Journal of Nutrition & Food Sciences
Open Access

On the tradition of alimentotherapy and the medical use of medicinal porridge in Korea

World Congress on Nutraceuticals and Natural Medicine

October 22-23, 2018 | Amsterdam, Netherlands

Min-ho Lee and Sang-woo Ahn

Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Korea

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Nutr Food Sci

Abstract :

One of the main characteristics of Korean medicine, which holds an important place in the traditional culture of Korea, is the fact that it has emphasized the alimentotherapy in which foods are used for treatment before the use of medicine. The tradition of the alimentotherapy has developed and established itself in Korea with the accumulation of historical experience and traditional medical knowledge. Indeed, a variety of alimentotherapy prescriptions can be found in Dongui Bogam (a type of medical encyclopedia first published in 1613), which was registered as a UNESCO Memory of the World in 2009. The most representative traditional alimentotherapy meal in Korea is medicinal porridge. Made with such ingredients as white rice and grains such as mung beans and red beans, along with various medicinal ingredients, medicinal porridge has long been used in the treatment of digestive problems and in improving the efficacy of medicine. During the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), medicinal porridge was also used to treat the royal family, and several cases of its application, with yeonja-juk, tarak-juk, nokdu-juk, in addition to huin-juk (white rice porridge) are recorded in Seungjeongwonilgi, the journals of the royal secretariat. In Joseon Korea, medicinal porridge was widely used as an alimentotherapy, a fact confirmed by several encyclopedias and medical books dating from the Joseon period. For example, the preparation of white rice porridge is described in Imwongyeongjeji, a type of encyclopedia, emphasizing that this food was especially good for the elderly. �??Jejungshinpyeon�?�, another medical book published in 1799, states that the alimentotherapy is effective in the treatment of ailments in elderly people, and presents 22 alimentotherapy prescriptions, 11 of which are related to medicinal porridge.

Biography :

Min-ho Lee has received his PhD in Chinese History from Kyunghee University and is currently working as a Principal Researcher at the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine. He is studying history and culture related to Korean and Chinese traditional medicine.

E-mail: mhlee9799@kiom.re.kr