Medicinal Materials That Can Be Used as Food

1. Goji berries

Goji berries are one of the most common Chinese medicinal materials, and can be used to relieve symptoms such as weakness in the waist and knees, fatigue, dizziness, anemia, and insomnia. Goji berries are native to China and are made from professionally processed fresh goji berries.

Since goji berries were listed as one of the materials that are both food and medicine, the many benefits of goji berries have become indispensable to more and more dietary and medicated diets.

There is a well-known story about poria cake: During the Qing dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi had a poor appetite due to illness. In order to allow her to eat, the imperial kitchen developed a poria cake with white flour and nuts. The freshly baked poria cake was sweet, crispy, and melts in the mouth. Cixi praised it greatly after tasting it, and her symptoms disappeared completely after few days. Poria cake remained popular in China’s imperial court ever since.

Everyone has surely  seen dandelions growing on the roadside. They may be commonplace, but their nutritional value is very high.

The entire plant can be used medicinally to treat ailments including fever, cold, sore throat, and toothache. It is also one of the materials approved by China as both food and medicine. In culinary use, it is mostly made into cold dishes or tea drinks. It is especially suitable for consumption in summer, as it has a fresh taste with a slight bitterness, which is very refreshing and provides relief from the heat.

Also known as Yunnan iron skin, it is known as the "life-saving immortal herb" in the traditional Chinese medicine. It is a Grade II state key protected wild plant in China, and is mostly distributed in Fujian, Yunnan, Guangxi, Zhejiang, and other areas. Due to the large market demand for Dendrobium officinale and its very slow growth cycle, supply exceeds demand, which also makes it scarce and precious. 

There is an interesting legend about Ganoderma lucidum. There was an emperor in ancient China named Shennong. When he accidentally ingested a poisonous plant, he became dizzy, fell to the ground, and was soon unable to speak. With his last bit of strength, he pointed to a Ganoderma lucidum. His subjects hurriedly mashed it up and fed it to him. The Ganoderma lucidum detoxified the poison, and Shennong made a recovery.

1. Pearl
Research has found that pearls first appeared about 200 million years ago as ancient organic gems. But did you know that pearls have both medicinal and health benefits? In recent years, China has approved pearl as a health food.

According to Chinese medical literature, pearl is a material with medicinal value in traditional Chinese medicine. It was included in Chinese medical texts as early as 2,000 years ago. It has high nutritional value, and is rich in seven essential amino acids, over 20 trace elements, and high in calcium, taurine, and other substances. Its effects include delaying aging, removing spots and whitening, improving immunity, and supplementing calcium.

The high price of ginseng is due to its preciousness as an ingredient, it has high requirements for the growth environment and a very slow growth cycle, the older the plant, the higher the nutritional value and the more precious it is. It is also a Grade I state key protected wild plant in China. In culinary use, ginseng is mostly used to make soup. When stewed for a long time, its nutrients are released into the soup, creating a dish that is both healthy and delicious.

China has a wide variety of culinary ingredients, but the materials that can be used as both food and medicine or as health food need to be determined by experts through research and experimentation. The lists of materials that are both food and medicine and the materials that can be used as health foods  continue to be updated and expanded. If you are interested in this type of food, you can check whether they are on the lists to make sure you use them correctly.