Food therapies on Jaundice

Jaundice is a disease expressed as yellowing of the eyes, skin and even nails. In its early stage it may be accompanied by poor appetite, nausea, fatigue and yellow urine. It falls into yang jaundice and yin jaundice. Yang jaundice corresponds to damp-heat, and shows bright yellow skin and sclera like the color of an orange, with scanty, dark reddish urine. Yin jaundice corresponds to stagnation and cold-damp, and shows yellow, dull skin and sclera like the color of smoke.

Therapeutic principles

• Food should be fresh, nutritious and easy to digest. Eat smaller amounts more often, and choose mild foods such as vegetables, beans, eggs and flour.
• Except in those with severe vomiting who cannot drink water, make up an appropriate fluid intake, usually 1500~2000 ml daily, in order to promote urination, speed up the clearance of bilirubin and expel toxins.
• Those with yang jaundice should take more mild and cool foods that are easy to digest, such as rice, millet, corn, beans, fresh vegetables and fruit. Those with yin jaundice should eat food that is warm and not greasy, such as rice, custard and lily porridge.
• The diet must be low in oil and not greasy, with less pasta. Avoid spicy foods and seafood such as shrimp, crab and fish, and avoid onions, leeks, garlic, chili and raw fruit. Absolutely no drinking.

General foods

• Carp: remove the internal organs, do not scale it, simmer it well and take it at set times.
• Xue li: clean and slice it, soak it in salt water, and take two Xue Li with one Duyou three times a day.
• Shan zha: start with 60 grams for the first two days, then reduce the dose from the third day. Soak it in hot water and drink it as tea.
• Ling yu: wipe off the viscera, scale and clean it, fry it briefly, then add salt, ginger and onion with a little water and stew it into soup. Add MSG at the end.
• Pig gall with honey: 100 grams of honey. Take the gall liquid, mix it with honey, put it into a pot and steam for 20 minutes.

A. Damp-heat jaundice

Clinical manifestations

Yellow skin and eyes, like a bright orange; body heat and thirst; loss of appetite, especially for greasy foods; nausea; a bitter taste in the mouth; heaviness of the body and weakness; abdominal distension; constipation; yellow urine and a yellow, greasy tongue coating; a slippery, rapid pulse.

Food therapy principle

Clear heat and induce diuresis.

Food therapy

• Stewed vivipara: 10~20 vivipara and a small cup of rice wine. Clean the mud off the tian luo, remove the vivipara meat, add half a cup of rice wine, mix them well, then add water and stew through. Drink the soup once a day.
• Watermelon juice: one watermelon. Remove the seeds, smash it into juice, pour it into a mug and freeze it.
• Yin chen porridge: 30~60 grams of yin chen, 50~100 grams of rice and an appropriate amount of sugar. First clean the yin chen and decoct it for juice, remove the dregs, then add the rice and water and make porridge. Add sugar when it is nearly ready and cook a little longer.
• Water chestnut soup: 500 grams of water chestnuts. Peel and wash them, slice and boil well. Eat the water chestnuts and drink the soup.
• Tofu stewed with loach: 500 grams of loach. Remove the gills and viscera, wash and put into a pot and add an appropriate amount of water. Stew until half done, add about 250 grams of tofu, simmer until the loach is cooked through, then add an appropriate amount of salt. Eat the fish and tofu and drink the soup.

B. Damp-cold yin jaundice

Clinical manifestations

Yellow body and eyes; a sallow complexion; poor appetite; tastelessness and no thirst; abdominal fullness and distension; cold limbs; chills; heaviness of the limbs; loose stools; a white, greasy tongue coating; a slow pulse.

Food therapy principle

Warm away the cold dampness.

Food therapy

• Yin chen and ginger soup: add 15 grams of yin chen and 6 grams of ginger to a pot, add an appropriate amount of brown sugar and boil well. Take it once a day for half a month.
• Cucumber juice: 200 grams of cucumber, cleaned and smashed into juice. Take it every morning for two weeks.
• Gui xin and fu ling porridge: 3 grams of Gui Xin, 30 grams of Fu Ling and 50 grams of rice. Boil the Gui Xin, collect the Fu Ling juice, remove the dregs and make porridge as usual. Take it on an empty stomach as breakfast.
• Fu Ling and red date porridge: 30 grams of Fu Ling, 30 grams of rice and 20 red dates. Make the porridge as usual.