Dietetic clues for some commonly seen diseases and obesity

Dietetic clues for some commonly seen diseases and obesity

1. Diabetes

TCM takes the dietetic aspects of diabetes absolutely serious, like it is said in the Gu jin yi tong da quan (Large collection of modern and classic medicine): With a clear spirit and little desire, controlling appetite and reducing the [restless] thoughts, it can be cured. But if this lacks only the slightest bit, even the most famous doctor and the best medicine cannot help [the patient] to live. Such pointing out that the focus points to treat this disease lies in the control of appetite and sexual desire.

The diabetic has to apply it by himself, and also for many other diseases it is a basic factor. as for obese persons this is the only efective way to solve their problem. Serious diseases, which are treated with medication should also be accompanied by the right diet, such achieving beter results.

Diabetics know their food and beverage intake from the medical doctor, usually determined by bodyweight and physiological condition. The right diet contains protein, fat and sugar in the right mixture and should be carried out as adviced by the physician; the patient can eat when he is hungry and can even add vegetables and leguminous fruits in higher amounts.

Often is recommended to eat more vegetables containing low carbohydrate levels like celery, cucumbers, etc. and also eat food with a rich compound of aminoacids like soybeans and their products (Tofu), red beans, eggs, lean meat etc. According to findings of research experiments, chinese medical herbs like ginseng, radix astragalus, Indian bread (pachyma cocos, poria), rhizoma dioscurea, rhiz. polygonatus, radix rhemania, asparagus root, jujuba fruits, rad. polygon. multiflor., rad. pueraria are all able to reduce a high blood sugar level, and therefore can be cooked with grains as a sautee. Consuming this often is very effective for prevention and treatment of diabetes.

Diabetics should be very careful to eat only small amounts of fish, egg-yolk, brain, fat meat, offals etc. and other food containing a high amount of cholesterole. Absolutely forbidden are sweets, sugar, marmelade, etc.

2. High blood-fat level, arterosclerosis, coronar diseases and high blood pressure

The only reason for those diseases is choosing unfrugale foods and drinks, moreover a liking for rich and abundant, heavy food. The best prevention and treatment is to reasonably select the right meals.

The most suitable foodstuff for these diseases are:

Rice, noodles, corn, buckweed, sorghum, etc. used to be eaten together. Furthermore added can be celery, onions, jiao bai, all beans, cucumbers, kelp, kombu, seaweed (nori) etc. When using oil, the best is to use soybean,peanut, corn, sesame and teaseed oil. According to a report onions, celery, kelp, jellyfish skin, sea cucumber, water chestnut, mung beans etc. can lower high blood pressure. Corn oil, sesame, peanuts, sea vegetables, boxthorn, lotus and tea leaves can lower the bloodfat level.

Patient with the above mentioned diseaes should especially pay attention not to eat food with high cholesterol levels like egg-yolk, fat from ainmals, brain or bone marrow and offals, as well as some crusted animals like clams, conches and crabs. Eating less sugar, refrain from smoking and alcohol, as well as hot, pungent foods is also recommended. Patients with heart and kidney diseases should control their salt intake and choose foods with a low salt level. Obese patient also should control the amount of their daily intake; the best advice is, to eat only 2/3 of what would make them feeling eaten to full.

Practical hint:

I. Cao jue ming decoct

At symptoms of hypertension and high cholesterol 5 qian - 1 liang of this herb after been cooked until it has a tea-like color, taken daily has a cholesterol lowering effect and furthermore moistens the hard stools.

II. Highblood-fat level (incl. high cholesterol level)

Rhizoma alismatis (Ce-xie) can be used: Drinking daily 2-3 qian decoct (until tea-color dark) of it, or of radix polygonium multiflorum (He-shou-wu) 4 qian. Before starting this treatment, the patient can check the triglyceride and cholesterol level. After applying it for 3-4 weeks check again. If it is still not better, a specialist should be consulted, to find an orthodox way of treatment.

III. Arteriosclerosis and stroke

The UCLA and the Cambridge University medical institute cooperated in a project where the connection between apoplex (stroke) and diet were researched. After running this 12 year long-term study, they found that the patients had only to add 400mg of potassium (kalium) to theit daily intake, in order to reduce the apoplex death ratio for 40%. For receiving this amount they just had to eat a few fruits or vegetables with a high potassium level like potatos, oranges, bananas, fresh tomatos, almonds, peaches, or some lean pork, white chicken meat, etc. These should be adviced as a reference to all friends with apoplex.

3. Chronic Bronchitis in the old age

This disease in TCM is often observed as emptiness of qi in spleen or lung and as vacuityness in lung and kidney. According to TCM older patients with this symptoms should eat the right food, selected to build up the spleen order the qi and nurture the lung and kidney. It is approprita to eat a few more foods with hot character and many vitamins like smelt (a small eel) and turtle etc. and also sea vegetables like kombu, seaweed, and kelp etc. Besides those lilly bulbs, yucca, euryalis seed, turnip, water chestnuts and fresh vegetables are also beneficial. Foods like walnuts, pork, beef, sheep lungs, etc. are known for moistening the lungs, supporting the spleen and transforming phlegm.

Practical hint:

For patients with long term bronchitis, asthma, coughing with much phlegm, and easily catching a cold the following recepy has prooved to be very effective: 2 liang yucca, 3 qian walnuts and 3 qian ji nei jin, cooked until the broth becomes tea colored dark. If taken for more than a month the above mentioned diseases will obviously improve.

4. Hyperthyreoidism

A. Recommendable to eat often:

Water chestnut, plankton skin, arrowhead, taro, seaweed, kombu, seashells and shellfish.

B. To be avoided:

Pomelo, dried longans, lichees, pineapples, mangos, sugarcanes, peanuts and stir fried, deep fried, as well as hot, spicy, irritating food.

5. Coughing

Beneficial and harmful food for patient with coughing symptoms depend actually on the situation and the different background of its origin as listed below:

A. Coughing, caused completely by external factors

Persons with a normal health condition in general only need to make sure not to encourage the bad influences on the disease.

I. Patients with external wind-cold symptoms like white phlegm, itching throat:

Persons belonging to this group shouldn't eat greasy food or such with a cold character, otherwise the digestion may be disturbed and the humidity might produce more phlegm.

II. Patients with external wind-heat symptoms like yellow phlegm, painful throat:

Persons belonging to this group shouldn't eat spicy food or such with a hot character, like chili and alcohol or stir fried, deep fried, roasted or broiled dishes.

III. No matter if the coughing belongs to the hot or cold type, if the patient produces a lot of phlegm, he should eat and drink only plain food and avoid for a while to consume meat or dishes containing plenty of fat or a highly alkalic sources. In avoiding such kinds of food the disease won't become worse. After the recovery the patient may of course eat those restricted items again.

B. Patients with a weak constitution and long term coughing

Persons that belong to this YIN-emptiness symptom:Little phlegm that is hard to cough out, dry mouth, hard swallowing, hoarse coughing, feeling heated after noontime, and having a thin, frequent pulse etc.

These people should avoid tobacco, alcohol, chili, ginger and other hot, spicy things. Instead better eat more light, bland food with high nutritional value, like soy products (Tofu, soy-milk), milk, green vegetables, eggs, etc.Suitable to be eaten mainly are steamed dishes like noodles, steamed buns, rice, and so on, but not fried cakes, Chinese crullers, broiled and roasted food.

Under some circumstances it is suitable to eat a few fruits like oranges, apples, pears, water chestnuts and honey as well as seafood like abalone, sea cucumber, dried sea mussel etc.

C. Patients with an obese body and long term coughing, whence producing a lot of phlegm:

Avoid eating fat meat and drinking big amounts of fluid, do more exercises and reduce the body weight.

D. Patients with long-term coughing, weak body, afraid of cold, short breath and a thin, fragile body-shape:

Avoid eating raw, cold and greasy food. Instead eat easy digestible, highly nurturing food with hot character like lean meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, etc.

If the patient daily coughs out a lot of phlegm and excrete, he should make sure to add a few dishes containing high protein or Vitamin A to his diet. Food such as beans, fish, lean meat, eggs, liver, yolk and vegetables with a high level of carotene.

6. Obesity

The main reason to slim down should actually not be the beauty, but the health that we gain from it. Typical civilization maladies like hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases etc.pp. all can be improved without medication, but by loosing weight.

Important points about eating and drinking habits:

Don't starve yourself, essential food must be eaten, but don't eat, when you don't feel hungry, better eat often some small portions than one or two large meals a day. Don't commit those little sins against your own will: Sometimes a chewinggum or a little cup of milk is enough to ruin the balance and stop the already started fat reduction, and you must start all over with the diet, that is to stay completely away from all sugar for a couple of days (2-3) to force your body again to begin with fat reduction.

A. The foodstuff you can eat:

1. Major dishes:

Chicken, duck, fish, and fried, stir fried, cooked, steamed meat can all be eaten (just eat less of ready made things outside, the best is to make it by yourself at home), and eggs (especially good are simple, cooked chicken eggs)

2. Accompanying foods:

Vegetables with big, fresh green leaves like cabbage, kohlrabi, water convulvulus ( a green), spinach, qing gang cai ( a green vegetable with spoon-shaped leaves).

3. Fruits:

Big tomatoes (preferably the greener ones), lemons, guavas (better the green, hard ones, growing in Taiwan and subtropical areas) and grapefruits. Except for those four, all other fruits should (temporarily) not be consumed, not even a mouthful (Fruit sugar!).

4. Beverage: Water

5. Avoid eating appetizing food like ginger, onions, garlic, pepper and MSG.B. Absolutely forbidden are:

Major dishes: Rice, noodles and flour products (bread, cakes, ice-cream), any sweet food, fish balls and meat balls, sausages, pork concentrate, thick soy sauces (miso), medical syrup, western pharmaceutical products and TCM medicaments, dairies (fresh milk), all offals, all seafood and wild growing vegetables (mushrooms, wild celery) and all preparations of shao zhen ( peony tips).

Accompanying foods: Except for green-leafed vegetables everything else like carrots, turnips, bamboo shoots, eggplants, celery cabbage, Corean cabbage, wild and vegetable cucumbers, scabbard fish, seaweed, kombu, any beans and their products (soy bean, tofu, pressed bean curd, soy sauce) should not be consumed during the diet.

Fruits: To make the regimen effective no fruits, except for the above mentioned four sorts are allowed.

Beverages: Soft drinks, juice, coke, honey and alcohol are strictly taboo.Visits to the restaurant should be absolutely avoided

C. Some special foods (can be eaten less than stated but not more):

1. Breakfast: 2 chicken eggs, 2 tomatoes.

2. Lunch: 3 cucumbers one dish celery, one egg.

3. Dinner: One chicken leg or 2-3 wings, and 2 tomatoes.

The diet should be kept for one or two month. many cases are known, in which people lost 2-10 kg weight!

Other points of importance:

1. Taking a daily early-morning-walk with an empty stomach for about 30 min. is very useful.

2. Sleep shouldn't exceed 8 hrs. and in ideal cases also the afternoon nap can be skipped.

3.Daily exercises are also an ideal supplement to increase the loss of weight.