Eating is a science. If you don't know the taste, ingredients, functions and taboos of food, you can't talk about a correct diet. Only by fully understanding the five characteristics and flavors of food can we ensure the scientific and healthy diet.

Three-legged view of traditional Chinese medicine Dietotherapy for Men and Five Kinds of Foods

Su Wen Xuan Ming Wu Qi Zhang pointed out: "Five flavors enter the liver, pungent into the lungs, bitter into the heart, salty into the kidney, and sweet into the spleen, which is called five." It can be seen that the five flavors of acid, pungent, bitter, salty and sweet have a specific relationship with the five internal organs and play different roles in function and health. In Huangdi Neijing, the five flavors are closely related to human organs through the theory of five elements.

1. Sweet into the spleen

Eating sweets can replenish qi and blood, replenish calories, relieve fatigue and detoxify the stomach. However, patients with diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular diseases should avoid eating or limit eating.

2. Acid produces liver

Eating too much "sour" food will cause liver qi to flourish, which is not conducive to the maintenance of the liver. At the same time, according to the relationship between the five elements and the human body, excessive liver qi destroys the spleen and stomach. Therefore, for men, "sour" food should be eaten in moderation. Tomatoes, hawthorn and oranges, which are mainly sour, can prevent cancer, resist aging, prevent arteriosclerosis, enhance digestive function and protect the liver.

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It tastes too bitter, but it can make you sad. According to the relationship between the five elements and the human body, eating too much bitter food will lead to cardiopulmonary dysfunction. Bitter taste has the function of dehumidification and diuresis.

4. Irritation in the lungs

Spicy food has the function of sweating and regulating qi. However, if the taste is too spicy, it will hurt the lungs, leading to poor tendons and collaterals (Jin Kemu, liver belongs to wood, liver governs ribs), and because the lungs govern qi, hurting qi will lead to mental weakness. People often eat onions, garlic, ginger, peppers and peppers, all of which are mainly spicy foods. These foods can not only protect blood vessels, but also regulate qi and blood and dredge meridians. Regular consumption can also prevent colds and colds.

5. salty into the kidney

Saltiness is the crown of five flavors, and you can never get tired of eating it. It can regulate the penetration of human cells and blood and maintain normal metabolism. After vomiting, diarrhea and sweating, you should drink a proper amount of light salt water to maintain normal metabolism. But eating too much will increase the burden on organs and damage the spleen and stomach and kidneys.

Interpretation of the three pillars of traditional Chinese medicine. Five flavors and functions of food

The different taste of food is the embodiment of its different nutritional functions. Only by understanding these can we reasonably match and use them in practical application.

Have a pungent taste

Spicy and pungent, it has the effects of strengthening yang, dispersing stagnation and promoting blood circulation. It has a certain curative effect on wind-cold, cold-induced coagulation pain, but excessive consumption is easy to hurt body fluids, so it should be eaten in moderation.

Common spicy foods are: ginger, onion, garlic, coriander, onion, pepper, pepper, fennel, lobster sauce, leek, mustard, radish, wine and so on.

2. Sweetness

Sweet in nature, it has the effect of harmonizing middle energizer and benefiting qi, and has obvious nourishing effect on some deficiency syndromes.

Common sweets are: japonica rice, indica rice, glutinous rice, wheat, corn, millet, soybeans, lentils, carrots, potatoes, watermelons, melons, pears, bananas, pineapples, peanuts, sugar cane, mutton, beef, carp, eggs and shrimp.

3. Sour taste

Sour food has the function of astringing and nourishing yin, and has obvious curative effect on diarrhea, frequent urination and cough.

Common sour foods are vinegar, tomato, purslane, red bean, orange, olive, apricot, plum, loquat, peach, hawthorn, pomegranate, dark plum, litchi, grape, nail fish and so on.

4. Bitter taste

Bitter food has the functions of clearing away heat and toxic materials, eliminating dampness and purging fire, and has a certain therapeutic effect on some damp-heat syndromes, but people with spleen and stomach deficiency and cold should not eat more.

Common bitter foods are: bitter gourd, tea, almond, lily, ginkgo, peach kernel and lettuce.

5. salty taste

Salty food has the functions of nourishing yin and blood, dispersing stagnation and moistening the lower abdomen, and has certain curative effect on constipation, phlegm and blood deficiency.

Common salty foods include kelp, laver, pork, crab, sea cucumber, mussel, mussel, jellyfish, pigeon, duck and dog meat.

Traditional Chinese medicine VS modern medicine

Modern medicine believes that spicy food contains volatile oil, glycosides, alkaloids and other substances, which can not only sober patients up, but also dilate coronary arteries, resist myocardial ischemia and angina pectoris, and also regulate qi, dispel wind and remove dampness. Sweet food consists of sugar, protein, amino acids, glycosides and other nutrients, which can supplement enough nutrition for the human body, not only strengthen the body, but also enhance immunity and improve physical fitness; Sour food usually contains tannic acid. When this substance comes into contact with ulcer surface, bleeding point and burn surface, it can quickly form water-insoluble tannin with tissue protein and solidify on the wound surface, which has good astringent and hemostatic effects.

These nutritional analyses of modern medicine are similar to the traditional Chinese medicine's "pungent taste has the effects of invigorating stomach and eliminating dampness, inducing resuscitation and promoting qi circulation, while sweet taste can replenish human qi and blood, reconcile yin and yang, and sour taste can converge." The theory is basically the same. It can be seen that the theory of "five flavors" of food in traditional Chinese medicine is in line with objective reality.

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