Sun Simiao's Health Preservation - Control Diet to Ensure Safety

In this life, one should be cautious about relying on food for nourishment. There is no such thing as holding air without food to sustain life. Therefore, the adjustment of diet becomes an important part of health preservation. Sun Simiao pointed out, "The foundation of one's well-being must rely on food." "Those who do not know the proper way to eat cannot survive." " Eating properly can prolong one's life, while eating improperly can lead to illness. "Food can eliminate pathogenic factors, calm the internal organs, and invigorate the mind and spirit to nourish the blood and qi." " It is a miraculous method of long-term aging and an extremely health-preserving technique. If one can "practice diligently", the effect "is like an influence." Sun Simiao believed that frugality is the top priority in dietary health preservation. He said, "When cooking, don't let the preserved meat be too abundant. It's better to always be thrifty." In daily diet, "be thrifty every season." If one indulges in taste and eats too many meals, causing shortness of breath in the stomach after eating, it may lead to the occurrence of diseases. As the saying goes, disease enters through the mouth. Many diseases are caused by eating too much and too good food. He listed the influence of different living habits in the guanzhong region and the jiangnan region on people's health. In the Guanzhong region in the northwest, there is a habit of frugality. "The kitchen and dishes are simple, nothing more than 葅 sauce. People there are less sick and live longer." In the Jiangnan region, which is rich in land and sea delicacies, everything is available. However, many people there fall ill and die young. There were also people who grew up in the north and went to the south to hold official positions. They indulged in delicious food and did not know how to be thrifty. As a result, they often fell seriously ill within a year. People thought it was due to their lack of adaptation to the local environment, but in fact, it was caused by their craving for taste and their unrestrained eating. Therefore, frugality in diet can prevent diseases and is beneficial to health preservation. One of the ways to be thrifty in diet is to "eat light food". The so-called light food means that one should have a light diet and avoid eating too much fried, rich, spicy, greasy, sweet and fatty food. For instance, "Fatty butter belongs to..." Fish 鲙 all kinds of cold and fishy things are often harmful to people. Sun himself lived in seclusion in the mountains and forests and had a simple diet throughout his life. According to historical records, when Sun Simiao entertained guests in the mountains, he said, "秫 a bowl of rice, several cups of goji berries and chrysanthemums, without salt and cheese, as delicious as nectar." His long-term vegetarian and light lifestyle might be one of the important reasons for his longevity. Sun Simiao's dietary adjustment basically follows the theory in the Inner Classic that the five flavors belong to the five internal organs. Pungent flavors belong to the lungs, bitter flavors to the heart, sweet flavors to the spleen, sour flavors to the liver, and salty flavors to the kidneys. Based on the principle of generation and restraint of the Five Elements, the methods of suitable foods for the five internal organs, the methods of foods to avoid for the five internal organs, and the methods of treating diseases of the five internal organs with the five flavors have been formulated. For instance, food taboos for the five internal organs: "Eating too much sour food will make the skin dry and the hair short." Eating too much bitter food can cause the tendons to become tight and the claws to become dry. Eating too much sweet food can cause bone pain and hair loss. Eating too much spicy meat will cause the lips to 褰; Eating too much salty food can cause the pulse to become congeal and the color to change. It should be noted that one should not be partial to certain foods. Long-term partial eating can be harmful to the body. This is consistent with the viewpoint of modern medicine. For instance, modern research has confirmed that a long-term preference for salty and heavy foods and excessive salt intake can aggravate or trigger cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, hypertension, and thrombosis, and also reduce the body's natural resistance. Moreover, poor blood circulation often manifests as abnormal skin color. This is what is called "Excessive consumption of salty food causes the pulse to become congeal and the complexion to change", which shows how correct Sun Simiao's observation and opinion were. In addition to frugality, light food, and paying attention to the proper combination of the five flavors, dietary health preservation also requires attention to the time and amount of food intake. For instance, "Those who are good at nurturing their nature eat when they are hungry and drink when they are thirsty. Their appetite is small in quantity and they do not want to have a large appetite in an instant." The standard for how much to eat should be such as "feeling full when hungry and hungry when full". In this way, moderate food intake can be fully digested, which is beneficial to health. The Sun family was very particular about the way they ate. He advocated that one should not gobble up food but chew it slowly and thoroughly. When eating, one must get rid of all worries and eat calmly, which is beneficial to digestion and health. Some people like to rack their brains while eating, which is also a bad habit that is harmful to health and should be abandoned. After eating, do not do mental or physical work immediately, nor lie still. One should first rub the face and abdomen with hands, and then walk for hundreds of steps to several miles. Doing so can help digest food and prevent the occurrence of diseases. At the same time, Sun also paid attention to food hygiene and did not eat raw, cold or spoiled food. After eating, rinse your mouth several times to keep your teeth healthy and your mouth free of foul breath. The dietary health preservation of the Sun family also includes a rich variety of food therapy methods. He believes that a skilled doctor should be able to treat diseases through dietary adjustment. For all diseases, the first step should be to "treat them with food. If food therapy fails, then prescribe medicine." Summarizing his life's experience in dietary therapy, it is listed in the "Food Therapy" section, collecting over 150 kinds of dietary therapy products, which are classified into four categories: fruits, vegetables, grains, and birds and beasts. The content is very rich. The first specialized book on food therapy in China, "Food Therapy Materia Medica", was supplemented based on Sun's "Food Therapy".