Medicinal cuisine should not be consumed indiscriminately, especially not on a whim. It has pharmacological properties, and consuming it without regard to one's actual constitution can lead to problems.
Dietary restrictions are a major component of Traditional Chinese Medicine theory and practice. They mainly fall into three categories:
One category involves avoiding certain types of food when suffering from a specific illness.
For example: liver disease requires avoiding spicy foods; heart disease requires avoiding salty foods; edema requires avoiding salt, fried foods, and raw or cold foods; bone diseases require avoiding sour and sweet foods; gallbladder diseases require avoiding greasy foods; cold-related diseases require avoiding melons and fruits; sores and carbuncles require avoiding fish and shrimp; patients with liver yang, liver wind, epilepsy, allergies, or convulsions should avoid "trigger foods"; dizziness and insomnia require avoiding pepper, chili, and tea.
Another category involves avoiding a specific food when suffering from certain types of illness.
For example: patients with symptoms of yin deficiency and internal heat, phlegm-fire accumulation, or fluid damage should avoid warming and heating foods like ginger, pepper, and mutton; patients with lingering external pathogens, throat or eye diseases, sores, or after suffering from measles or smallpox should avoid "wind-agitating" foods like mustard, garlic, crab, and eggs; patients with internal damp-heat should avoid dampness- and heat-generating foods like malt sugar, pork, butter, and rice wine; patients with internal cold and spleen deficiency, those recovering from a serious illness, or postpartum women should avoid "cold-accumulating" and damaging foods like watermelon, plums, river snails, crab, and clams; patients with various types of bleeding, hemorrhoids, or pregnant women should avoid blood-moving foods like bamboo shoots and pepper; during pregnancy, substances that break blood, promote menstruation, are highly toxic, induce vomiting, or are acrid, hot, and slippery are prohibited.
The third category involves avoiding certain foods after taking medication.
For example: when taking diaphoretic (sweat-inducing) medicine, avoid vinegar and raw or cold foods; when taking tonics, avoid tea and radish. Some of these dietary restriction theories have been proven to be valid, while others are not practical, but they can serve as a reference when applying medicinal cuisine.