Because drugs only supplement nutrients, but are imposed foreign substances. Moreover, food is digested by itself, and the utilization degree is much higher than that of medicine, so food tonic is much better than medicine tonic.

There are many ways to make up deficiency. Medicinal tonic and food tonic are two commonly used methods, but they are different. As the saying goes, "Food is the most important thing for the people", which shows that diet is the foundation of health preservation.

Huangdi Neijing, an ancient medical book, said that "five grains are the supplement, five fruits are the help, five animals are the benefit, and five dishes are the supplement", which also showed that the ancients attached importance to dietotherapy. Zhang Jingyue, a famous doctor in ancient times, also said that "those who cover the truth belong to grain, so it is the meaning of educating people".

Extended data:

The full version of this sentence is: medicine tonic is not as good as food tonic, food tonic is not as good as sleep, and sleep is not as good as gas.

The most important material source to ensure human health and energy is diet-only food can ensure the comprehensive supply of nutrients needed by human body every day, and the nutrients contained in drugs are far less than those contained in food. In fact, most common diseases and morbid constitutions in life can be effectively improved through food.

If a person doesn't get enough sleep, or the quality of sleep is not good, he will often feel listless, inattentive, headache, dizziness, muscle aches and feel very tired.

If a person lacks sleep for a long time and is overworked, the body will produce pathological changes that consume gas and hurt blood and damage the five internal organs. Heart strain will damage blood, liver strain will damage spirit, spleen strain will damage food, lung strain will damage qi and kidney strain will damage essence, thus laying the groundwork for many diseases.

Nutrition, oxygen and water can be regarded as the three main factors that the body produces energy. Of these three elements, the body may be more prone to lack of oxygen than nutrition and water. The ability of the human body to absorb oxygen from the environment is not enough to ensure that the body is always in an aerobic environment. If you give up anaerobic breathing, your life will be in danger.

Reference source: Baidu Encyclopedia-Medicine tonic is not as good as food tonic.