The stimulating food usually refers to the food with the feature of nutrition or irritation, so it has both positive and negative effects. Commonly, the positive side is lactagogue, which use the stimulating food to stimulate the secretion of milk for lactating women. On the contrary, the negative one tends to induce the chronic diseases or aggravate the existed diseases. In China, the stimulating food are only refers to the negative one.

In our daily life, the most closely related to our body is food, but parts of them are belonging to the stimulating food. And it not aims at the whole people but the people with some special physique or related diseases, so it has great significance in the diet regimen and dietary therapy. In Chinese disease prevention, doctors used to take the dietary restrictions as another effective disease prevention and treatment in regimen.

The western pay attention to the stimulating food is relatively later than Chinese. In 1905, some English people found that many diseases, including gout, eczema and colic were food-related diseases and after stopped to eat the related food, the symptoms would disappear. This found was coincided with Chinese stimulating food theory.  But in the west, the specialist called it food intolerances.

Pathogenic types of stimulating food

Pathogenic stimulating food, generally can lead to eight kinds of symptoms: fever, sore, inflame, phlegm, flatulence, constipation, diarrhea, and aeipathia and so on. And the stimulating food can be divided into six categories: the first one is the hot nature food, such as scallions, ginger, pepper, mutton, dog meat, etc. The second one is wind nature food, such as shrimp, crab, goose, eggs, etc. The third one is damp nature food, such as caramel, waxy rice, pork head meat, etc. The forth one is cold nature food, such as watermelon, pear, persimmon and so on. The fifth one is blood nature food, such as hot pepper. The last one is smolder nature food, such as lamb, lotus seed, and gorgon and so on.

The causes

The reason that stimulating food can cause disease can be divided into three possibilities：One is that there are some hormones contain in the animal foods, which can lead to some hyperactivity or metabolic disorders in our body. For example, when the glucocorticoids we take in are above the normal physiological doses, it will induce the spread of infection or ulcer bleeding.

Second one is that certain foods contain specific proteins, and the specific proteins can be the allergens which will cause the recurrence of allergic disease. For example, the sea fish, shrimp and crab often cause the skin allergy urticaria, eczema, neurodermatitis, impetigo, psoriasis and other skin diseases. Besides, the soy cheese sometimes also can cause the recurrence of asthma.

Third, some strong irritant foods, such as wine, onion and garlic and other spicy foods have the bad effect on inflammatory areas, and it can easily cause the spread of inflammation. This is what the Chinese say heat syndrome should avoid the spicy food.

Stimulating food should be forbidden

Some food should be forbidden when take some medicines. When the effect of food you eat consistent with the drug you take, then the drug effect will be reduced, offset or even produce toxic side effects, thus prevent the treatment of disease. The Compendium of Materia Medica records that when you take medicine, the food that contain pork, dog meat, greasy soup, crucian carp, raw garlic and coriander should be avoided. When medication, the raw garlic, coriander should be avoided.

When food you eat is detrimental to body's rehabilitation, you then should be careful for your eating habits, because when you are in the recovering period, the digestion is weak, at that time, if you have the improper diet, the disease would repeat. Such as fish, shrimp, crab, shellfish, mushrooms and some poultry meat, eggs, etc, the people who suffered from allergic diseases, should be selected to avoid. Also the patients with hyperlipidemia, hypertension, coronary heart disease or stroke should eat more light food rather than greasy food.

Some advantages of stimulating food

On one hand, stimulating food can induce or aggravate certain diseases. On the other hand, it can also used to treat certain diseases. For example, in the early stage of measles, if you take the mushrooms or bamboo shoots, then your symptoms can be appeared quickly and the course of the disease will be shorten. Using some food to promote lactation is a typical usage of stimulating food. Carp, silver carp, trotters, tripe, old hen, black sesame seeds, brown sugar, red beans, lily, soybeans and so on are all the stimulating food, and usually these food are used to promote lactation.

The stimulating food and eat habit of “Fuyan pill” and “Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill”

When you take the traditional Chinese medicine “Fuyan pill” and “Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill”, you should also pay attention to some stimulating food and need to be on a strict diet control. Do not have spicy food and alcohol. Chicken, fish, beef, shrimp, seafood, pickled vegetables, and milk should be avoided. Do not eat too much chocolate, coffee, coke, fried and baked food. You can eat pork, bread, noodles, nuts, fresh vegetables, eggs and fruits, fruit juice, water, and tea. I have to say that a good diet will help you get cured easily.