Traditional Chinese Medicine is a natural therapy. Food is an important part of Chinese remedy. Before a Chinese medical doctor treats a person, he/she will gather all the information about this person including dietary information, living habits and every possible influence. For simple diseases, the treatment can be as simple as just changing diet.

Food is one of the most important elements to maintaining our life and has direct influence on our health. Different kinds of food with natural taste and characteristics, have great effects on our body to either enhance or reduce our health.

With thousands of years of experience, the Chinese have gained a great deal of knowledge on the characteristics of food and their relations to human health. Here are a few points of advice on diet for some common complaints.

Flu
Dried ginger and spring onion soup with some brown sugar is most commonly used to treat the early stages of flu. Gentle boiling of vinegar to allow the smell to spread in the house is known to disinfect the air and to prevent you and your family from catching flu. Coriander, chrysanthemum and garlic are also good in treating flu.

Cough & Asthma
Dry coughs can be treated by eating steamed pears with crystal sugar. Walnuts, apricots, almond, carrots and honey are also suitable for treating coughs. For asthma patients, walnuts, almond and lily can be helpful.

High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure sufferers can benefit from plenty of spinach, banana, seaweed, hawthorn, watermelon, sunflower seeds and persimmon chrysanthemum.

Arthritis
Arthritis is a very common complaint and foods such as cucumbers, chilli, cherry and soybeans are often suggested in a patient's diet. A certain amount of wine can also be helpful.

Skin Problems
For some people with skin problems, often hot and spicy food, wine, dairy products, seafoods and mushrooms can make skin rashes worse. Whilst mung bean (green gram) soup can cool down and detoxify your body. People who have rashes and blisters may also find plenty of Chinese radish helpful.

Impotence & Infertility
Impotence and infertility are often caused by a kidney disorder. By adding some prawns, lamb, beef, and mussels into a person's diet, this can help to build up the function of kidneys.

Aging & Beauty
Sesame seeds, walnuts, grapefruits, mulberry and mushrooms are generally used to delay the aging process. Cucumbers and watermelon are essential for women's beauty.

The Chinese believe that everything in the natural world has its own distinguished characteristics and they influence each other in a certain way. As a part of the universe, human health is largely affected by nature and by everything we come into contact with in our everyday lives, such as food. If we are aware of our relationship with these factors, we can not only avoid harmful influences from outside our body but also make the best use of those factors in order to help our body and maintain our health.