The Art Of Long Life Chinese Food for Longevity.

196 Pages·1990·21.175 MB·English

by  Henry C. Lu

—
E ART OF LON'=i IPE
i
CHINESE
FOODS
FOR
LONGEVTY
SIMPLY WRIHEN AND Shows how familiar foods
EASILY UNDERSTOOD from your supermarket
BY THE LAYPERSON can help you build up
your immune system
A TREASURY OF the key to long life.
HEALTHFUL EATING
AND
TIPS SECRETS Scores of inexpensive,
proven ways of treating
deficiency and excess
diseases alike, and
they have also been
proven to promote
m longevity.
ry C. Lu
he authw^, v., n.Nuot. SYSTEM Oi
hnd FGFNDAPY CHINESE' HEAL
i ir-
ELANDUK PUBLICATIONS
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
Copley Square
MA 021 16
Boston.
THE ART OF LONG
LIFE
CHINESE
FOODS
FOR
LONGEVITY
Henry
C. Lu
Pelanduk
Publications
Publishedby
PelandukPublications(M)Sdn. Bhd.,
24Jalan20/16A,46300PetalingJaya,
SelangorDarul Ehsan, Malaysia.
Addressallcorrespondenceto:
PelandukPublications(M)Sdn. Bhd.,
P.O. Box8265,46785 KelanaJaya,
SelangorDarul Ehsan,Malaysia.
Allrightsreserved.
Copyright© 1990HenryC. Lu.
Coverdesign© 1994PelandukPublications.
Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinany formorby
anymeanswithoutpriorpermission fromthePublisher.
AlsopublishedbySterlingPublishingCo. Inc., USA.
1stprinting 1991
2ndprinting 1994
3rdprinting 1996
PerpustakaanNegaraMalaysia Cataloguing-in-PublicationData
Lu, HenryC.
Chinesefoods forlongevity: theartof
longlife/FienryC. Lu.
ISBN967-978-360-X
1. Longevity-Nutritional aspects.
2. Aging-Nutritional aspects. 3.Chinese-Food.
1. Title
613.2
Printedby
EagleTradingSdn. Bhd.
Contents
PREFACE 5
GUIDE TO APPROXIMATE EQUIVALENTS 8
—
1 Traditional Chinese Food Remedies an
Introduction 9
2 Longevity and Conventional Chinese
Wisdom 26
3 Deficiency and Excess Diseases, and Aging 30
4 Deficiency and Excess Diseases, and Chinese
Foods 37
5 Energy Tonic Foods 58
6 Blood Tonic Foods 81
7 Yin Tonic Foods 88
8 Yang Tonic Foods 202
9 Lung and Liver Tonic Foods 107
10 Heart and Stomach Tonic Foods 111
11 Spleen Tonic Foods 225
12 Foods for Eliminating Toxic Heat 222
13 Foods for Eliminating Damp Heat 236
14 Foods for Eliminating Sputum 242
15 Foods for Promoting Energy Circulation 25^
16 Foods for Promoting Blood Circulation 164
17 Get To Know Yourself, and Correct Your
Weaknesses 172
18 Coping with Old-Age Diseases Effectively 181
INDEX 189
—
Preface
Why do some people age better than others? An article in a well-known
nationalmagazinereportsmoderngerontologistsassayingthatemotionsand
attitudes affect how people age. This idea certainly would not make news in
China today, oreven 10centuriesago forthat matter, simplybecauseamong
theChinese peopleingeneraland Chinesephysiciansoftraditional medicine
in particular, it is a common belief taken for granted. It is interesting that in
this age ofmodern science. Western researchers have just begun to discover
the conventional Chinese understanding of longevity. According to this un-
—
derstanding, all factors including psychological, social, and physiological
are related to the aging process, because they inevitably affect the immune
function of the human body, and aging is a function of the body's immune
system.
Thebody'simmunefunctionmaybeindeficiencyorinexcess;bothimmune
deficiencyandimmuneexcesswillshortenlifeexpectancy. Therefore, inorder
to live a long life, the key is to regulate the immune function by enhancing
it when the body displays immune deficiency, and by reducing it when the
body displays immune excess.
Immune deficiency means that the body is too weak to head off the attack
ofdiseases;whenthisoccurs, thebody'simmunefunctionshouldbestrength-
ened. Immune excess means that the body is reacting, or sometimes over-
reacting, totheattackofforeignagents;whenthisoccurs, thebody'simmune
function should be reduced. Up to this point, modern science and conven-
tional Chinese wisdom are in agreement; their disagreements occur about
how immune function should be strengthened when it is in deficiency and
how it should be reduced when it is in excess.
In the Western nutritional system, there are five types of nutrients: car-
bohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals. Western nutrition is good
for treating deficiency diseases, for enhancing the body's immune function
—
to correct immune deficiency. On the other hand. Western medicine which
—
is comprised of surgery, drugs, and radiation is good for treating excess
diseases, for reducingthebody'simmune function tocorrectimmuneexcess.
Thus, Western nutrition is beneficial in the treatment of deficiency diseases
but virtually irrelevant in the treatment ofexcess diseases, whereas Western
—
6 Preface
medicine is beneficial in treating excess diseases but oflittle value in treating
deficiency diseases.
Useful as they may be. Western nutrients are only what scientists have
discovered in foods that are deemed beneficial in the treatment ofdeficiency
diseases. Ifmedical history teachesusanythingatall, itisthatwhat scientists
have discovered is no more than a fraction of what needs to be known in
human nutrition; it's no more than a drop in the bucket. There is little doubt
that scientists will continue to make new discoveries, but meanwhile, people
need reliable guidance in their search for longevity.
Since the third century, the Chinese have known through experience how
toeatlivertocure nightblindness, seaweed tocure simplegoiter, and brown
rice to cure beriberi, but Western scientists did not discover these cures until
the twentieth century when various vitamins were isolated. This means that
in the past, science had lagged behind conventional Chinese wisdom, and
the gap still exists today, since the Chinese have come to know many treat-
ments and cures that remain unknown to modern scientists. The Chinese
have, for example, discovered through the ages many categories of foods
beneficial in the treatment of deficiency diseases, because they can enhance
the immune function to correct immune deficiency. Such foods are called
"tonics," and are notably energy, blood, yin, yang, lung, liver, heart, stom-
ach, and spleen tonics.
Moreover, theChinesehavealsodiscovered throughexperience thatmany
foods are also beneficial in treating excess diseases, because they can reduce
the body's immune function to correct immune excess. They are called the
"foodsforregulatingtheinternalenvironmentsofthebody," andarenotably
foods for eliminating toxic and damp heat and sputum, and foods for pro-
moting energy and blood circulation.
Eating Chinese foods to regulate the internal environments of the body to
combat excess diseases is a far cry from the surgery, drugs, and radiation
used in Western medicine. In combating diseases, surgery, drugs, and ra-
diation repulse the attack of foreign agents and, at the same time, suppress
the body's immune function; in other words, they fight against both the
diseaseandthebody. Chinesefoods,orherbsandacupunctureforthatmatter,
regulate the internal system so thatitbecomesunfavorable to foreign agents,
thus weakening their attack. After the attack of foreign agents has subsided,
the body will not have to muster all its immune function to fight against the
disease. When thishappens, thebody'simmuneexcess, whichisa temporary'
reaction to the attack of foreign agents, will be reduced, and the body's
immune balance will be restored.
In short, all theories ofmedicine are subject to proofin human experience.
Although Western nutrients have proven beneficial to wellness, the theory
underlying them is still far too young to be proven to promote longevity
and besides, the usefulness of nutrients is largely confined to deficiency dis-
Preface 7
eases, not to excess ones. As for Western medicine, its surgery, drugs, and
radiation are primarily aimed at controlling disease, but to live long means
to be free from such control and to stay healthy without it. Ironically, one
important condition oflongevity is not placing yourself under the control of
Western medicine, because once people are forced to undergo the therapy of
surgery, radiation, or drugs, the likelihood ofbeing able to live a long life is
lessened. For example, it is doubtful that a person will have longevity after
undergoing an organ transplantation or chemotherapy or being put on a
hypertensive drug permanentlyin order to survive. And although deficiency
diseases play an important role in the natural aging process, surgery, radia-
tion, and drugs are virtually powerless in enhancing the body's immune
function to correct them.
The quest for longevity is like treading a long path where no shortcuts can
be found; the key is to follow on the heels of those who have trodden the
path before you. The conventional Chinese wisdom in regard to longevity
developed through the ages, and has been tested in Chinese experience for
more than a dozen centuries. The Chinese foods presented in this book have
been found to be effective for both deficiency and excess diseases alike, and
they have also been proven to be beneficial for longevity. This book is ded-
icated to those who want to make certain that they will reach their goal of
living a long and healthy life.
GUIDE TO APPROXIMATE EQUIVALENTS
CUSTOMARY METRIC
Ounces Grams
'\A\Hillffoc tviiugrdnis
17/4. 4t-. 1 ml 1 s
y2t. 2 ml
1 1. 5 ml
2t. 10 ml
V2 oz. 1 T. 3t. 15 ml 15 s
1 oz. 2T. 6 t. 30 ml 28 g
2 oz. Vac. 4T. 12 t. 60 ml 60g
4 oz. Vic. 8T. 24 t. 125 ml 120 g
8 oz. 1 c. 16 T. 48 t. 250 ml 225g
1 lb. 450 g
4 c. 1 L
2.2 lb. 1kg
Keep in mind that this is not an exactconversion, butgenerally maybe used
for food measurement.