iIlness taboos...

As the ancient Chinese saying goes: "Fortune never happens twice but misfortune never comes alone." Soon after the recovery from my illness, Wendy falls ill. She started off with a very bad sore throat which eventually led to flu-like symptoms and finally with a bad cough.

The Chinese believe that certain food tend to aggravate various disease states. For example:

If you have a cough, refrain from eating chicken and oranges, cos these will agitate your throat and make your cough worse. Staying away from bananas are important as it is believed to cause the body to produce more phlegm.

A sore throat is indicative of an excessively "heaty" body system. Therefore, to prevent the aggravation of the condition, one should avoid "heaty" food like chocolate, fried and baked food, red meats like beef and especially mutton, foods that contain chilli or are hot and finally fruits like rambutans and durians are a strict no-no. A heaty system is also said to cause acne, so for the image concious people out there, refrain from these foods! (to avoid fried food is healthier too, in the view of Western medicine)



Chinese believes in duality, like yin and yang, so if there are heaty food then there are cooling food. Food that cools the system includes vegetables and fruits like cucumbers and watermelons. Hyper cooling food exist too, and examples of these are bitter gourd, pineapples and mangosteens.


 

A body system that is extremely cooled or heated will result in diseases. Therefore, balance is the key. (this also appears in Western medicine where a balanced diet is important for the general well-being of the body) So, do not over-indulge in food from either categories! One can instead choose more neutral food like apples, pears and white meats like chicken and fish so as not to antangonize the body's balance. However, please bear in mind that diet is only part of the contributing factors to the body's balance of heatiness and coolingness. Activities like late nights or take long afternoon naps and repeated, drastic changes in the surrounding temperature can also disrupt the body's natural balance.

The Chinese also believe that disease can also arise from ingesting too much toxins. (Toxins?! From where?! I dun take arsenic!) Well, it seems that this "toxin" is not the conventional type that we know. This toxin (or "Tok" in Hokkien), is present mainly in marine animals like crabs, prawns, cuttlefish and squid. One should avoid the overconsumption of these organisms. Coincidentally, these organisms are high in cholesterol, so the Asian belief may not be wrong, as high cholesterol levels in the body does lead to diseases like heart attack.


Yes yes, it looks good...but...

Hmm... Wendy is still unwell. Maybe I shouldn't type too much. Oh well, if you feel unwell, just visit the chinese physician! (or locally referred to as "Chinese sinseh") :>