My first translating experience...This was a lot of fun and brutal at the same time. I spent hours on end and learned about 300 new words and a handful of disease names. The Chinese medical food guide I translated is what Dr. Liu will give to her patients after consultation. This list helps the patient make proper dietary choices that will benefit their treatment protocol. I must say the funniest part about this is how 2 pages of Chinese characters equals 6 pages in English. Most of the foods in this chart are very common here in Taiwan and not as common in the US.
Many of you may know how important diet is.
As Westerners we count fat, sugar, carb, anti-oxidant, vitamin & mineral content and from there we decide if the food source is considered "healthy".
In Chinese culture foods that are deemed "healthy" are based on other relative factors. Factors such as season age, gender, physical constitution & current state of heath all factor into dietary choices in Chinese culture. This is because all foods have "性味" a "nature and flavor" that benefit or harm you based on the factors stated above. For example foods that are cold (in temperature and nature) can damage the "Stomach-Spleen" (Stomach-Spleen in Chinese medicine is responsible for transformative and transportive states of "digestive phenomenon" and has other relationships to blood and phlegm production).
What does this mean to a layperson? "Cold foods" slow down the digestive process not only affecting menstrual flow but also gas, acid reflux, bloating, head ache, abdominal pain, diarrhea & fatigue. Eating too many "cold foods" makes you that patient who comes in experiencing these symptoms, thinking calorie or vitamin and mineral counting is simply good enough.
Let's use the general idea of physics.
The phenomenon of cold or the nature of low temperature slows down reduces movement and slows the rate of molecular vibration, as opposed to heat that expands and excites molecules. This is a very simple way of putting it but this kind of thinking is at the very foundation of Chinese Medical Nutrition.
In Chinese medical nutrition foods not only have nature and flavor but also have functions such as nourishing tendons, promoting urination or helping move blood or stopping cough.
This guide below is such a nutritional guide, mixed with a touch of Western nutrition. Hope you all enjoy it, maybe it will be useful to patient and Chinese Medical Practitioner alike.
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO VIEW THE FILE
TCM FOOD & DRINK GUIDE
Many of you may know how important diet is.
As Westerners we count fat, sugar, carb, anti-oxidant, vitamin & mineral content and from there we decide if the food source is considered "healthy".
In Chinese culture foods that are deemed "healthy" are based on other relative factors. Factors such as season age, gender, physical constitution & current state of heath all factor into dietary choices in Chinese culture. This is because all foods have "性味" a "nature and flavor" that benefit or harm you based on the factors stated above. For example foods that are cold (in temperature and nature) can damage the "Stomach-Spleen" (Stomach-Spleen in Chinese medicine is responsible for transformative and transportive states of "digestive phenomenon" and has other relationships to blood and phlegm production).
What does this mean to a layperson? "Cold foods" slow down the digestive process not only affecting menstrual flow but also gas, acid reflux, bloating, head ache, abdominal pain, diarrhea & fatigue. Eating too many "cold foods" makes you that patient who comes in experiencing these symptoms, thinking calorie or vitamin and mineral counting is simply good enough.
Let's use the general idea of physics.
The phenomenon of cold or the nature of low temperature slows down reduces movement and slows the rate of molecular vibration, as opposed to heat that expands and excites molecules. This is a very simple way of putting it but this kind of thinking is at the very foundation of Chinese Medical Nutrition.
In Chinese medical nutrition foods not only have nature and flavor but also have functions such as nourishing tendons, promoting urination or helping move blood or stopping cough.
This guide below is such a nutritional guide, mixed with a touch of Western nutrition. Hope you all enjoy it, maybe it will be useful to patient and Chinese Medical Practitioner alike.
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO VIEW THE FILE
TCM FOOD & DRINK GUIDE
Comments
Thanks for your interest!