(Last Updated on June 7, 2025 by Amiee)
The concept of “medicine and food sharing the same origin” is a fundamental idea in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It refers to certain substances that can be used both as food and as medicine to treat illnesses.
TCM emphasizes “treating illness before it arises,” meaning that a skilled doctor focuses on prevention and uses daily diet as a way to address health issues early. In the Shennong’s Classic of Materia Medica, medicinal substances are categorized into three grades: superior, medium, and inferior. Many of the superior-grade items are those that serve both dietary and medicinal purposes.
The famous Tang Dynasty medical text Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold Pieces states, “For any treatment, start with food therapy. Only if that fails should medicine be used.” This means food should be the first choice for healing, and only when it is not effective should drugs be considered. This approach highlights the importance of substances that are both food and medicine.
China’s National Health Commission has released 106 substances that are both food and traditional Chinese medicine.
Today I will introduce them.
