Food-medicine products are important materials for daily health management and are increasingly popular in the global healthy food market. However, because of the biocultural difference, food-medicine knowledge may differ among regions, which hinders the global sharing of such health strategies. Aim at bridging the food-medicine knowledge in the East and West, this study traced the historical roots of food and medicine continuum of the East and West, which was followed by a cross-cultural assessment on the importance of food-medicine products of China, thereafter, the current legislative terms for foodmedicine products were studied using an international survey. The results show that the food and medicine continuum in the East and West have their historical roots in the traditional medicines since antiquity, and the food-medicine knowledge in the East and West differs substantially; although the foodmedicine products have common properties, their legislative terms are diverse globally; with proofs of traditional uses and scientific evidence, food-medicine products are possible for cross-cultural communication. Finally, we recommend facilitating the cross-cultural communication of the food-medicine knowledge in the East and West, thus to make the best use of the traditional health wisdom in the globe.
关键词:
跨文化;药食同源;药食两用物品;管理;传统
Keywords:
Project Supported:
The present work was supported financially by the Strategic Consulting Project of Chinese Academy of Engineering (No. 2021-X2-10) and Innovation Team and Talents Cultivation Program of National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (No. ZYYCXTD-D-202005). The authors would like to sincerely thank Prof. Michael Heinrich from UCL School of Pharmacy for his valuable supports in the survey and consulting activities.
Ruyu Yao, Chunnian He *, Peigen Xiao *.‘Food and medicine continuum’ in the East and West: Old tradition and current regulation[J]. Chinese Herbal Medicines (CHM),2023,15(1):6-14
