I suppose many readers are annoyed by taking medicines when they get ill. Some medicines are very peculiar, particularly those decoctions made from herbal compounds which are not only bitter, hot, sour and puckery, but also some of the tastes are so strange that one cannot even tell what they are! However, for the sake of treatment, what else can one do but pinch his nose and swallow it down.
Dietotherapy--nature therapy
Things might be even worse if your sick child is not obedient. He might mn off as soon as he sees that medicine. What can you do then? You have to grab him, convince him to open his mouth, and then pour the medicine down his throat by pinching his nostrils. Unfortunately, if the process is not properly handled, liquid may escape down that trachea causing more compli-cations, some even very serious. As for biomedicine, people are no more accustomed to its drugs than to the traditional ones. Though many of the bitter drags are sugar-coated, children refuse to accept injections of any kind. Even worse, infants tum their backs toward the nurse and cry. Some even cry at their first glance of someone wearing a white uniform or gown.
How nice it would be if the decoction or bitter drugs to be taken could be made of foodstuffs or even taste like food!
Dietotherapy is a science which refers to the treatment of disease by the consumption of common foodstuffs; in China, these are sometimes called medicinal foods. The intake of food is necessary for the maintenance of everyone's daily life and activity. Food contains various nutrients which are essential to human life and provide the energy supply for the body's growth and activities. The old Chinese saying that "food is the first necessity for the people" reflects the vital importance of food in daily life.
