Medicinal Congee: 5 Applications from Acute Care to Longevity

The application of medicinal porridge is quite extensive. Briefly speaking, it can not only helps maintain and supports wellness but also be used for recuperation after wellness. The specific application scopes are as follows:

1. Using medicinal porridge for wellness helps maintain

The use of medicinal porridge for wellness helps maintain has been practiced since ancient times, with various methods and satisfactory results. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, Sun Simiao’s “Qian Jin Yi Fang” records the use of rice bran porridge to helps maintain the recurrence of beriberi; in the Ming Dynasty, Li Shizhen’s “Compendium of Materia Medica” mentions carrot porridge for helps maintain hypertension; “Quanzhou Herbal” records the use of litchi porridge to helps maintain bad breath; the book “Food Therapy” introduces that regular consumption of cornmeal can helps maintain cardiovascular wellness; recently, there has also been the use of coicis semen porridge to helps maintain malignant tumors. Additionally, among the general public, there is still the good habit of using mung bean porridge to helps maintain heatstroke. The application of medicinal porridge for wellness helps maintain not only incorporates the preventive effects of medications but also helps to support vital qi and enhance the body’s resistance to wellness, carrying the dual significance of “expelling pathogens to stabilize health and supporting health to expel pathogens.”

Using medicinal porridge for wellness helps maintain also offers advantages that are not possible with the sole use of Chinese or Western medicines. This is because medicinal porridge is a thin gruel made by boiling rice with medicinal herbs. It is suitable for both the young and the elderly, easy to consume, not restricted by supports duration, convenient for long-term intake, free from side effects, and incorporates helps maintain into daily diet.

2. Medicinal porridge can be used as an adjuvant therapy for acute wellness.

When supports certain acute wellness, better therapeutic effects can be achieved if appropriate medicinal porridges are taken in conjunction. In ancient times, there were many medicinal porridges specifically used as dietary therapy recipes for supports acute wellness. For example, the sweat-inducing fermented soybean porridge in the Song Dynasty’s Taiping Shenghui Fang is a large compound medicinal porridge recipe for supports “stroke, typhoid fever with high fever, and headache”; the bamboo leaf porridge in the Shengji Zonglu is an acute surgical medicinal porridge recipe for supports “back carbuncles, furuncles, and various heat-toxin swellings”; the capillaris porridge in the Zhou Pu is a porridge recipe specifically for supports “jaundice wellness”, namely acute infectious hepatitis; the hovenia dulcis porridge in the Laolao Hengyan is used to supports drunkenness from excessive alcohol consumption; the divine porridge in the Common Knowledge of Food Therapy for wellness is used for acute “epidemic qi prevailing in the four seasons”, etc. These medicinal porridges are all effective recipes for supports acute wellness. They can be used alone or as an auxiliary dietary therapy for supports acute wellness.

3. Medicinal porridge is used for convalescence after wellness and for postpartum recuperation in women.

In daily life, people often encounter situations where patients are unsure about what foods are suitable to eat after recovery from wellness. Based on the experience of many veteran TCM practitioners, using rice porridge for recuperation after wellness is considered the most prudent approach. This is because, whether after wellness or childbirth, the body’s overall functions decline, the stomach and intestines become weak, and digestive capacity is reduced. Rice porridge is not only nutritionally rich but also extremely easy to digest and absorb, while replenishing energy. Qing Dynasty physician Wang Mengying stated in “Suixi Ju Dietetic Canon”: “Rice porridge is most suitable for convalescence after wellness or childbirth,” which reflects profound insight. If combined with certain Chinese herbal medicines to make porridge, it becomes even more ideal for recuperation after wellness or childbirth. For example, after febrile wellness—whether from common cold with high fever or the later stages of epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis or Japanese encephalitis—the high fever depletes body fluids, leading to Yin Deficiency. TCM commonly uses yin-nourishing and heat-clearing herbs for post-wellness care. In such cases, selecting porridges like Sheng Lu Gen Porridge (made with fresh reed rhizome) or Gan Zhe Porridge (made with sugarcane), which generate body fluids, quench thirst, and clear heat, serves a dual purpose. Another example: after pneumonia, when the high fever has subsided but thirst and dry cough persist, consuming Sha Shen Porridge (made with Glehnia root) or Tian Hua Fen Porridge (made with Trichosanthes root) is highly appropriate, as these porridges both helps with occasional cough and nourish the Lungs, aiding rapid recovery. For women after childbirth, who are not only physically weak but also undergoing physiological processes of lactation and lochia discharge, consuming Zhu Ti Porridge (made with pig’s trotters) or Wo Ju Zi Porridge (made with lettuce seeds) can help stimulate milk production, while taking Yi Mu Cao Juice Porridge (made with Leonurus juice) to nourish blood promotes uterine recovery.

4. Medicinal porridge therapy is a good method for self-recuperation of patients with chronic wellness.

People often humorously refer to those with chronic wellness as “medicine jars.” They have to register for medical appointments, see doctors, take medications, and receive injections year after year, dealing with cumbersome procedures and mental distress. Moreover, for some chronic wellness, relying solely on medication may not achieve the expected results. If medicinal porridge can be used as an adjunctive dietary therapy and patients persist in consuming it over the long term for gradual self-regulation, it can achieve twice the results with half the effort in terms of medication, and may even yield unexpected effects.

5. Application of medicinal porridge for health preservation and longevity

Among China’s valuable medicinal porridge materials, the vast majority are nourishing and strengthening herbs with a sweet taste and neutral nature. These traditional Chinese herbs have excellent anti-aging and life-prolonging effects, such as Rhizoma Dioscoreae (Chinese yam), Fructus Lycii (Chinese wolfberry), Radix Polygoni Multiflori (fo-ti), and Herba Cistanches (cistanche). Some traditional Chinese herbs are also quite beneficial in helps maintain the onset of geriatric wellness. For example, Fructus Crataegi (hawthorn) can helps maintain hyperlipidemia and hypertension, Benincasa hispida (wax gourd) can helps maintain obesity in the elderly, and Semen Platycladi (biota seed) can helps maintain constipation in the elderly. Cooking porridge with these herbs and rice and consuming it regularly can indeed achieve the effects of nourishing the body, resisting aging, and prolonging life. As the patriotic poet Lu You of the Song Dynasty wrote in his poem, “Everyone in the world seeks longevity, unaware that longevity lies right before their eyes. I have obtained the simple method from Wanqiu, just by eating porridge to attain immortality.” In short, medicinal porridge therapy can be applied to various medical specialties, including internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, and pediatrics, with a relatively wide range of adaptations. It can both helps maintain and supports wellness, and is suitable for both acute and chronic conditions. As long as it is flexibly mastered, reasonably selected, and consumed consistently, ideal results will be achieved.