Food Therapy shí liáo · 食疗

What it means: choosing ordinary foods by their traditional warming, cooling, moistening or drying nature, as a daily habit rather than a treatment.

What the evidence shows: broad dietary patterns - more vegetables, less processed food - have strong evidence behind them. The specific warming and cooling classification does not have measurable evidence, and should be understood as a traditional framework.

What to watch for: food does not treat a serious condition. If a food or supplement is being sold to you as a replacement for medical treatment, treat that as a warning sign.