When you’re currently taking herbal remedies, your traditional Chinese medical practitioner will advise you to temporarily halt eating certain foods. The reason being your dietary habits may have an adverse effect on the potency of the herbs you’re taking. The following are five foods to temporarily avoid when you’re currently using different types of Chinese medicine, as they could significantly reduce the healing effects of the medicine.
1. Bamboo shoots
Manychefs use bamboo shoots for their sweet flavor. However, they come with certain negative side effects that can be harmful for some people using certain traditional Chinese treatments. Bamboo shoots are sweet in flavor and have a cold nature. Some of their benefits include helping improve wakefulness, smoothing out the intestines, helping clear toxins from the digestive system, ease rashes, reduce gas and bloating and dispel phlegm in the body.
According to ancient traditional Chinese medical books, bamboo shoots can be used to prevent children from getting smallpox. So, if you are taking Chinese medicine such as liver clarifying soup, keung huo zheng si soup or da chin soup to eliminate dampness in your body, be sure not to include any bamboo shoots in your diet. Otherwise, the bamboo will add to the dampness in your joints, which would lead to severe discomfort.
2. Glutinous rice
A type of starch,glutinous or sticky rice is widely used in several Chinese cuisines. It has a sweet flavor and has a neutral quality. Glutinous rice is used for making rice, which is very hard for the body to digest and so it is not recommended for people with weak digestive system. The benefits of glutinous rice include helping reduce urine, nourishing the chi and warming the stomach and spleen. The rice firms the stool, raises temperature and warms the body. However, avoid eating glutinous rice when you’re taking supplements such as can ling bai shu powder since the rice will obstruct the supplements from boosting the functions of the spleen.Some of the ingredients used in can ling bai shu powder include bao he wellness pills, licorice with ling gui shu soup, lotus seed and ginseng.
3. Turnips
Turnips are vegetables that are commonly used in many Chinese dishes. They have a cool flavor and a bitter quality, which can help reduce heat in the body. Turnips can clot and cool blood andassist in urination and bowel movements. They also expel phlegm and lower hot qi energy. The other qualities of turnips can help eliminate excess heat in the body and facilitate digestion.
Avoid eating turnips if you’re taking any herbs that help strengthen your qi. These include sheng mai drink made from schisandra, ophiopogon and ginseng; yang-rong ginseng pills; licorice; poria; atractylodes; and “four gentlemen” ginseng soup.
4. Chili peppers
In many countries of the world, Chili peppers are a great addition to help spice up your food. Chili peppers have a spicy flavor and a hot quality. Their benefits include eliminating internal dampness and coldness whilst strengthening and warming the stomach.
Too much consumption of chili pepper however, can result in sore throat, toothache, hemorrhoid flareup and dizziness. You should avoid eating chili pepper, if you’re taking bitter herbs such as qiao powder, “silver” and blemish fading soup and daoyi powder for cooling purposes. The reason is the peppers will simply neutralize the cooling effect of the herbs.
5. Milk
When you’re taking yang warming treatments, it’s important to remember that you should never drink milk. Milk aids in digestion, nourishes weakness and has a sweet flavor and neutral quality. It is an excellent drink to strengthen your bones and body.
Milk is contraindicated for people suffering from diarrhea and poor digestion. It is not also good for people with phlegm in their throats and are sick with the flu. So if you want to eliminate dampness in your body and are using yang warming treatments such as aconite pills, strengthening soups and kidney chi pills to bring this about, do not drink milk. The yang warming effect of these therapies will dramatically fall if you drink milk with them.
Chinese medicine and food have varying properties. Therefore,when taking Chinese medicine,it is critical to mind what you eat. This will help prevent the rise of any adverse side effects and help you attain the treatment’s maximum benefits.
Jacksonville Acupuncture Clinic
8855 San Jose Blvd
Jacksonville, FL 32217-4244
(904) 260-2598