Introducing Chinese food therapy: a review of origin, developing course and modern application

Abstract Objective: This review introduced the origin, developing course and modern application of Chinese food therapy (CFT) in traditional Chinese medicine to enrich our understanding of relevant concepts and ways. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, CBM, CNKI, VIP and Wanfang Databases were searched for papers on a range of terms relating to CFT. 41 references were finally selected for this review. Results: The development of CFT is comprised of five important periods in Chinese history. They are as following: the infancy period represented by the idea of homogeny of medicine and food; theoretical development period represented by Inner Canon of Yellow Emperor, Shennong’s Classic of Materia Medica and Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases; specialized volumes on CFT represented by Dietotherapy Worth a Thousand Gold; representative monographs on CFT represented by Dietetic Materia Medica and Principles of Correct Diet and the perfect period represented by integration of ancient food therapy practice and modern nutriology. Conclusion: CFT harbors a long and profound history, making great contribution to people’s health maintenance and illness prevention. With the further development of integrative medicine, CFT may play a more important role in clinics and family health care based on integration of syndrome differentiation and disease differentiation