Medieval Remedies for Modern Ailments: Can a 14th-Century Text Reshape Healthcare?

Amid growing health concerns over chronic conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular disease, modern researchers are increasingly looking to the past for innovative solutions. A new study examines what a 14th-century text reveals about ‘food as medicine.’

A team of Chinese and Mongolian researchers has examined a work known as Yinshan Zhengyao, written in 1330 by Hu Sihui, the Yuan Dynasty’s Imperial Dietician. This extraordinary text, which the researchers dub “the first nutritional science treatise in the world,” offers a philosophy on managing one’s diet for preventive health. It is followed by over 200 recipes for soups and elixirs and details 232 foods and 174 medicinal plants, highlighting their usefulness and benefits to well-being. Hu Sihui incorporated a wide variety of dietary and medical knowledge from Chinese, Mongol, and Arab sources for his work.

The researchers hope that this medieval source can offer new insights into the ancient concept of using food to treat ailments, bolstered by modern knowledge of genetics and metabolism to bring the teachings of Yinshan Zhengyao back into the public eye.

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“In Yinshan Zhengyao, dietary therapies are particularly interesting for their effects on regulating digestion, respiration, endocrine, and nervous system functions, as well as protecting and regulating various organs,” says Min-Hui Li, a member of Baotou Medical College and lead author of this study. The foundation of this text is to provide treatment (and prevention) of chronic diseases through the use of plants, but also by instilling the importance of quality food in society. By viewing food as medicine, greater emphasis and care are put into the preparation and consumption of food by “putting the food to work” not only as a source of energy but as a source of longevity.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, diseases come from imbalances in the body. For example, kidneys are seen as organs that work closely with the reproductive system and the regulation of fluid metabolism. Modern discoveries show that kidneys, in addition to being an important part of the urinary system, are also related to maintaining fluid balance and endocrine function. Treating one part of the body can have a cascade of effects that one might not have imagined would be related, such as lumbar pain or limb weakness as a result of renal (kidney) issues.

With the Yinshan Zhengyao text hailing back to the early 14th century, modern medicines and therapies can be used in conjunction with the plant and diet information available from this early work on diet, health and nutrition. Professor Min-Hui Li and his team propose the integration of modern information to explore and analyze healthcare’s use of medicine and parallel food sources.

The researchers write:

the concept of medicine and food homology in Yinshan Zhengyao provides important insights into modern health management. Developing this concept requires not only preserving its traditional essence but also integrating it with modern science, updating ingredients, promoting the concept, fostering interdisciplinary integration, and adapting it to contemporary needs. This approach is essential for achieving sustainable, comprehensive, and innovative development in modern health management.

The article, “Yinshan Zhengyao: exploring the power of food and inheriting healthy thoughts,” by Hui Niu, Aruhan, Seesregdorj Surenjidiin, Li-Ming Zhang, Chun-Hong Zhang and Min-Hui Li, appears in Food & Medicine Homology. Click here to read it.

Top Image: Main therapeutic effects and corresponding medicinal plants involved in dietary therapy formulations in Yinshan Zhengyao. The listed dietary therapy formulations all contain medicinal plants and do not include dietary therapy formulations consisting solely of meat. Image credit: Chun-Hong Zhang and Min-Hui Li, Baotou Medical College