Chao Dan-Ping, Chen Jian-Jung, Huang Sung-Yen, Tyan Chu-Chang, Hsieh Ching-Liang, Sheen Lee-Yan
Graduate Institute of Food Science and Technology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Chin J Physiol. 2011 Jun 30;54(3):145-52.
In traditional Chinese medicine, hot- and cold-attribute of food ingredients are a major part of dietary therapy. The aim of this study was to establish a suitable scientific methodology to define the attributes of food ingredients by investigating the relationship between food attributes and the physiological signals produced in healthy young subjects with different constitutions. Thirty subjects were grouped into hot and cold constitutions by Chinese medical doctors. Every subject took water, aged ginger tea and coconut water, which are well recognized as having neutral-, hot- and cold-attribute, respectively, on different visits. The different physiological signals induced by the samples were observed using skin and axillary temperature sensors, a heart rate variability analyzer and a laser Doppler anemometer. We found that the capillary red blood cell (RBC) velocity in nail fold microcirculation (NFM) of the subjects with hot constitution accelerated significantly after taking the hot-attribute aged ginger tea, which might be the result of elevated vagal activity leading to arteriole dilation in these subjects. In contrast, in subjects with cold constitution, capillary RBC velocity decelerated significantly and skin temperature decreased markedly after taking the cold-attribute coconut water, which might have been induced by sympathetic nerve activation causing the arteriole to be constricted. Accordingly, the use of capillary RBC velocity of NFM measured by laser Doppler anemometer may be a promising way to classify attributes of food ingredients commonly used in Chinese medicine dietary therapy in accordance with different personal constitutions.
在传统中医中，食材的寒热属性是饮食疗法的重要组成部分。本研究的目的是通过调查食物属性与不同体质健康年轻受试者产生的生理信号之间的关系，建立一种合适的科学方法来定义食材的属性。30名受试者由中医医生分为热性和寒性体质。每位受试者在不同的访视中分别饮用了水、公认具有中性、热性和寒性属性的陈姜茶和椰子水。使用皮肤和腋窝温度传感器、心率变异性分析仪和激光多普勒血流仪观察样本诱导的不同生理信号。我们发现，热性体质受试者饮用热性属性的陈姜茶后，甲襞微循环（NFM）中的毛细血管红细胞（RBC）速度显著加快，这可能是迷走神经活动增强导致这些受试者小动脉扩张的结果。相反，寒性体质受试者饮用寒性属性的椰子水后，毛细血管RBC速度显著减慢，皮肤温度明显下降，这可能是交感神经激活导致小动脉收缩所致。因此，使用激光多普勒血流仪测量的NFM毛细血管RBC速度，可能是一种根据不同个人体质对中医饮食疗法中常用食材属性进行分类的有前景的方法。
