Introduction: According to an article in the Ta Kung Pao, the task of regulating the body's constitution through food must be accomplished by understanding the functions of food, paying attention to food compatibility, adjusting the nature and flavor of food, and then applying cooking methods. Seasoning is an extremely important part of the cooking process.
Seasonings Must Be Used in Combination
Seasonings are a category of food used to adjust the nature and flavor of staple foods and the taste of dishes. In 1999, the author proposed a new concept: "Seasonings are also medicine." According to this theory, as stated in the study of food compatibility, "the main task of compatibility studies is to adjust the nature and flavor of food through the combination of various foods," in which seasonings play an indispensable role. Here, we will briefly discuss the properties of common seasonings and their suitability or contraindications for different constitutions.
1. Salt
Salt is a very important seasoning. It is salty, slightly pungent, and cold in nature, and is non-toxic. Its main component is sodium chloride. Coarse salt also contains small amounts of impurities, such as potassium chloride and magnesium carbonate, and sea salt contains iodine. Its functions include clearing heat, detoxifying, cooling the blood, moistening dryness, stopping vomiting, reducing inflammation, promoting bowel movements, harmonizing the spleen and stomach, eliminating undigested food, strengthening the kidneys, firming muscles and bones, securing teeth, and improving eyesight.
Due to its cold nature, individuals with a cold constitution (Slow-Cold Constitution) and a tired constitution (Fatigued Constitution) should consume it sparingly. Moreover, these two types of people are prone to edema, so they are generally advised to avoid salty foods. Modern people often eat "rich and heavy foods," which are high in sodium and low in potassium, easily leading to water and sodium retention and swelling. Therefore, Western medicine advises kidney disease patients to avoid salt. People with hypertension should reduce their salt intake, with daily consumption controlled to below 5 grams.
In recent years, there have been many clinical reports on using salt to treat diseases, including diarrhea, heatstroke, rheumatoid arthritis, hemorrhoids, toothache, constipation, and urticaria. Folk remedies using salt are even more numerous.
2. Sugar
Most sugar is made from the juice of sugarcane or beets. After entering the human body, it is digested into glucose to provide energy, and any excess can be converted into fat. Therefore, not only diabetics should eat less sugar, but obese individuals should as well.
White sugar is sweet and cool in nature, and its functions are to harmonize the middle burner and benefit the spleen, and to moisten the lungs and promote the production of body fluids.
Rock sugar has the same nature as white sugar, but its effect of moistening the lungs is even stronger. It is suitable for individuals with a hot constitution (Dry-Red Constitution) who have lung dryness, dry cough, or constipation, but is not suitable for those with a cold constitution.
Dark brown sugar is sweet and warm in nature. It is an unrefined sugar that contains various trace elements. It is suitable for those with postpartum lochios retention, abdominal pain, women's blood deficiency, irregular menstruation, and dysmenorrhea.
Malt sugar has the same functions as dark brown sugar. However, if consumed by individuals with "fire" in the spleen and stomach who are thirsty, it can lead to bleeding. Sugar is a substance that retains dampness, so individuals with a damp constitution (Stagnant-Damp Constitution) should not eat sugar.
3. Rice Vinegar
It is sour, bitter, and warm in nature, and is non-toxic. Although vinegar is acidic when it enters the mouth, after metabolism, it can make body fluids alkaline. When used in cooking, it can enhance the umami, sweetness, and aroma of dishes, playing a special role in adjusting flavors.
The use of vinegar in medicine has a long history. The "Compendium of Materia Medica" states: "Vinegar is generally used to treat various sores, swellings, accumulations, masses, heart and abdominal pain, phlegm and water diseases, and blood disorders. It kills toxins in fish, meat, vegetables, and mushrooms, and the venom of various insects. This is all because of its astringent nature, and it also has the effect of dispelling stasis and detoxifying." Therefore, it is suitable for individuals with a stasis constitution (Dull-Stasis Constitution). Modern medicine also uses it to prevent and treat influenza, hepatitis, bacillary dysentery, hypertension, ascariasis, esophageal cancer, bone trauma, uterine bleeding, corns, herpes zoster, alopecia areata, neurodermatitis, eczema, and chronic pharyngitis. Although rice vinegar has many medicinal effects, individuals with a damp constitution (Stagnant-Damp Constitution) with excessive dampness in the spleen and stomach cannot consume it. Those with muscle and tendon cramps, early-stage external contraction diseases, and those with hyperacidity due to stomach or duodenal ulcers should avoid it. Note that apart from rice vinegar, other types of vinegar are not used for medicinal purposes.
4. Sauce, Soy Sauce, and Bean Paste
They are salty, cold in nature, and non-toxic. Bean paste, sweet sauce, and bean paste are all salty and sweet. Their functions include clearing vexation and heat, relieving fullness and distention in the epigastrium and abdomen, countering the toxicity of various medicines and hot soups, eliminating all toxins from fish, meat, vegetables, and mushrooms, and treating poisons from snakes, insects, bees, scorpions, etc. It also neutralizes arsenic poisoning, which can be cured by taking it with water.
5. Oil
Edible oils come in two types: animal and vegetable oils, and are the main source of nutritional elements for the human body such as energy, fatty acids, phospholipids, and cholesterol. Due to different sources, their nature and flavor are difficult to describe in a single word. Currently, city dwellers consume too much oil, especially animal fats, which is quite harmful. They are one of the important root causes of coronary heart disease and stroke. Most vegetable oils not only contain no cholesterol but also contain components such as sitosterol and stigmasterol, which can prevent the absorption of cholesterol in the digestive tract. The author recommends sesame oil, which has a laxative effect and can treat constipation in individuals with a hot constitution (Dry-Red Constitution). It also increases red blood cell volume, making it quite suitable for individuals with a tired constitution (Qi and Blood Deficiency), but it should be avoided by those with loose stools.
6. Douchi (Fermented Black Beans)
It is bitter and cold in nature. It is made from black beans that are first steamed and then fermented. The "Compendium of Materia Medica" believes: "Black beans are neutral in nature, but when made into douchi, they become warm. Being both steamed and boiled, they can ascend and disperse. When combined with ginger, they induce sweating; with salt, they can induce vomiting; with wine, they treat wind diseases; with scallions, they treat dysentery; with garlic, they stop bleeding; and when roasted, they can also stop sweating."
7. Red Yeast Rice
It is sweet, warm in nature, and non-toxic. It is made from white japonica rice fermented with yeast, and its fresh red color gives it the name red yeast rice. Its functions include aiding digestion, invigorating blood, strengthening the spleen and drying the stomach, treating dysentery, expelling undigested food, treating women's blood pain and incomplete postpartum lochia. It is suitable for cold constitutions and should be avoided by hot constitutions.
In summary, the idea of using seasonings as medicine means influencing the ingredients through the rational combination of several foods and the addition of seasonings to meet the physiological requirements of various specific constitutions. Seasoning should vary from person to person and according to their constitutional type. The ultimate goal is to adjust the pathological constitution caused by long-term improper diet, reducing harm to health, and not just for the sake of enjoying delicious food.
8. Five-Spice Powder
Commercially available five-spice powder is usually made by grinding cinnamon, galangal, star anise, dried ginger, and licorice. It is pungent and sweet, and its nature is very hot.
Cinnamon is pungent, sweet, and hot in nature. Its functions are to warm the middle burner and strengthen the stomach, to warm the waist and knees, and to treat cold abdominal distension, postpartum abdominal pain in women, lower abdominal cold pain, and stomach cold pain. Cinnamon often has remarkable effects. Galangal is pungent and warm in nature, and is non-toxic. Its functions are to warm the middle burner, expel miasma and foul air, and treat cold pain in the heart and abdomen, cholera with cold-dampness, and toothache from wind and insects. Star anise is pungent, sweet, and warm in nature. It has the effect of promoting qi and warming the stomach, similar to galangal, but with stronger antibacterial properties. Dried ginger is pungent, warm in nature, and non-toxic. It can treat chest fullness, coughing with upward qi, stop bleeding by warming the middle burner, induce sweating, expel wind-dampness arthralgia, treat dysentery, cold abdominal pain, coldness in the waist and kidneys, promote blood circulation and expel wind, unblock the four limbs' joints, open the five zang and six fu organs, promote all collaterals, treat frequent urination at night, whet the appetite, and eliminate undigested food. Licorice is sweet and neutral in nature, and is non-toxic. It treats cold and heat pathogenic factors in the five zang and six fu organs, strengthens muscles and bones, harmonizes muscles, increases strength, treats metal wounds, counteracts the toxicity of hundreds of medicines, warms the middle burner and lowers qi, nourishes essence and qi, moistens the lungs, tonifies the spleen and stomach, and reduces fire to relieve pain.
Thus, five-spice powder gathers many hot medicines in one formula. It is indeed suitable for individuals with cold and tired constitutions, and for those with stasis and damp constitutions caused by internal cold. However, it should be avoided by individuals with hot constitutions and anyone with internal heat. If dietary taboos are violated, it can not only easily lead to various bleeding disorders but also trigger all latent diseases caused by internal heat.
9. Pepper
It is very pungent and warm in nature. Its functions are to descend qi, warm the middle burner, and eliminate phlegm. It removes cold qi from the zang-fu organs, treats cholera with qi counterflow, sudden heart and abdominal pain, undigested food, strengthens kidney qi, and kills all toxins from fish, turtles, and mushrooms. It is suitable for cold and tired constitutions but must be avoided by hot constitutions.
10. Sichuan Peppercorn
It is pungent, warm in nature, and toxic. It removes coldness from the six fu organs, cold-dampness arthralgia, and retained fluid and undigested food in the heart and abdomen. It kills insects and fish toxins, strengthens yang and treats yin sweating, warms the waist and knees, and reduces urination. Excessive consumption harms the heart and depletes qi, damages blood vessels, and causes forgetfulness and blindness. Individuals with a hot constitution must strictly avoid it.
11. Rice Wine
It is bitter, sweet, and pungent, and its nature is very hot and toxic. Here, we are only discussing wine as a seasoning.
Rice wine contains about 10% ethanol. Wine can remove the fishy and gamey smell from various meats, fish, shrimp, and crabs. Ethanol has a special aroma, and aged wine also has an ester aroma, which can improve the taste of dishes. Wine has antibacterial and preservative effects. Trimethylamine, a protein decomposition product, has a fishy smell and can dissolve in ethanol and then volatilize, thus removing the fishy smell. The "Compendium of Materia Medica" lists the functions of rice wine as: enhancing the effects of medicines, killing all evil and toxic qi, unblocking blood vessels, strengthening the intestines, moistening the skin, dispersing dampness, eliminating worry and anger, promoting speech and a happy mood, nourishing the spleen qi, supporting the liver, expelling wind and descending qi, countering the poison from horse meat and tung oil, and treating various diseases caused by the eruption of cinnabar and other minerals.
Traditional Chinese medicinal wines use wine as a solvent with various medicinal ingredients added. The "Compendium of Materia Medica" introduces many of them and specifies their therapeutic effects, which is one merit. The regret is that it does not specify the constitutional suitability or contraindications. We will have a separate discussion on the harms of alcohol in another special topic.
Editor's Note: Starting from last June, this column has invited Professor Kuang Diaoyuan, the founder of Human Constitution Science and a professor at Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, to write a special column titled "Professor Kuang on Differentiating Constitutions and Discussing Diet" on the first Monday of each month. In the last issue, Professor Kuang introduced food compatibility and cooking methods. In this issue, he will continue to discuss the properties of food seasonings and their relationship with different pathological constitutions, teaching us how to regulate our constitutions with seasonings and reduce the harm to health from improper diet.