which is conducive to abstinence. The first reason is that monks' food is provided by laymen, and they only eat once a day. Eating once in Japan and China can reduce the burden on laymen. Second, not eating after noon helps to repair. "

gruel of millet flour and sugar

Buddhists can't doze off while chanting, but they can drink tea to refresh themselves. The tea people drank at that time was not a cup of tea, but a cup of tea soup. Add onion, ginger, jujube, orange peel, (edible) Cornus officinalis and mint to the tea before eating. If nothing else, jujube, judging from the glycemic index of modern food, GI value is higher than glucose! Eating two more dates will make you hungry.

Dai tea

In addition to tea soup, there is also "tea substitute" for monks, which contains 14 flavors such as Astragalus membranaceus, Poria, Pueraria lobata, Coicis Semen, medulla tetrapanacis, Zingiberis Rhizoma, Cortex Mori, Rhizoma Hominis, Radix Rehmanniae, Fructus Lycii, Flos Lonicerae, Radix Ophiopogonis and Rhizoma Dioscoreae. In this recipe, the carbohydrate content of Poria cocos, Radix Puerariae and Coicis Semen is not low. If you eat too much, you will be hungry.

Medicine and food

In addition, according to Mr. Zhao Puchu, "Zen monks of the Han nationality in China have their own farming habits since ancient times. Because of their labor, they have to eat at night. Therefore, in most temples, it is forbidden to eat in the afternoon, but it is regarded as' medicine food'. " It can be seen that Buddhism's "eating too much" is also flexible.

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The essence of "no food in the afternoon" is to eat less in the afternoon.

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Many doctors think that "not eating in the afternoon" is not fasting in the afternoon, but eating less. "Breakfast can be full, it is advisable to eat less in the afternoon, and it will be empty at night"; Gu Yue Fu Yun: Eat less at dinner and live to ninety-nine;

However, many doctors are opposed to eating supper. "As for supper, it is especially forbidden." As early as the Tang Dynasty, physician Wang Tao opposed eating at night: "People don't eat at night. If the moonlit night is long in winter, hot people must eat less. " You and Qi are equivalent to modern 17 to 2 1, which means you'd better not eat after 9 pm, even if you do, you should eat less.

In the farming society, people's daily life is "work at sunrise and rest at sunset". It is not cost-effective to light a lamp and burn oil when working after sunset, so most people go to bed after dark. Chinese medicine believes that if the last meal is too close to sleep, it will lead to indigestion and become a disease.

"The most taboo is to go to bed after meals, not to hear, not to wear the spleen, not to disperse the lung qi, but to be depressed"; "People are not allowed to eat every night. Walk after dinner, so that you can sit and lie down a little. If you catch a cold or get drunk, you will be considered to have accumulated various diseases. " ; "The stomach can eat, the spleen can't melt, or if you want to lie down when you are tired, you must be patient."

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Eating by meals is the product of the evolution of civilization.

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In primitive society, there was no meal system. People eat like animals, hunt for a living, eat whatever they catch, and eat whatever they catch. In the farming society, humans began to grow grains and domesticate livestock, and were able to decide their own recipes and eating time. That's why Confucius emphasized "don't eat at all times", that is, you can't eat until you have food.

It can be seen that formal dining itself is the product of the evolution of civilization, and cultural literacy begins at the dining table, which is very common at home and abroad. "Li Yun" says that "the ceremony begins with a meal", and English culture and agriculture are just a prefix representing "agri-".

Before Qin and Han Dynasties, it was quite common to have two meals a day. People call the food they eat before going out to work "big food" (Oracle Bone Inscriptions) or "munching", and they are full. Meals eaten after work are called "snacks" or "snacks". Generally, leftovers are soaked in water in the morning to deal with them: "snacks, rice poured with water, are eaten from the evening." Because of the established eating time, big food and snacks were named proper nouns in Shang Dynasty. "Big food" refers to the modern time between 7: 00 and 9: 00, and "snacks" refers to the modern time between 15- 17:00.

Of course, the meal system also varies from person to person. According to etiquette, the princes have three meals a day, and the royal family has four meals a day: "The princes have three meals, and the doctors have another meal. This is also a distinction between honor and inferiority." It can be seen that eating one more meal is also the privilege of farming society. Therefore, ancient books are divided into three types: flat food, daytime food, eating food and dusk food. In 12 hour system and 16 hour system, fleas can also eat (early), feed (b) and eat at night. Eating forefinger is between 15- 17: "Eat, apply for food", which is equivalent to the "snack" time in Shang Dynasty, and it is past noon. The system of three meals for urban people began in the Song Dynasty, mainly to meet the needs of commercial activities.

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Proper diet is the right way to keep healthy.

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The ancients emphasized health preservation: "Eat regularly, live regularly, and don't act rashly, in order to be in harmony with God and come to the end of life." Among them, "moderate diet" includes meal timing, quantification and five flavors harmony. Can't you eat after noon? No way!

In traditional Chinese, "essence" and "qi" both have a "rice", so people point the finger at Shui Gu for nourishing essence: "essence and qi both originate from rice, and essence and qi must depend on rice". If you don't eat for a long time, you will be short of gas: "If you don't go into the valley for a long time, you will be weak, and you will be short of gas in one day."

Traditional Chinese medicine coincides with modern nutrition in meal system and food intake, and both emphasize eating less and more meals per meal: "The food intake is small, but I don't want to eat more." Just eat it once a day like a sumo wrestler, but eating too much spleen and stomach will still hurt your health. "Eating twice as much will hurt your stomach." So we should control the total amount of food. "There should be only eight meals a day, not the more the better"; If you are too hungry, it is easy to eat too much. "I am afraid that hunger is food and there will be more food."

The correct way is to eat regularly and eat less every meal. "If you are full, you will always be hungry. If you are hungry, you will be full."

The author of this article is Lin Yin, director and professor of the Department of Health Rehabilitation, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine; Qian: Master of TCM Health Care and Rehabilitation