Dietary taboos of Sijunzi Soup

Avoid iced drinks, heavy oils and spicy foods, raw radish and strong tea, and do not add other qi-tonifying tonics casually. People with internal heat and phlegm should avoid hot and sweet foods.

A while ago, Aunt Zhang came to me downstairs and said that after drinking Sijunzi soup for half a month with a health blogger, the bloating and yellowish complexion after meals that she originally wanted to adjust were not cured. Instead, she kept farting and had a cold stomach. When I asked, I found out that she always had a glass of iced soy milk with pickles every morning, and always nibbled half a piece of raw radish in the afternoon to relieve fatigue.

Many people think that drinking Chinese medicine requires abstaining from all fruits. In fact, there is no unified opinion in the Chinese medicine community on this matter. Most doctors of the traditional prescription school believe that as long as they are not iced watermelon or iced milk tea just taken out of the refrigerator, or fruits with low sweetness such as apples and peaches at room temperature, it is perfectly fine to eat half a piece at a time. ； However, doctors from the febrile disease school are more cautious and believe that for people with spleen deficiency and loose stools, the cold and dampness of fruits will increase the burden on the spleen and stomach, so it is best to stop taking medicine at all. In fact, there is no need to worry about it. If you don’t have diarrhea, acid reflux and bloating after eating, you can eat it. If you feel uncomfortable, stop. Individual differences are much more useful than rigid rules.

As for foods that are heavy in oil and spicy, it’s not that you can’t touch them in one bite, but you drink Four Gentlemen Soup to save your spleen and stomach that are damaged by heavy foods. If you drink soup here and have hot pot and barbecue three times a week, the transport power of Atractylodes Poria cannot bear the burden of butter hot pot and spicy crayfish. I met a young man before who drank Sijunzi to treat spleen deficiency caused by drinking alcohol. As a result, he drank braised food every time. After drinking it for a week, he could scrape off a layer of thick tongue coating. After stopping braised food for three days, it became normal.

Besides, the most dangerous thing everyone spreads is "can't eat carrots". In fact, it depends on the situation. Raw radish is cool in nature and can weaken Qi, which will indeed offset the Qi-tonifying effect of Codonopsis pilosula and ginseng. It is best not to touch them while taking medicine. But if you always feel bloated and indigestible after drinking the Four Gentlemen Soup, you can eat some fried radish leaves or stewed cooked radish, which will help to ventilate the breath and not stagnate, which will be more effective. When I prescribe Four Gentlemen to patients, if they are prone to flatulence, I will also take the initiative to let them drink boiled water with fried radish seeds. It is not an absolute taboo at all. The same goes for strong tea. Theophylline will affect the absorption of active ingredients. In fact, weak tea is fine. Just don’t drink strong tea that is brewed to make it bitter.

There are also some people who are prone to getting angry, such as oral ulcers and dry stools. When drinking Si Junzi soup, don’t eat hot fruits such as durian, lychee, and longan, and don’t add red ginseng and astragalus to the soup. There used to be a little girl born in 1995 who ate durian every day to replenish qi and blood while drinking Four Gentlemen. As a result, she developed a circle of acne on her chin. She stopped durian and drank chrysanthemum water for two days before it disappeared.

In fact, after all, these taboos are not a rule of thumb. The core is not to put extra burden on the spleen and stomach, and not to offset the power of the medicine. If you occasionally get greedy and take a few mouthfuls of ice cream after drinking the soup, you won't feel uncomfortable at all. There is no need to feel any psychological burden. After all, nourishing the spleen and stomach is a matter of slowly adjusting. If it is too harsh, it will be difficult to persist, and the gain will not be worth the loss.