内经四气调神为摄生之本。五谷为养。五菜为充。五果为助。五畜为益。饮食有节。不可过也。过食即有偏胜之患。
是故多食咸则脉凝泣而色变。多食苦则皮槁而毛落。多食辛则筋急而爪枯。多食酸则肉胝KT 而唇揭。多食甘
则骨痛而发落。此五味之所伤也。而人之所赖以生者谷也。万物之性。中正和平者。亦莫如谷。故人虽百年而不
厌其常食也。上古治病之法。病去则调养以谷味。未尝病后而峻补之者。张仲景为立方之祖。观伤寒论及金匮
二书。其方皆是治病。补剂之方甚少。后贤惟张子和得之。病去则教人以糜粥调养。与内经之旨不相违悖。而补
方之盛行者。则始于张景岳、赵养葵。动辄参 归地。而薜立斋宗之。后世徒震其名。以为信然。效之者误人无算。
观其治案中。无不以补中益气。逍遥散、归脾汤三方。通治百病。其余采用之方甚少。即此便可知矣。盖风寒暑湿
四时之气。其中于人也。则曰邪气。人在气交之中。其能免乎。而风则伤卫。寒则伤营。暑则伤气。湿则伤人皮肉筋
骨。内伤于脾胃。是四气之伤人也。在表则恶寒发热。在里则四肢困倦。类乎内伤之虚象。即灯结煤而暗之义。前
已详论之矣。若外邪正盛。或病初愈而邪未尽。误投补剂。必至邪与正为互。如油入面。莫能去之。致成终身之疾。
可慨也。识者鉴及于此。是以有不服药为中医之说。宁使五谷调养。既可省费。亦无弊窦也。
《黄帝内经》中“四气调神”是养生的根本。五谷作为滋养身体的基础，五菜作为补充，五果作为辅助，五畜作为增益。饮食应当有节制，不可过量。吃得过多就会产生偏胜的祸患。
因此，多吃咸味食物会使血脉凝滞不畅而面色改变；多吃苦味食物会使皮肤干枯而毛发脱落；多吃辛味食物会使筋脉拘急而指甲枯槁；多吃酸味食物会使肌肉增厚起茧而口唇掀揭（干裂）；多吃甘味食物会使骨痛而头发脱落。这就是五味对人体的伤害。然而，人类赖以生存的是谷物。万物的本性中，中正平和的，没有比得上谷物的。所以人即使活到百岁，也不会厌倦常食谷物。上古时期治疗疾病的方法，病好后用谷物的味道来调养，从未有过病后使用峻猛补药的情况。张仲景是创立方剂的祖师，观察《伤寒论》和《金匮要略》两本书，其中的方剂都是用来治病的，补益类的方剂很少。后来的贤者中只有张子和领悟到了这一点，病好后教导人们用稀粥调养，这与《内经》的宗旨不相违背。而补益方剂盛行起来，则是从张景岳、赵养葵开始的，动不动就使用人参、当归、地黄，薛立斋推崇这一做法。后世之人只是震惊于他们的名声，认为确实如此，效法他们的人误害了无数人。看他们的医案中，无不以补中益气汤、逍遥散、归脾汤这三个方子通治百病，其他采用的方剂很少，从这里就可以知道了。大概风寒暑湿这四时的气候，侵入人体时，就称为邪气。人在气交之中，怎么能避免呢？风伤卫气，寒伤营血，暑伤元气，湿伤人皮肉筋骨，内伤脾胃。这是四气对人的伤害。在表则出现恶寒发热，在里则四肢困倦乏力，这些症状类似内伤的虚象，也就是灯芯结煤导致灯光昏暗的道理，前面已经详细论述过了。如果外邪正盛，或者病初愈而邪气未尽，误投补剂，必然导致邪气与正气相互纠缠，像油混入面粉中一样，无法去除，从而造成终身的疾病，真是令人感慨啊。有见识的人对此要有警惕，因此有了“不服药为中医（最高明的医生/不妄用药）”的说法。宁可让五谷来调养身体，既可以节省费用，也没有弊端。
"Sihui Tiaoshen" (Regulating the Spirit according to the Four Qi) in the *Huangdi Neijing* (Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon) is the foundation of health preservation. The five grains serve as nourishment, the five vegetables as supplementation, the five fruits as assistance, and the five meats as benefit. Dietary intake should be regulated and must not be excessive. Excessive eating leads to the hazard of excessiveness in specific qualities.
Therefore, consuming too much salty food causes blood vessels to coagulate and stagnate, resulting in changes in complexion; consuming too much bitter food causes the skin to wither and hair to fall out; consuming too much pungent food causes tendons to become tight and nails to wither; consuming too much sour food causes flesh to thicken and callous while lips peel; consuming too much sweet food causes bone pain and hair loss. These are the injuries caused by the five flavors. However, what humans rely on for life is grain. Among the natures of all things, none is more central, balanced, and peaceful than grain. Thus, even if a person lives to a hundred years, they will never tire of regularly eating grain. In ancient times, the method for treating diseases was to use the flavor of grains for convalescence after the illness had passed; it was never the case that峻补 (potent tonification) was used after illness. Zhang Zhongjing is the ancestor of formula creation. Observing his works *Shanghan Lun* (Treatise on Cold Pathogenic Diseases) and *Jingui Yaolue* (Essential Prescriptions from the Golden Cabinet), one finds that his formulas were primarily for treating diseases, with very few being tonifying formulas. Among later scholars, only Zhang Zihe grasped this principle: after the disease was eliminated, he taught people to use millet gruel for recovery, which did not contradict the purport of the *Neijing*. The prevalence of tonifying formulas, however, began with Zhang Jingyue and Zhao Yangkui, who frequently employed Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma (Renshen, 人参), Angelicae Sinensis Radix (Danggui, 当归), and Rehmanniae Radix (Dihuang, 地黄). Xue Liza followed their example. Later generations, merely awed by their reputations, accepted this as truth. Those who imitated them harmed countless people. Examining their medical records, one sees that Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang (Tonify the Middle and Augment the Qi Decoction), Xiao Yao San (Free and Easy Wanderer Powder), and Gui Pi Tang (Restore the Spleen Decoction) were used indiscriminately to treat all diseases, with few other formulas adopted. This alone makes it clear. Generally speaking, the four seasonal qi of wind, cold, summer heat, and dampness, when invading humans, are termed pathogenic qi. Humans exist within the intersection of qi; how can they avoid it? Wind injures Wei Qi (Defensive Qi); cold injures Ying Qi (Nutritive Qi); summer heat injures Yuan Qi (Primary Qi); dampness injures the skin, flesh, tendons, and bones, and internally damages the Spleen and Stomach. This is how the four qi injure humans. When affecting the exterior, symptoms include aversion to cold and fever; when affecting the interior, symptoms include fatigue and heaviness in the four limbs. These resemble the deficiency patterns of internal injury, analogous to the dimming of a lamp due to soot accumulation, as discussed in detail previously. If external pathogens are vigorous, or if the illness has just resolved but pathogens remain, administering tonifying formulas by mistake will inevitably cause pathogens and healthy qi to entangle each other, like oil mixing into flour, making them impossible to separate, thereby leading to lifelong disease. This is truly lamentable. Those with insight should take heed of this, hence the saying "not taking medicine constitutes the highest level of medicine." It is better to rely on grain for nourishment, which saves costs and avoids adverse effects.