At the beginning of the formation of western philosophy, the theory of world five elements similar to that of yin-yang and five elements of traditional Chinese medicine was put forward. It is believed that the world is composed of "water, fire, earth and wood", and the fifth element "ether" is something that can transform the other four elements into each other. At that time, the theory of five elements in the West was not only applied to philosophy and religion, but also to medicine, forming a very huge system, which was very similar to China's Yin-Yang and Five Elements.

Modern health preservation, like modern medicine, is based on reductionism, that is, turning complex human organs into tissues, and then turning tissues into biomolecules to study. Modern health preservation mainly focuses on the analysis of nutrients, vitamins and other substances that bring benefits to the human body. Nutrition refers to the biological process that the human body ingests, digests, absorbs and utilizes the nutrients in food to meet the physiological needs of the human body. Vitamins are essential nutrients to maintain human health. They can't be synthesized in the body, or the amount of synthesis is difficult to meet the needs of the body, and they must be supplied by food.