“Eat the original food with the original broth” is a dietary tradition passed down from older generations. It means that after eating noodles, dumplings, and other starchy foods, drinking some of the broth used to cook them aids digestion and replenishes nutrients. While there is some truth to this old saying, it is not a universal rule—it depends on what kind of broth is being consumed and who is drinking it.
What Does This Saying Actually Mean?
“Original food” refers to starchy foods: such as noodles, dumplings, wonton, tangyuan, rice porridge, and other starchy staples.
“Original broth” refers to the broth used to cook these foods: specifically, the broth from the same pot, not water added separately or another type of broth.
“Aid” refers to helping with digestion: Older generations believed that drinking the original broth helps the recently consumed starchy foods digest more easily and “replenishes” the nutrients lost during cooking.
A Story About Eating Dumplings
When I was a child, my family would always make dumplings every Chinese New Year. Whenever we ate dumplings, my parents would serve the dumplings first, then pour a little dumpling broth into each person’s bowl, saying, “Original broth digests original food.” Eating the dumplings and then drinking a little of the broth makes them easier to digest. As a child, I always doubted the truth of this saying. Once, when we were eating dumplings, I refused the broth and ate only a large bowl full of dumplings. As a result, the next day, my stomach was so bloated it was unbearable; I didn’t feel like eating, and I couldn’t stop burping. It took two days for my stomach to feel better.
Many years later, as an adult living away from my parents and making my own way in the world, whenever I eat dumplings or tangyuan, I always like to drink some of the broth, and I’m always reminded of my parents’ childhood advice: “The original broth aids digestion.”
Since becoming a doctor, I’ve encountered many complex and intractable conditions in my clinical practice. Resolving these challenges requires not only extensive clinical experience but also insight. Once you truly grasp these principles, you naturally gain wisdom and achieve effective treatments.
I recall one instance when I was treating a patient with kidney stones. The stones weren’t large, but even after a week of medication, they still hadn’t been expelled. The patient was anxious, and so was I. Later, I consulted a friend who was a Taoist physician, and the Taoist master suggested adding a herb called “Autumn Stone” to the prescription. After I followed his advice, the stones shrank in size and were successfully expelled from the body.
I was quite puzzled. Why use Qiushi to treat a stone—using a stone to treat a stone? Wasn’t there a risk the stone might grow larger? The Taoist master’s explanation cleared up my doubts.
In traditional Chinese dietary customs, after eating noodles or dumplings, the elderly always drink some of the original broth. This is called “using the original broth to digest the original food”; drinking the broth makes the food easier to digest. Qiushi is processed from human urine; it has a salty, cold nature and can disperse nodules, reduce internal heat, and dissolve blood stasis. Using Qiushi as a medicinal adjuvant truly embodies the principle of “using the original broth to digest the original food”—that is, using a medicine extracted from urine to dissolve stones formed from urine. If Qiushi were unavailable, adding a small amount of a child’s urine as the adjuvant could achieve the same effect.
The Master’s words were a revelation to me, and memories of eating dumplings as a child immediately came to mind. Indeed, using Qiushi as a medicinal adjuvant truly embodies the principle of “the original broth digests the original food”!
In subsequent treatments for urinary system disorders—such as rough bladder walls caused by chronic cystitis, urinary stones, and urinary tract tumors—I have made a habit of adding Qiu Shi to the prescription, often achieving unexpected results.
Matters seemingly unrelated to clinical practice, when handled by the Taoist Master, are seamlessly integrated and skillfully applied; I cannot help but admire his insight.
After finishing the story about Qiu Shi, the Taoist master went on to tell a similar tale.
When slaughtering a chicken, one often finds many small stones inside its crop. These stones, ground repeatedly in the chicken’s stomach, aid in the digestion of food, yet the inner lining of the crop remains unharmed by this grinding action. Based on these observations, the ancients deduced that the inner lining of the chicken’s crop (known as “chicken neijin”) serves to digest food and grind down stones. When combined with other medicinal substances, it can treat gallstones and kidney stones.
If stones and ingested food can be digested, can other tangible substances be digested as well?
In patients with chronic cholecystitis, the inner wall of the gallbladder is rough. Can chicken gizzard lining be used to smooth out this rough inner wall? The answer is, of course, yes.
If chicken gizzard lining can be used to treat a rough gallbladder wall, can it also be used for patients with chronic cystitis who have a rough bladder wall?
If it works for gallstones, can it be used for gallbladder polyps? Absolutely!
Since it’s effective for these tangible ailments, what about other tangible ailments?
When stubborn phlegm obstructs the meridians, chicken gizzard lining can also be combined with herbs that regulate qi, resolve phlegm, and unblock the meridians.
After discussing the wonderful uses of chicken gizzard lining, the Taoist master went on to talk about another herb—bamboo sap. Bamboo sap is the liquid extracted from bamboo after processing. Fresh bamboo stalks are cut into 30–50-centimeter lengths, with the nodes removed from both ends. They are then split open, propped up, and the middle section is heated over a fire; liquid will flow out from both ends, which is collected in a container. This greenish-yellow or yellowish-brown liquid is transparent and has a roasted aroma. It is sweet and cold in nature, capable of clearing fire from the heart, lungs, and stomach, and has the effects of resolving phlegm, moistening dryness, and calming convulsions. *Danxi’s Heart Method* describes it as follows: “Bamboo sap can resolve phlegm. When phlegm accumulates between the diaphragm and the lungs, it can cause mania, forgetfulness, or wind-phlegm conditions; in all these cases, bamboo sap is used. It can also nourish the blood.”
Generally speaking, the sap and juices of foods tend to be viscous, with few possessing a slippery and lubricating nature. Why, then, is bamboo sap able to resolve phlegm?
The Taoist master explained: “Observe the form of the bamboo: it is hollow and straight from top to root. Though it appears obstructed by nodes, the central qi channel remains unobstructed. This is akin to the human body, where the diaphragm divides the body into the thoracic, abdominal, and pelvic cavities—much like the three sections of the bamboo. Though they seem disconnected, but in reality, the Triple Burner runs through all three sections, connecting the interior and exterior. The inner substance of the bamboo, known as ‘bamboo shavings’ (竹茹), clears heat and resolves phlegm, permeating the entire bamboo. When applied to humans, it can unblock the human Triple Burner. It is not merely a phlegm-resolving agent; rather, it clears and transforms phlegm-heat so that it is expelled through the waterways of the Triple Burner. Bamboo sap is the essence of the bamboo; it unblocks the Triple Burner and resolves phlegm-heat within it most rapidly. The Triple Burner and the Pericardium are paired as exterior and interior organs; whenever the Pericardium is afflicted by phlegm-heat, causing restlessness of the mind, the use of bamboo sap yields rapid results.
“The bamboo, though seemingly ordinary, is in fact endowed with the creative power of Heaven and Earth and possesses miraculous efficacy. Its parts—bamboo shavings, bamboo sap, and bamboo pith—all possess properties that promote free flow. Whenever phlegm-heat or stubborn phlegm obstructs the Three Jiao or the Six Fu Organs, they can all be combined in formulations.”
After listening to the Taoist master’s discourse, I could not help but marvel at the wonders of Heaven and Earth’s creation.
Humans live amidst heaven and earth, serving as the spirit of all things. The five zang organs and six fu organs of the human body, classified according to the Five Elements and through symbolic analogy, can be found everywhere in nature, drawing their imagery from the cosmos. By drawing analogies from the Five Zang Organs, one can find corresponding treatment principles for every illness. Nature is like a book; to read nature is to read about illness, and to read nature is to read about oneself.
Now, let’s explore life and the Way of Nature through another story: the story of repurposing waste!
