Chapter 120: Chapter 97: Milk and Eggs vs. Rice Porridge and Fried Dough Sticks (Part 2)

“We’ve just been a bit behind in technology in recent years, not savages. Experts say there’s a lot of purine in soup and that drinking too much can cause gout, right? If you tell this to someone from Dongguang, won’t they scold you? They’ve grown up drinking soup, and many people have been drinking it for twenty years without any problems. Then you experts come out and deny their drinking habits?”

“So, health is about what makes you comfortable. If you have no issues eating something, then it doesn’t matter what the experts say. Eat and drink whatever you want. If something causes a problem, even if an expert guarantees it won’t, you shouldn’t believe them because they’re not the ones suffering.”

Lu Jiu’s words caused a slight change in Xu Biao’s perspective.

But some online experts are quite renowned, and they’ve been studying their fields for decades. Aren’t they trustworthy?

“But Dr. Lu, I remember last year Professor Xue Jinghong said that things like congee and fried dough sticks have no nutrition. He advised us to eat more nutritious, high-protein foods like eggs, milk, and sandwiches. Maybe I’m not quoting exactly, but that’s the gist. Was he wrong?” Xu Biao asked.

The Professor Xue Jinghong Xu Biao mentioned is a very famous Western medicine doctor in the country. He’s not only the head of internal medicine at Shangjing Medical College but also a doctoral advisor at two other universities and a visiting professor.

In the past three years, he’s gained significant fame online, and people highly regard his opinions.

People within the medical system are also quite familiar with Professor Xue.

When Lu Jiu was working at Jinling Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, he had already heard about this professor’s feats.

“In his medical field, he’s not wrong, because they believe that in the process of fighting off bacteria and toxins, the body loses a lot of immunoglobulins and lymphocytes. Immunoglobulins that block invading bacteria and viruses, and T and B lymphocytes that form immune defenses are all made primarily from protein. So, supplementing with protein can boost immunity, and milk and eggs are the cheapest ways to get protein. In that medical system, there’s nothing wrong with what they’re saying.”

“As for congee and fried dough sticks lacking nutrition, that’s debatable. An old saying goes, ’Rice oil is the ginseng decoction of the poor.’ This rice oil is congee; it is sweet and mild in nature, beneficial for Qi, nourishing Yin, and moisturizing dryness. It can also strengthen the Spleen and Stomach. Drinking a glass of milk and eating a bowl of congee in the morning feels completely different; you can try it yourself.”

The famous Qing Dynasty physician Wang Shixiong once wrote in his “Miscellaneous Records of Diet” that “the poor suffering from deficiency symptoms should use thick rice soup instead of ginseng soup, often yielding miraculous results.”

The general meaning is that when treating deficiency symptoms for the wealthy, Wang Shixiong would use ginseng soup, while for the poor, he would use rice soup. Often, rice soup’s efficacy was no worse than that of ginseng soup.

The Medical Saint Zhang Zhongjing also used Gypsum Decoction to treat cold symptoms. After giving the patient Gypsum Decoction, he would have them drink a bowl of hot congee. This congee served as a medicinal guide to enhance sweating and relieve the exterior, often curing the patient’s cold immediately with a single dose.

This is actually utilizing the inherent energy of rice.

Rice, being a seed, has the energy of growth, an upward-growing kind of energy.

The human body has functions of growth and descent, and eating rice is continuously maintaining the body’s growth energy.

Many people who don’t eat rice for a long time easily become depressed and lose hair. This is due to a lack of growth energy. If the Liver Wood doesn’t disperse properly, hair naturally fails to grow. Existing hair may fall out because the body lacks the essence of cereal, and the transformation of Qi and blood is insufficient, leading to the scalp, the land, lacking excess nutrients. Isn’t hair loss a natural result?

Looking at those Westerners, indeed their diet is rich in nutrients, but how many don’t have baldness?

“I’ve seen Chinese medicine practitioners criticize Professor Xue online. Is it because your perspectives differ?” Xu Biao asked.

Lu Jiu nodded, “Yes, we look at food not only based on nutrition but also on energy. Compared to nutrition, energy is more important. For example, milk contains good protein, but also a lot of water. You have to know that when viruses enter our bodies, they also need to survive, and to survive, they need water and nutrients. Water is cold water, and nutrients that aren’t absorbed by the body turn into stale ones.”

“You might say, then I can heat the milk, but it doesn’t help. Our normal cells need water that has been vaporized. Whether you drink cold or hot water, it all has to pass through your intestines and stomach first. The small intestine then vaporizes it into fine substances. Hot water vaporizes better than cold water, but if you take in too much water, even if it’s hot, it burdens the small intestine. If the small intestine can’t vaporize enough, when the water cools, it turns back to cold water, and that’s what viruses love.”

“And protein, only the protein that your body can absorb is useful. It can boost immunity, but if you take in too much and the body can’t absorb it all, this protein accumulates and becomes a food source for the virus. In ancient warfare, this was akin to providing resources to the enemy. So, is high-nutrition, high-protein food good? Certainly, but only if you can absorb it. With a weak Spleen and Stomach, some of the high-nutrition food you eat will turn bad.”

“That’s why traditional Chinese medicine objects to this viewpoint during certain periods. In each framework, both are correct. One views constitution from the perspective of viruses and cells, so they believe congee and fried dough sticks lack nutrition and don’t boost immunity. The other looks at constitution from function and the internal environment, saying milk and eggs don’t enhance body functions or environment, so they shouldn’t be overconsumed. Conflicts are inevitable when these two theories clash.”

Xu Biao was a bit confused. If both are right, then whom should he believe?

“Dr. Lu, should I drink milk and eat eggs or have congee and fried dough sticks?”

Lu Jiu laughed, “Why be so strict about it? Go with what makes you feel good. Who says eating congee and fried dough sticks means you can’t drink milk and eat eggs? You should always trust your own body. If it’s uncomfortable, adjust. That’s better than listening to some doctor’s or expert’s advice all the time.”

Really?

But how should he adjust?

He doesn’t know how!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep