There are many sayings about food "Xiang" (that is, with taboo), which has been around since ancient times and has been circulating in the folk. In recent years, as people''s attention to diet and nutrition has increased, these contents have frequently appeared in various media such as newspapers, the Internet, and radio. There are many publications related to this. You can see a row of readings about foods, collocations and taboos in bookstores of all sizes. Not only are there many versions, but the sales volume is optimistic. In fact, in recent years, books about "food" have been occupying the highest position in the sales of life books. "Topped the list of national life book rankings for several months in a row", "Reprinted 10 times since its publication in August 2003", "Betasman Book Club 2004 and 2005 life books on the list, Excellence Network 2004 , Super-selling life books in 2005, Dangdang.com listed life books in 2004 and 2005, and topped the list of best-selling life books in major bookstores across the country!" The covers of these books are antique, or beautiful, or serious, or alarmist, but no matter how modern their packaging is, how fashionable their expressions are, the actual contents are all old and old-unfortunately They are not fine wines. On the Internet, there are more and more sorts of sayings about foods, from more than ten kinds to dozens, and then to hundreds. I believe that foods will be listed to thousands of kinds soon, and one day they will develop It is concluded that almost any two foods are acceptable when eaten together.

　　Why food food is so popular

　　The reason why food food is increasingly popular and popular among people is actually very simple: the ancient philosophical thoughts of "Jin Mu Shui Huo Huo, Yin Yang and Wu Xing, Xiang Sheng Xiang Ke" in Chinese culture Traditionally, the accumulation of food is very deep, and the "theory" of food is easy to understand and accepted. More importantly, "scientific knowledge" such as food coherence is very consistent with the traditional Chinese culture''s thinking habits of understanding things-those who copy, summarize, organize, and spread these "knowledges", none of them have even made these claims. The simplest verification is to try it once! Even more sadly, even if someone has eaten a gram of food, there are no bad consequences, but they still prefer to believe these ancient and unconformable claims, rather than believe their own or Verification by others. The following dialogue is my personal experience, and it is meaningful to read carefully:

　　 Once, I listened to a radio broadcast, and the host and guests said, "Cucumber and peanuts are mutually exclusive and cannot be eaten together." I happened to be familiar with the host of the show. When she finished the show, I called her. Here is a brief conversation between us:

　　I asked: "Do you often eat cucumber mixed with peanuts?"

　　She replied: "Yes, eat often."

　　I asked: "Did you find something wrong?"

　　she replied: "No

　　 I asked: "Then do you still say that cucumbers and peanuts can''t be eaten together?"

　　 she replied: "Will that not be shown yet?"

　　 Her answer made me speechless. Faced with the same saying "cucumber and peanut", people with different thinking will come to two diametrically opposite conclusions: one kind of person will say that I have eaten for so many years without problems, don''t believe it; the other People will say, I haven''t known how I have eaten for so many years, so I have to pay attention in the future. The conclusions drawn when people''s thinking is different are so different. It can be seen that what really matters is not the knowledge itself, but the way to think about the problem.

　　 What is more interesting is that when I told this conversation to the students of my nutrition class, some people still asked me: Can cucumbers and peanuts be eaten together? In the end? What is it? "In the end"? How to "in the end"? You haven''t found any problems after eating cucumber and peanuts for decades, this is not "in the end"? Some people suggested that I do an experiment to study this problem and similar The problem is that cucumbers and peanuts do not react chemically and are not toxic to each other. After eating for decades, we have not found any adverse consequences. What else do we need to study? Are these not enough?

　　 In a word, the popularity of food is because everyone lacks basic scientific literacy. People who lack scientific literacy can easily be fooled into victims and rumored to be harmful.

　　The source of food commendation

　　Some proponents used modern medical knowledge to explain some of the food commendations in one way or another, trying to explain their rationality, not only very reluctantly, And it is an unmistakable misunderstanding. These food-related claims have nothing to do with modern medicine. People believe that they have only one reason: most of these claims come from ancient Chinese medicine books, such as "Therapeutic Materia Medica", "Compendium of Materia Medica", " "Eat Meal", "Shou Shi Bao Yuan", etc. There are also some fabricated articles from modern newspapers and magazines.

　　 In fact, almost all ancient Chinese medicine books on health care are well-known, but this does not mean that they are of a high level, but largely because they are ancient and rare. You should know that there are not many original books in this respect, and even fewer can survive the troubled times and are fortunate to keep them intact. Almost every health book that has not been lost is regarded as a "classic" or "great work." Obviously this does not mean true authority, but many people use them as authority to teach people. It can be found that all kinds of sayings are copied, quoted, transcribed, and collected in these ancient books, and there is no controversy at all from one book to another. It is hard to be suspicious. For example, "Shou Shi Bao Yuan" (written by Gong Yanxian in the Ming Dynasty), which is known as one of the eight great works of health care in ancient China, wrote abruptly the pregnant woman "eating crabs and eating babies", "eating rabbit meat and lip lacking", "feeding chicken meat and lingzi" Shameless and more kinky", "Eating Sheep Liver and Lingzi''s Doom after Birth" In fact, the same or similar remarks are also found in ancient medical books such as "The Golden Chamber", "Compendium of Materia Medica", "Thousand Gold Recipes", "Compendium of Materia Medica", "Women''s Recipes", "Economic Effects". Believe that these absurd claims have few people believe now, but the claims about food are actually as ridiculous as these absurd claims!

　　Far absurd analysis of food relative grams

　　Food relative grams The argument is quoted from the canon, and the head is right. It is shocking at first reading. It is shocking that I have repeatedly committed "taboo" without knowing it. Perhaps the best explanation for these taboos is that those who do not follow the taboo are safe after eating the above foods. However, it is puzzling that some people would rather not believe the facts than ancient books. In fact, with a little analysis, most of the claims are far-fetched and some are ridiculous.

　　Some statements obviously absoluteize the problem of particularity. For example, the summer is hot, the body''s digestion is low, and the food is uneven or cold or eats together with greasy foods, which can easily cause indigestion, so do not eat fat and cold water at the same time. This makes sense, but therefore it is too absolute to think that fat meat and cold water are compatible ("Golden Chamber").

　　Some claims are obviously wrong, and the problems that were not considered as collocation contraindications are simply regarded as food conflicts. Shrimp and crabs produce harmful amines after spoilage. If they are eaten carelessly, they may easily cause allergies or poisoning. If you have eaten other foods before and after eating, often easy to be considered as a food. For example, "Shrimp can''t eat with pork, damage the essence", "Shrimp can''t eat with chicken" ("Drinking Meal"), "Crab and eggplant can''t eat with" (Hong Kong "Chinese Lunar Calendar" attached to food poisoning illustration- -The source of the picture is unclear, widely circulated, and there are many fallacies).

　　Some statements are only established in certain extremely individual situations, and have no universal significance at all. For example, "A Brief Introduction to the Golden Chamber" says "raw onions cannot be eaten together with honey and kill people". This situation may only be explained by bees collecting toxic plant pollen and brewing toxic honey. But this situation is extremely rare and has nothing to do with food. Such poisonous honey will "kill" with any food. "Therapeutic Materia Medica" says "Li (zi) honey eats together and damages the five internal organs", which is the same problem.

　　 Although some statements can be explained by the theory of TCM diet therapy, such a combination may indeed have some shortcomings, but it is certainly not so serious, and it is not necessary to be taboo. For example, "Compendium of Materia Medica" believes that "dog meat and garlic eat, hurt people", because dog meat is hot, garlic is pungent and warm, and the two eat together to help fire; "Jin Kui Yaolue" thinks that "chicken should not be eaten with garlic (that is, garlic). "Stagnation of qi", because garlic is a fire, and the heat is hot, while the chicken''s sweet acid warms up, the two are opposite. But garlic dog meat is a very common Korean dish. Chicken and garlic are also often paired with people in Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi and other places. There are many people who eat it, and there has never been any adverse consequences.

　　 There are also some statements that are purely nonsense, which cannot be explained in theory. There are no undesirable consequences in practice, which is completely inexplicable. For example, "Yinshan Zhengyao" believes that "pork should not be eaten with coriander (coriander), rotten intestines". (Meat fried parsley stalk is a dish that many people like to eat, but the intestines are not "rotten"); also said "chicken can not be eaten with rabbit meat, it is diarrhea" (this is the most common combination, unless it is spoiled, Otherwise, it will not be "diarrhoea"). The "Golden Chamber" outlines that "beef must be eaten with pork and must be made into white insects" (where do insects come from? Unless it is pox pork, how can it be related to food?). "Compendium of Materia Medica" believes that "Carassius auratus with sugar confection, raw worms" (how many people have not eaten sweet and sour crucian carp?); "Chicken (ie eggs) and green onion and garlic, shortness of breath" (who have never eaten scrambled eggs with green onion? Does anyone suffer from shortness of breath? Unless you have lung disease or heart disease, it''s not about food.) "Therapeutic Materia Medica" believes that "pheasant and fungus (that is, mushrooms) eat together with agaric, five hemorrhoids, and make blood" (wild pheasant stewed mushrooms are delicious and nutritious and can be eaten).

　　Criticism of food relatives

　　The above brief analysis attempts to point out the absurdity of food relatives in detail. In recent years, some people have analyzed and analyzed various claims of food relatives with the same development. criticism. For example, "Beijing Youth Daily" (started on April 7, 2006) has organized experts from all walks of life, including Li Ruifen (China''s nutrition industry leader, chief dietitian, enjoying the special allowance of the State Council), Ma Fang (Director of the Nutrition Department of Union Hospital), Weng Weijian (Professor of TCM Health and Rehabilitation, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine), Wang Chengde (Director of Chinese Medicine Association), Wu Meiyun (Senior Nutrition Engineer), He Jiguo (Head of the Department of Food Nutrition and Safety of China Agricultural University), specializing in food Xiang Ke''s claims were analyzed and criticized, and the conclusion was that those claims were unreliable.

　　However, the effect achieved by this batch of refutes is obviously not good, and there are more and more arguments about the fact that food is acceptable. The criticism of food commendation should start from the root cause: food commodities do not exist! Food commodities do not exist! Or put it in a more scientific expression: there is no evidence that food commodities exist. Only by understanding the absurdity of food''s comprehension from the root can we clarify the understanding and restore the truth.

　　To understand the absurdity of food''s compatibility from the roots, we must talk about the relationship between culture and science. Obviously, this is a complicated and in-depth question, so I will make a long story short. During the Dragon Boat Festival, in addition to eating dumplings, there is also a popular custom, that is, hanging mugwort at the door of the house, from the south to the north, from the city to the countryside, many places have this custom, it is said that this can "Qu "All diseases", obviously this is just a beautiful wish, a cultural tradition, no one should believe that after hanging Artemisia can really be sick, if you want to be sick, you must rely on scientific methods, such as taking medicine and paying attention to hygiene Wait. This is the difference between culture and science. Food comprehension actually belongs to the category of culture. It is just a custom, custom, or folklore—it’s good to call it anything but science. Hanging mugwort expresses good wishes and eats dumplings to commemorate Qu Yuan. These are unquestionable cultural traditions that should be vigorously promoted. I am not against traditional culture. What I want to oppose is to use cultural things as scientific knowledge to guide people''s diet. Traditional philosophical thoughts such as Yin and Yang, Five Elements and Mutual Resonance have their cultural value, but it is harmless if they are used rigidly to guide the choice of food (scientific category).

　　Critical food text

　　Junior high school Chinese (People’s Education Edition) textbook has a text (Volume 5, Unit 3, Lesson 14) "" "Compatible with food" specifically rejects food. It is very reasonable, and the following is an excerpt from the text:

　　 Unhealthy diet, or microbial infection, is the most common cause of acute gastrointestinal diseases. However, this factor is often not noticed by everyone. Overeating is also a non-negligible factor in acute gastrointestinal diseases. For children, this factor is especially important. However, sometimes people will ignore this factor and think that the disease comes from other factors. Some foods are harmless to most people, but a very small number of people eat them but all kinds of adverse reactions will occur, ranging from diarrhea or itchy skin to severe shock. This reaction is called an allergic reaction. In foods, milk, eggs, crabs, etc. are more likely to cause allergic reactions to some people. This allergic factor is sometimes overlooked.

　　 It is because there are many factors that cause gastrointestinal diseases, and sometimes it is not easy to find out. Therefore, when a real factor has not attracted people’s attention, “at the right time”, people put two kinds of food The "Xiang" is legendary as a factor of illness. The more times it happens to happen, the more likely it is to cause "Zhang Guanli Dai". For example, crabs are foods that are easily contaminated by germs due to poor handling. They are foods that people love and eat easily. They are also foods that are more likely to cause allergic reactions. some more. Therefore, crabs occupy a more important position in the legend of "food is fragile". Some people say that crabs and persimmons "react", some say crabs and grapes "repeal", and some say that crabs and wujia wine "repeal".

　　 Regarding the "correspondence" between ordinary foods, not only folk legends, but also ancient records. For some of the most widely-reported foods, such as "crab and persimmon", "scallion and honey", "peanut and cucumber", "pine flower egg and sugar", etc. Experiments were conducted by biochemists in our country to feed rats, dogs, and monkeys, and finally to be tested by humans. All proved to be free of poisoning. This is of course the most powerful explanation. Sweet potatoes and eggs or sweet potatoes and persimmons are also the same. In fact, many people have eaten them at the same time, or have eaten them in a short period of time without any problems.

　　 Among our ordinary foods, there is no such thing. With the development of science, the truth of "sickness comes from the mouth" is increasingly seen by people. Sometimes, the symptoms of the disease appear in the gastrointestinal side, but the truth is not that the disease comes from the mouth, but from other aspects. "Food food" is nothing but a curtain woven by the "coincidentally meeting" that conceals these truths.

　　The author of this article was Huang Shuze (1914-2000). He studied at Peking University School of Medicine in 1932 and graduated with honors in 1937. Arrived in Yan''an in August 1938, joined the Communist Party of China in September 1939, served as director of Yan''an Bethune International Peace Hospital in August 1945, and served as director of the health department directly under the CPC Central Committee in June 1947. After the liberation, Comrade Huang Shuze served as the president of Beijing Hospital and the director of the Education Department of the Ministry of Health of the General Logistics Department. In June 1952, he served as the deputy director of the Office of the Central Patriotic Health Campaign Committee, and also served as the main leader of the People''s Medical Publishing House, and was responsible for the health care work led by the central government. In June 1965, he served as deputy minister of the Ministry of Health, and served as deputy secretary general and vice president of the Chinese Medical Association.

　　 This is a responsible article written by a qualified and responsible author. I often quoted this article when I was giving lectures, and came to such a conclusion that may not be appropriate but enough to be awakening: Anyone who talks about food is not graduated from junior high school.

　　 A little explanation

　　 I mean very clearly, that is to fundamentally deny food consumption, which may not be said to be the consensus of the nutrition academia From a promotional material marked as "printed by the Liaoyang Nutrition Society", there are various examples of food conflicts, which also shows that popularizing scientific thinking is more arduous than popularizing scientific knowledge), but at least experts have expressed their opinions on food Mutual opposition and criticism. At the press conference issued by the Ministry of Health on January 15, 2008, "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2007)", Ge Keyou, the current chairman of the Chinese Nutrition Society and China CDC, said the following: "We are doing some research now. For example, some people have written some books that are very popular in the market now. Food is competing. We are collecting some scientific evidence. We also want to do some scientific experiments to see if we can make a profit. After we have the evidence, we will communicate to the society. Some people are contrary to the basic human life practice, saying that beef roast will cause poisoning, which is ridiculous, and it is written in a book and sold at the Xinhua Bookstore. We are paying attention to such things and are also studying. ". What he said was very polite and objective, but it was clear: the existing claims about food are unfounded.

　　 fundamentally denies the existence of food, and does not deny that certain food combinations are indeed not scientific, such as spinach and tofu, but this has nothing to do with food, and it cannot be used as food. Annotation, and there is no argument between spinach and tofu in ancient medical books.

　　 It is worth noting that until today, there are still people who are keen to make similar foods. One of them is this, saying that cucumbers cannot be eaten at the same time as tomatoes, because cucumbers contain enzymes that can destroy vitamin C, Therefore, it should not be eaten with tomatoes rich in vitamin C (also celery, cauliflower, spinach, pakchoi, pepper, citrus, etc.), otherwise it will reduce the nutritional value. At first glance it makes sense, but let us understand the truth: first, this enzyme loses its activity when heated (above 50 degrees Celsius) and no longer destroys vitamin C; second, the enzyme destroys only a small portion, such as 2% -10% of vitamin C is not enough for the overall intake of vitamin C. I have never seen (even in animal experiments) the situation of scurvy caused by vitamin C deficiency caused by eating cucumber; third, Studies have shown that vitamin C destroyed by this enzyme still has a nutritional effect; fourth, many vegetables and fruits contain this enzyme that destroys vitamin C (also contains vitamin C), cucumbers are only more in content, content There are more pumpkins and carrots. In short, these facts tell us that even if cucumber contains enzymes that can destroy vitamin C, it is not a concern at all! If you have to worry about it, then you have to treat most vegetables and fruits as a taboo. This means that you can only eat one vegetable per meal. Doing so may be in line with the principle proposed in "The Meal of Drinking", "Covering food is not to be mixed, and the miscellaneous may be guilty, and the knowledge is avoided", but very Obviously, this is contrary to the principles of balanced diet and dietary diversity that modern nutrition studies respect.