Quote:
Apart from what foods should be avoided, Shaolin Chanyi encourages people with illnesses should eat seven categories of food everyday and with one to three kinds from each category. The seven categories are i) grains (e.g., noodles, brown rice, barley), ii) vegetables (e.g., broccolis, cabbages, tomatoes), iii) fruits (e.g., grapes, apples, oranges), iv) beans (e.g., soy, red beans, peas), v) mushrooms (e.g., black fungus, white fungus, straw mushrooms), vi) nuts (e.g., walnuts, chestnuts, almonds), and vii) roots (e.g., taros, potatoes, yams). The type and amount of food is not specified, as long as they are fresh and seasonal and eating up to 80% full in each meal is appropriate. The dietary attitude of Chanyi is to be natural, which is also Chan.
The philosophy of Chanyi in dietary monitoring is in line with the Bencao Gangmu written by Li Shizhen of the Ming Dynasty and the western scientific evidence on vegetarian diet.