The Book of Jook: Chinese Medicinal Porridges--A Healthy Alternative to the Typical Western Breakfast

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This book is an introduction to the tradition of Chinese medicinal porridges called jook in Cantonese & congee or porridge in English. Cooked in a crock pot overnight & combining specific grains, vegetables, meats, eggs, or various Chinese herbs, there are medicinal porridges for every type of ailment. Included are hundreds of Chinese herbal porridge recipes for both prevention & remedial purposes. This book can be used by laypersons as well as professional practitioners & it contains the addresses of companies selling Chinese herbs by mail. Excerpt: Chinese Medicine's Descriptions of Individual Foods. Just as every medicinal herb & substance has its own individualized Chinese medical description in TCM, so does every food. In other words, in TCM, each food as its own flavors, nature (meaning temperature), direction, channel entering (or the organs on which it exerts its greatest influence), functions, indications & contraindictations. If we know each of these various aspects about a food, we can, according to both TCM theory & 2,000 plus years of Chinese written & recorded clinical experience, know what effect that food will have on any given individual. In other words, if we know the patient's TCM pattern diagnosis, we can tell if any food will either benefit that person or make them sick (or sicker).