Good medicine in our hands
Vietnamese people say “Hungry eat vegetables, in pain take medicine” but it isn’t that simple. To think that medicines work immediately is wrong. Medicine has to go through a process before its function, officially works.
First of all, the drugs must be tolerated through the mucous membrane layer of the stomach. This means it has to pass through the stomach to the small intestine. A small part of medicine will be lost because no medicine could ever be 100% absorbed. Some ingredients in the medicine can cause irritation in the lining of the digestive tract, from the throat through the esophagus to the intestine. Therefore it is hard to avoid some side effects from happening such as ulcers, if we take it over a prolonged period.
After being absorbed into the blood, medicine has to be drained by the liver before working on the place that needs to be treated. Hence, medicines will be a burden for the liver. The more medicine is used the more tired the liver becomes. In addition, a part of the medicine will be wasted because it can’t get through the blood brain barrier, rendering it impossible to effect the nervous system.
Because of that the impact of medicine will be difficult to be utilized completely.
And it doesn’t stop there. The active ingredient in the drug, whether synthetic or natural are strange substances for our bodies. The body therefore mobilizes leukocytes, macrophages and antibodies whenever detecting the entry of drugs. Everything will be consumed after a long period of use. The immune system will be very active in the beginning of treatment, but then becomes unresponsive over time. Drug allergies and drug poisoning will happen at any time if the opportunity arrises.
Still, it isn’t finished there. After the drugs have worked effectively, it travels to the liver to be processed before excretion. At this time, drugs really become a burden for detoxification organs such as the liver, kidneys and intestines. If this stage is not completed then drugs can simply become a poison.
So if whether there are any other medicine that:
Could it be absorbed easily without any challenges when going through the mucous membrane layer of the stomach?
Could it be metabolised quickly and simply because it is suitable to the mucous membrane layer of the stomach?
Could it pass the barrier of the brain easily because they will go through smell and taste instead. It won’t be a burden for liver, kidney or intestine because they are already so familiar with these organs.
Have you ever tried it on our body for many years?
Is it convenient enough to use for the rest of your life?
The answer is food and the traditional dishes that already make up the nutritional habits of Vietnamese. Hippocrates must have had good reason to remind us to "Use food as pharmaceuticals ". Or Paracelsus certainly had good reasons to say, "Food is medicine, good or bad depending on the dose.” Whilst Master Bien Thuoc said that it will be more difficult to treat a disease if you can’t eat appropriated medicine.
Our ancestors were very smart when they taught children simple things like eating before you want to do any other great things. It is not feasible to reach old age if you are sick all the time. Nothing is better than maintaining health by having good, healthy food instead of reaching for medicines every time we sick.
Hoang Le Luong
(Extracted from articles about Medicine in Vietnam Cuisine dedicated only to 2014 Golden Spoon contest)