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Shanghuo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shanghuo (Chinese: 上火; pinyin: shàng huǒ; lit. 'fire elevates'), also known as Reqi (Chinese: 热气; pinyin: rè qì; Jyutping: jit⁶ hei³; lit. 'hot air') or Heatiness[1] is a concept related to Traditional Chinese Medicine that involves an imbalance in internal energy that causes negative health effects on the body. It is a widely held belief among Chinese people, although it is not widely accepted by modern science.

Description

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In traditional Chinese beliefs, there are five elements: earth, wood, water, metal and fire. When Yin and Yang are out of balance in a person, this causes fire to be elevated in the person's body producing effects such as fever, sore throat, preference for cold drinks and/or other effects.[1][2]

Causes

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The consumption of certain foods are commonly thought to cause shanghuo in people. Some examples of the foods linked to shanghuo are raw pineapples,[3] pomegranates,[4] spicy food,[5] and beef liver.[6]

Treatment

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In order to treat the condition of shanghuo, different foods are commonly recommended to be consumed that are "cold". By this is not necessarily meant foods that are physically cold (as in temperature), but rather foods that put out the internal "fire" related to the shanghuo condition. Among such foods include bitter gourd, watermelon, cucumber, eggplant, strawberries, and many others.[7][8]

Certain less common foods are also use to treat shanghuo. For example, turtle jelly, traditionally made from turtle shells, is also believed to be a good food to consume to deal with shanghuo.[9]

In southeastern China, it is traditional to drink Chinese herbal tea (Chinese: 凉茶; pinyin: liáng chá; lit. 'cool tea') to treat shanghuo.[10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Liu, Sijun; Huang, Zhaosheng; Wu, Qingguang; Huang, Zhangjie; Wu, Lirong; Yan, Wenli; Chang, David Lungpao; Yang, Zheng; Wang, Zongwei (January 4, 2014). "Quantization and diagnosis of Shanghuo (Heatiness) in Chinese medicine using a diagnostic scoring scheme and salivary biochemical parameters". Chinese Medicine. 9 (1): 2. doi:10.1186/1749-8546-9-2. PMC 3891990. PMID 24386887 – via BioMed Central.
  2. ^ https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/11879605/3891990.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y [bare URL PDF]
  3. ^ "吃菠萝上火吗 菠萝的食用禁忌--人民网健康卫生频道--人民网". health.people.com.cn.
  4. ^ "吃石榴会上火吗_吃石榴的注意事项_苹果绿".
  5. ^ "吃辣會上火?誤會大了! - 康健雜誌". 康健.
  6. ^ "【 吃猪肝上火吗】_有火_会不会-大众养生网". www.cndzys.com.
  7. ^ "【上火怎么办】上火吃什么好_上火的症状_亲子百科_太平洋亲子网". baike.pcbaby.com.cn.
  8. ^ "上火吃什么水果_上火吃什么水果降火快_上火吃什么好_食谱大全_太平洋亲子网". www.pcbaby.com.cn.
  9. ^ "龟苓膏降火吗 龟苓膏有降火之效 - 7丽女性网". www.7y7.com.
  10. ^ Pan, Ming-Hai; Zhu, Si-Rui; Duan, Wen-Jun; Ma, Xiao-Hui; Luo, Xiang; Liu, Bo; Kurihara, Hiroshi; Li, Yi-Fang; Chen, Jia-Xu; He, Rong-Rong (25 March 2020). ""Shanghuo" increases disease susceptibility: Modern significance of an old TCM theory". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 250: 112491. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2019.112491. ISSN 0378-8741. PMID 31863858. S2CID 209440516.