Pattern-Discerning Dietary for Pregnancy Hyperemesis
In early pregnancy a woman may have mild dizziness, nausea, and food cravings. TCM holds that, with menses stopped, the chong channel's qi (the sea of blood) cannot descend and rushes upward counter, affecting stomach harmonious descent; this is generally seen as a normal pregnancy reaction. Pregnancy hyperemesis (ren shen e zu) refers to nausea, vomiting, dizziness, chest oppression, and even aversion to food's odor, or vomiting at once on eating, during the 1–3 months of pregnancy.
The cause is mainly weak stomach-qi or liver-heat with counter-flowing qi; after conception the chong qi rises counter, the stomach loses descent, or stirs liver-heat fire upward.
Since vomiting is the chief sign, food should be bland, soft-thin, and easily digested; avoid foul, fishy, putrid, fragrant-flying smells; eat little or no oily-rich.
For stomach-qi weakness: milk, soy milk, custard, rice congee, soft rice, soft noodles. For liver-heat counter-flow: more vegetables and fruit. Eat small amounts often.
1. Stomach-Qi Weakness
In pregnancy 2–3 months: nausea, no appetite, stomach distension, or food vomited at once, body weak, dizzy with desire to sleep; tongue coating white, body pale, pulse slippery without force. Choose food that fortifies stomach, harmonizes the middle, descends counter-flow, stops vomiting.
**1. Jiangzhi Mi Tang (Ginger-Juice Rice Soup).** 5–7 drops fresh ginger juice into rice soup; sip often.
**2. Chengzi Jian (Orange Decoction).** One orange, washed, cut in four (with peel); add a little honey; decoct; sip often.
**3. Sharen Oufen.** Sharen 1.5 g, muxiang 1 g — ground; mix with lotus-root starch and sugar; take as drink.
**4. Biandou Zhi (Hyacinth-Bean Juice).** Biandou (white) 10 g — decoct; with the juice take sharen powder 1.5 g.
2. Liver-Heat Counter-Flow
TCM holds that before-birth tends to heat, so pregnancy hyperemesis is often liver-and-stomach heat. Usually: vomiting bitter or sour water, hypochondriac and stomach distension, belching, much sighing (folk: long sigh), dizziness with distension, irritability, slightly yellow coating, red tongue edges and tip, wiry-slippery pulse. Choose food that clears heat, harmonizes stomach, cools blood, secures fetus.
**1. Xigua Zhi (Watermelon Juice).** Watermelon juiced; sip often.
**2. Lüdou Yin (Mung-Bean Drink).** Lüdou (mung bean) 50 g, decoct; sip often.
**3. Pipa Yin (Loquat-Leaf Drink).** Fresh loquat leaf 10 g (hairs brushed off), fresh reed root 10 g; decoct; take in place of tea.
**4. Xueli Jiang (Snow-Pear Mash).** One large snow pear, sliced thin, briefly boiled, cooled; sip often.