Chinese dietary therapy is an integral part of any complete treatment plan. The earliest written record is Sun Simiao’s Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold, published in 652 A.D., in which he discusses the treatment of a variety of diseases through diet.
In the traditional system of dietary cures, foods have been organized into categories based on their innate temperature, energetics (the direction in which they move qi and how they affect qi and blood flow), and the organs they affect.
The TCM approach to healthcare is not that different from the general outlook of Western approaches. It considers that appropriate exercise, diet, relaxation, social relationships, and habits all play a part in promoting or hindering the healthy flow of Qì in the body.