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Traditional Chinese medicine treats diseases by borrowing medicinal preferences to correct the imbalance of Yin and Yang, in order to create equilibrium. Any method that can balance Yin and Yang in the body, can be used to treat symptoms and diseases, whether it’s medicine, a food ingredient, massage, daoyin (a.k.a. Qigong, an ancient Chinese mind-body exercise originally aimed at health care as well as physical and spiritual purification), acupuncture, or moxibustion. 中医用药物治病，是借用药物的偏性，来纠正人体阴阳的失衡，从而达到阴平阳秘的最佳状态，进一步说，只要是能够调整人体阴阳失衡的方法，都是可以治病的，药物可以，食材可以，按摩导引可以，针刺艾灸也可以，殊道同归而已。 Once this concept is understood, you will find that there are many items in the home that can be used to treat symptoms and diseases. Such items include daily life necessities like firewood, rice, oil, salt, soybean paste, vinegar, or tea. By using these items to adjust the body, a kitchen can act as a pharmacy. By making good use of the ingredients from a kitchen, many problems can be resolved. Here are some practical uses of home remedies! 明白这个道理，你会发现家里能治病的东西很多，柴米油盐酱醋茶，都是可以调理身体，厨房就是药房，将厨房里的宝贝用好了，就可以化解很多问题，下面分享一些食疗经验！ Commonly used ingredients from the kitchen: rice, flour, eggs, white radish, Chinese cabbage, kelp, scallion, fermented soya beans, garlic, prickly ash peel, white pepper, Chinese cinnamon, fresh ginger, Chinese dates, sesame, sesame oil, lard, salt, sugar, baijiu (Baijiu is a Chinese alcoholic beverage made from grain. It is a strong distilled spirit, generally 40%-50% alcohol by volume.), rice wine, thirteen-spices, etc. By making good use of the above ingredients, most common symptoms can be treated! 常见的厨房食材：大米、面粉、鸡蛋、白萝卜，大白菜，海带，葱，豆豉，大蒜，花椒，白胡椒，桂皮，生姜，大枣，芝麻，芝麻油，猪油，盐，糖，白酒、黄酒、十三香～～能用好上面这些食材和调味品，就可以处理好绝大多数常见症状！ Rice: Sui Xi Ju Yin Shi Pu states: “People with weak body nature tend to suffer from deficiency syndrome, and drinking thick rice water instead of ginseng soup suits them better. For patients and puerperal women, (round grained rice) porridge is the best choice, as it is softer than long rice and less sticky than glutinous rice.” 大 米： 《随息居饮食谱》称：贫人患虚证，以浓米饮代参汤。至病人、产妇，（粳米）粥养最宜，以其较籼为柔，而较糯不粘也。 Ginger rice tea has the efficacies of warming the stomach, dispelling cold, and tonifying. The rice is washed and air dried, it is then put in a large pot and stir-fried into fermented rice tea, and then it is stir-fried with ginger slices that have been boiled. It’s ready to be served when both the rice and ginger slices turn light brown and become fragrant. The fermented ginger rice tea is pungent, slightly warm, with the efficacies of inducing sweating, releasing superficies, warming the middle, reliving vomiting, warming the lung, and relieving cough. It is useful for wind-cold syndrome of the exterior-excess type who suffer from headaches, phlegm-fluid retention, cough, stomach cold, and vomiting. This ginger rice tea is suitable for anyone, especially those with cold hands and feet that are caused by the cold body nature, those who have cold stomach pain, and those with diarrhea. The effect becomes better each time it is taken. 姜米茶，温胃散寒补虚佳品。将大米洗净晾干，放入大锅中炒制变成曲米茶，之后加入经过煮制后的姜片进行炒制，等米和姜片炒制焦黄满屋飘香时即可出锅。姜米茶味辛、性微温。具有发汗解表，温中止呕，温肺止咳。适用于外感风寒、头痛、痰饮、咳嗽、胃寒呕吐；此膳任何人都可以食用，特别是体寒引起手脚冰凉，胃寒胃冷的疼痛和拉肚子，吃一次暖一次，效果杠杠的！ After the rice gets fried, the starch and protein from the rice get denatured and become difficult to digest. Some starch and protein get carbonized and activated carbon is produced which has a strong adsorption effect. After people drink the fermented rice tea, the activated carbon can absorb excess fat in the intestine. Therefore, the fermented rice tea is a good for cleaning the intestines and removing excess grease, which helps to lose weight and relieve dyspepsia. 曲米茶，大米经过炒制之后，里面的淀粉及蛋白质就会发生变性，变成了不容易消化的东西，这其中不可避免的有一部分物质被碳化。产生一种类似于活性碳的东西，有很强的吸附作用，人吃下去以后，可以吸附一部分肠道内的油脂，所以说曲米茶是清肠刮油的好东西，减肥化积清肠的佳品。 Radish: Radish is cool, pungent, sweet, and non-toxic in nature. It can relieve dyspepsia, resolve phlegm-heat, soothe the middle, drive Qi downward, and relieve toxicity. It’s used for people who suffer from symptoms such as indigestion, stuffiness, cough and phlegm, aphonia, lung phthisis accompanied by hemoptysis, vomiting, and acid regurgitation. 萝卜： 萝卜性凉，味辛甘，无毒，能消积滞、化痰热、下气、宽中、解毒，治食积胀满、痰嗽失音、肺痨咯血、呕吐反酸等。萝卜具有很强的行气功能，还能止咳化痰、除燥生津、清热解毒、利便。 Food remedy for cough Ingredients: 100 grams of radish, chopped. Three to five slices of fresh ginger. Brown sugar to taste. Method: Boil the fresh ginger and radish for ten minutes, remove the ginger and radish, add brown sugar to taste, and serve warm. Drink three times a day. It can be used to treat cough of exterior-excess type. Boiled white radish with fresh ginger and brown sugar is good for most coughs. Individuals with sticky phlegm, more radish can be added. Individuals with aversion to cold, more ginger can be added. Individuals who are feeling fatigue, more sugar can be added! For children with a fever and cough of exterior-excess type, drink boiled chopped radish with Xiaochaihu Granules. 用萝卜加生姜加红糖，对大部分咳嗽都有好处，痰粘加萝卜，怕冷加姜，乏力加糖！ 小儿外感发热咳嗽，用萝卜切碎，煮汤，冲服小柴胡颗粒。 Radish is sweet, crispy, tender and juicy. Cooked radish is as sweet as taro, and raw radish is as crunchy as pears. Its effect is no less than that of ginseng, and according to a Chinese saying, “Radish in October is comparable to ginseng.” 萝卜味甜，脆嫩、汁多，“熟食甘似芋，生荐脆如梨”，其效用不亚于人参，故有“十月萝卜赛人参”之说。 Chinese cabbage: the king of vegetables · Ben Cao Gang Mu Shi Yi (A Supplement to the Compendium of Materia Medica), which was written in the Qing dynasty, states: 'Chinese cabbage juice is sweet, warm, and non-toxic. It’s good for the stomach and intestines, relieves agitation, relieves alcoholic thirst, relaxes the bowels, promotes diuresis, and stops coughs.” It also states that Chinese cabbage juice from winter is more effective. · Boiled Chinese cabbage with scallion stalk, fresh ginger, and radish can be used to treat cold. · Once Chinese cabbage is smashed and stir-fried, it is warmly applied externally on the epigastrium, and it can cure stomach-related problems. · It can also treat skin allergies, especially facial skin allergies. Chinese cabbage root, honeysuckle flower, and purple-backed duckweed can be decocted or smashed and applied externally on any affected area. · Drinking raw Chinese cabbage juice combined with raw radish juice can also treat carbon monoxide poisoning. 大白菜: Chinese cabbage can clear heat, relieve toxicity, lower ministerial fire, purge the bowels, and remove old and hardened feces from the bowels. Boiled flower of cabbage can be taken to reduce fever! Taking more leafstalks benefit those with Yin deficiency and constipation. 大白菜能清热解毒，降相火，通大便，宿便！发热可以用白菜心煮水喝！阴虚，便秘，多吃大白菜帮子！ Anti-cancer and beauty properties 1. Chinese cabbage is rich in crude fibre, which can not only play a role in moisturizing the intestines and promote detoxification, but can also stimulate gastrointestinal peristalsis, promote stool purging, and help digestion. Chinese cabbage is also effective in preventing colorectal cancer. 2. Fall and winter are drier seasons, and the cold winds are extremely harmful to skin. Chinese cabbage is rich in vitamin C and vitamin E. Consuming more cabbage in the fall and winter is beneficial for skin care and beauty. Kelp: It is similar to that of the Chinese medicine Kelp（Kun Bu昆布）. It also resolves phlegm, softens nodes, and relieves edema. People with a stagnation of phlegm, dampness, and blocked triple energizers benefit from eating more. 海带： 和中药材昆布有相似的功效，能化痰散结，利水消肿，凡体内痰湿郁积，三焦不通，都可以多吃点！ Kelp and astragalus soup Ingredients: 60 grams each of kelp and astragalus. Method: Wash and cut kelp into strips, add 700 grams of water, add astragalus, and cook for 30 minutes. Efficacies: Promotes Qi, reinforces healthy properties, resolves phlegm, dissipate mass, and clears the triple energizers. Usage: Take three times a day. Applications: Useful for various types of cancers. 海带黄芪汤 原料：海带60克，黄芪60克。 做法：先将海带洗净切成条状入锅，加水700克 ，再加入黄芪，煎煮30分钟，即成。 功效：益气扶正，化痰散结，通利三焦 用法：一日三次分服，食海带，饮汤。 主治：各种癌症。 Scallion (green onion, spring onion): Scallions can soothe the liver and remove any meridian obstruction. Scallion stalks can promote Yang Qi throughout the body, induce sweat and release the exterior. Zhang Yuansu states: “Scallion stalks have the property of dispersion and open up the channels to allow Yang Qi to flow freely up and down.” According to the Huo Ren Shu, boiled scallion stalks are used to treat severe head-splitting headaches which are caused by coldness. 葱: 青葱可疏肝通络； 葱白能宣通上下阳气，发汗解表。 张元素：葱茎白专主发散，以通上下阳气，故《活人书》治伤寒头痛如破，用连须葱白汤主之。 Scallion and fermented soya beans decoction: For those with a yellow tongue coating, whether dry or wet, scallion combined with fermented soya beans can help dispel stomach stagnation. Those with an initial aversion to cold which develops into a fever (as long as headaches with body pain and nasal congestion are present) can still use the soup for treatment. One scallion stalk is combined with at least 30 fermented soya beans. More scallion stalk and soya beans can be added with a heavier dosage. The scallion with fermented soya beans soup is suitable for cold with nasal congestion and fever. If one is hit by cold damage and gets a headache and fever with a surging pulse for a day or two, use a handful of scallion stalk, combined with one “sheng” (a Jin Dynasty unit of measurement, about 200-400ml) of fermented soya beans, decoct with three “sheng” of water. Boil into one “sheng”, and drink all together to induce sweat. (Bu Que Zhou Hou Fang scallion with fermented soya beans soup). 葱豉汤：舌有黄苔，无论润燥，均用，葱豉能消散胃滞。如外感初时恶寒，后虽单发热，只要鼻塞身痛头痛，仍宜用之.....葱头带须一个，豆豉三十粒为最轻剂.....葱豉汤，四季感寒鼻塞发热均可用之。 治伤寒初觉头痛，内热，脉洪起一、二日：葱白一虎口，豉一升。以水三升，煮取一升，顿服取汗。(《补缺肘后方》葱豉汤)。 Scallion and Chinese dates decoction: Recipe: 20 Chinese dates and 7 scallion stalks Method: (1) Soak the Chinese dates in water, wash, and shred. (2) Wash scallion stalks. (3) Put the Chinese dates into a pot, add water accordingly, boil for 20 minutes, add in the scallion stalks, and decoct with a slow fire for another 10 minutes. Eat the Chinese dates and drink the soup. Efficacies: The scallion and Chinese dates decoction can tonify the spleen and stomach, disperse cold, and promote Yang. It can be used to treat heart Qi deficiency syndrome, insomnia, dream-disturbed sleep, and amnesia. 葱枣汤： 配方：红枣20枚，葱白7根。 制 法 ：（1）将红枣用水泡发后，洗净，切碎，备用。（2）将葱白（连须）洗净，备用。（3）将大红枣放入锅内，加水适量，先用武火烧沸20分钟后，加入葱白及须，继续用文火烧煎10分钟即可。食枣饮汤。 功效：葱枣汤具有补益脾胃，散寒通阳的功效，可辅治心气虚弱，胸中烦闷，失眠多梦，健忘等病症。 Garlic: Garlic is pungent and warm in nature. It promotes Qi stagnation, warms the spleen and stomach, relieves dyspepsia, removes toxicity, and kills parasites. 大 蒜： 性味辛、温，行滞气，暖脾胃，消症积，解毒，杀虫。 Sui Xi Ju Yin Shi Pu states: “Raw garlic is pungent and hot in nature, and cooked garlic is sweet and warm. Garlic dispels cold and dampness, removes Yin pathogens, drives Qi downwards, warms the middle, helps digest starchy foods along with meat and fats, breaks blood stasis, and eliminates bunched up cold. Garlic can be used to treat drastic diarrhea, abdominal pain, frequent vomiting with dysuria, and constipation. It relieves toxicity, dissipates masses, and kills parasites. When applied externally, it treats welling abscesses, flat abscesses, relieves water retention, and arrests epistaxis.” 《随息居饮食谱》：“生者辛热，熟者甘温，除寒湿，辟阴邪，下气暖中，消谷化肉，破恶血，攻冷积。治暴泻腹痛，通关格，便秘，辟秽解毒，消痞杀虫。外灸痈疽，行水止衄”。 The wonderful use of garlic 1. Garlic is applicable to welling abscesses, flat abscesses, clove sores, and scabies. It is effective in resolving toxins, killing parasites, and dispersing swelling no matter if it is used internally or externally. For sores or furuncles that are in their early stages, a single slice of garlic can be placed on it externally to reduce swelling. 2. Garlic is effective in treating dysentery, diarrhea, lung phthisis, and pertussis coughs. It can be used alone or as part of a compound formula. Boiled garlic rice soup with powdered Tuber Bletillae（Bai Ji白及）is a proven recipe that can treat lung phthisis accompanied with hemoptysis. To treat diarrhea or dysentery, garlic can be used alone or through retention enema with 10% garlic soaking enema. 3. Garlic juice can also relieve itchiness. Garlic juice can be applied externally to treat skin eczema, ringworm, or dermatitis. Peel and mash half of a garlic and place it on a piece of 8-10cm square gauze. Wrap the minced garlic with a rubber ring, put it on the chopping board, and smash the garlic across the gauze. Apply the garlic juice to the affected area and the itchiness can be eliminated right away. If the skin is scratched, there may be slight pain after the application, but it only lasts for a short moment. After several uses, the garlic bag may become dry. Soak the bag in water and it may be used again. Garlic is good for coughs of the lung-cold type, dry coughs, and for those with a watery and slippery tongue coating. Mashed garlic can also be made into a tea! Adding boiled garlic into water and then drinking it will help to alleviate the symptoms of a cold cough! 大蒜对于肺受寒所致的咳嗽，干咳为主，水滑苔，疗效很好。 大蒜拍碎，开水泡，当茶饮就可以！也可以煮熟了，吃蒜喝汤，寒性咳嗽，用了就有效！ Principles of garlic treatment · What makes garlic so effective is that it contains two effective substances, alliin and alliinase. Alliin and alliinase stay separated in the cells of fresh garlic. Once the garlic is crushed, they will react with each other to form a colourless oily liquid, allicin. · Allicin has a strong bactericidal effect. After entering the human body, it can react with the cystine of bacteria to form a crystalline precipitate. It is able to destroy the SH group in the bacterial amino acids which disrupts the metabolism of bacteria, and makes it impossible for bacteria to reproduce and grow. ·Allicin will quickly lose its effect when heated, so it is better to consume garlic raw. Similarly, salt will also cause garlic to lose its healing effects. · Therefore, in order to achieve the best effect, it is best to mash garlic instead of cutting or mincing. Also, air dry for 10-15 minutes before eating, so that more allicin can be produced when alliin and alliinase are oxidized. Prickly Ash Peel（Hua Jiao花椒）: Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing (Shen Nong’s Herbal) (Ben Jing, for short) states: Hua Jiao dispels wind pathogens, warms the middle, eliminates cold impediments, strengthens teeth, strengthens hair, and improves vision. It also relieves pathogens that cause coughs and vomiting, relieves joint dysfunctions, relieves rough skin, disperses cold, eliminates dampness to relieve pain, and drives Qi downward. Ben Cao Gang Mu (Compendium of Materia Medica)(Compendium, for short) states: Hua Jiao disperses cold, eliminates dampness, relieves stagnation, disperses food stagnation, clears the triple energizers, warms the spleen and stomach, replenishes Mingmen, kills ascarids, and stops diarrhea. 花 椒： 《神农本草经》：主风邪气，温中，除寒痹，坚齿发，明目。主邪气咳逆，温中，逐骨节皮肤死肌，寒湿痹痛，下气。 《本草纲目》：散寒除湿，解郁结，消宿食，通三焦，温脾胃，补右肾命门，杀蛔虫，止泄泻。 Foot bath with boiled Hua Jiao · Wrap 50 grams of Hua Jiao in a cotton cloth, fasten the cloth with a rope or string, boil in water, and then the water can be used for a foot bath. While the Hua Jiao is being boiled, the feet can be steamed. More hot Hua Jiao water can be added during the foot bath. For the best effect, soak for half an hour and until a slight sweat occurs. · This method unblocks and frees meridians, promotes blood circulation, and improves sleep quality. · By promoting blood circulation, it helps to alleviate physical fatigue. · This method not only dispels the cold from the body’s organs, but also warms vessels and strengthens joint articulation. · This method also improves immunity to the influenza virus and other communicable diseases. · This method prevents and treats foot odor, foot sweat, and athlete's foot. It is also effective in sterilizing, disinfecting, relieving pain, stopping itchiness, and relieving swelling.
Pepper: Pepper refers to dried, near-ripe, or the mature fruits of the pepper plant. If the fruits are harvested from the end of fall to the following spring when they are dark green and dried in the sun, they become black peppers. If the fruits are picked when they turn red, soaked in water for days, with the flesh being removed, and dried in the sun, they become white peppers. Black pepper is often used for edible purposes. They are fragrant with a spicy nature, which eliminates fishy tastes and improves flavor. White pepper is often used for medicinal purposes, since they can dispel cold and strengthen the stomach. 胡椒： 为胡椒科植物胡椒的干燥近成熟或成熟果实。秋末至次春果实呈暗绿色时采收，晒干，为黑胡椒；果实变红时采收，用水浸渍数日，擦去果肉晒干，为白胡椒。食用多选黑胡椒，香中带辣，祛腥提味；药用多选白胡椒，药用价值较大，可散寒健胃。 White pepper is pungent and hot in nature. It warms the middle, disperses cold, drives Qi downward, and eliminates phlegm. It’s used to treat abdominal pain, diarrhea, lack of appetite, and epilepsy due to excess phlegm. 白胡椒：味辛，性热。温中散寒，下气，消痰。主治：腹痛泄泻，食欲不振，癫痫痰多。 Ben Cao Gang Mu states: “White pepper warms the stomach and intestines, disperses cold, eliminates dampness, arrests nausea, relieves deficient distention, disperses cold accumulation, removes Yin poisoning, and relieves toothache due to asthenic heat.” 《本草纲目》：暖肠胃，除寒湿反胃、虚胀冷积，阴毒，牙齿浮热作痛。 Ben Cao Jing Shu states: “Pepper is pungent and highly warm in nature. Although it is non-toxic, because it is too pungent and warm, over-consumption can be harmful. Both pepper’s nature and flavor are thick and it can be classified as Yang within the Yang. Pepper drives Qi downward, warms the middle, and removes phlegm. Individuals suffer from wind-cold in the viscera due to coldness in the stomach and intestines, which leads to the disharmony of the viscera and creates a counterflow of phlegm and Qi. Pepper warms the stomach and intestines, dispels wind, and disperses cold. When phlegm and Qi are able to travel down, the viscera is in harmony, and all symptoms are gone.” 《本草经疏》：“胡椒，其味辛，气大温，性虽无毒，然辛温太甚，过服未免有害，气味俱厚，阳中之阳也。其主下气、温中、去痰，除脏腑中风冷者，总因肠胃为寒冷所乘，以致脏腑不调，痰气逆上，辛温暖肠胃而散风冷，则痰气降，脏腑和，诸证瘳矣。” Pediatric indigestive diarrhea: Oral administration: Mix 1 gram of white pepper powder and 9 grams of glucose powder. Take 0.3 ~ 0.5 grams for children under 1 year old, 0.5 ~ 1.5 grams for children under 3 years old, and generally not more than 2 grams each time, 3 times a day, and take for 1-3 days. If there is dehydration, fluid supplement should also be performed. External application: Fill the child's belly button with pepper powder, fix it with adhesive tape for 24 hours, and apply continuously until recovered. 小儿消化不良性腹泻： 内服：用白胡椒1克研粉，加葡萄糖粉9克配成散剂。 1岁以下每次0.3~0.5克，3岁以下0.5~1.5克，一般不超过2克，每日3次，连服1~3天为一疗程。如有脱水现象须补液。 外敷：以胡椒末填敷患儿脐眼，外用胶布固定24小时，未愈可再贴1次。 Translated by Yanyan Proofread by Peter Zhao |
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