Chinese medicinal cuisine is unique in China and has a long history. Based on traditional Chinese herbal medicine practice, it combines strictly processed traditional Chinese medicine with traditional culinary materials to produce delicious food with health restoring qualities. In China, people contend that food tonic is much better than medicine tonic in fortifying one's health.

In the Zhou Dynasty, one thousand or more years B. C. , royal doctors were divided into four kinds. One of them was dietetic doctors who were in charge of the emperor's health care and health preservation, preparing diets for him. Sun Simiao, a well-known doctor in the Tang Dynasty, listed and discussed such questions as dietetic treatment, dietetic treatment for senile health care and health preservation, etc. in his books Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold for Emergencies and A Supplement to Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold for Emergencies. These two books were substantial in medicated diet prescriptions.

Doctor Sun Simiao lived over 100 years, which convinced people of his dietetic treatment and health care theories. Medicinal cuisine gradually prevailed in China as a means of health care and preventing diseases.

Medicated diet has been developing greatly in assortment on the basis of traditional process, for example, medicated can, medicated sweets and so on. Salutary food and drinks produced on the basis of achievements in scientific research and having the effect of curing diseases have a variety of sorts and vary in characteristics. There is medicated food suitable for patients suffering from diabetes, obesity and angiocardiopathy; there are health-care food and drinks suitable for athletes, actors, actresses and miners; there are also health- care food or medicated diets suitable for the promotion of children's health and growth, or for prolonging life of the aged.

Chinese medicated diet has begun to go abroad. medicated cans, health-care drinks and medicated wine made from traditional Chinese medicine have been sold at the international market. Medicated diet dining- halls have been set up in some countries. Personnel of academic, industrial and commercial circles abroad have paid close attention to Chinese mediated diet-a special food, hoping to develop academic exchanges and technical and economic cooperation in this respect. Chinese medicated diet will make contributions to the health of the people all over the world.

The characteristics of Chinese medicated diet are as follows:
1.Laying Stress on the Whole, Selecting Medicated Diet on the Basis of Differential Diagnosis By "laying stress on the whole, selecting medicated diet on the basis of differential diagnosis", we mean that when prescribing medicated diet, we should first make an overall analysis of the patient's physical and health condition, the nature of his illness, the season he got ill in and the geographical condition, etc, form a judgment on the type of syndrome; then decide on corresponding principles for dietetic therapy and select suitable medicated diet. Take a patient with chronic gastritis, as an example. he should take Galangal and Cyperus Gruel (Liangfu Zhou) if the suffers from chronic gastritis of stomach- cold type, but the can take Drink of Fragrant Solomonseal Rhizome, Dendrobium, Black Plam and hawthron Fruit (Yu Shi Mei Zha Yin) if the suffers from chronic gastritis due to deficiency of the stomach-yin.

2.Suitable for both Prevention and Treatment, Outstanding in Effect Medicated diet can be used either to treat diseases or for healthy people to build up their health and prevent diseases. This is one of the characteristics in which medicated diet is different from treatment by medicine. although medicated diet is something mild, it has a notable effect on the prevention and cure of diseases, health building -up and health preserving. Here are some of the achievements in scientific research of Shandong Traditional Chinese Medicine College: Eight-Ingredient Food: It is prepared according to the experience in ancient dietetic treatment and health care of imperial court in the Qing Dynasty from eight dietetic Chinese drugs including Chinese yam (Rhizoma Dioscoreae), lotus seed (semen Nelumbinis), hawthorn fruit (Fructus Crataegi). 97% of the children who took it for 30 days have whetted their appetite, adn their growth has improved too. Nourishing Extract of laiyang Pear and mushroom: It is made from the juice of Laiyang Pear (Malum Piri) and extract of mushrooms ( Lentinus Edodes) and tremella (Tremella). if the middle-aged and senile patients suffering from chronic diseases take it ,not only can the symptoms of their illness be alleviated, but their blood-fat can be brought down too when they are suffering from hyperlipemia, and their immunologic function can be improved.

3. Good in Taste, Convenient for Taking. There goes the saying "Good medicine tastes bitter" among the people, because most of the decoctions of chinese drugs are bitter. Some people , especially children, take an aversion to the bitterness of Chinese drugs and refuse to take them. Most of the drugs used in medicated diet are both edible and medicinal, and retain the properties of food: colour, sweet-smelling, flavor, and so on. Even if part of them are chinese herbs, their nature and flavour are taken into consideration and made into tasty medicated diet by mixing hem with food and careful cooking. So it can be said that medicated diet is good in taste and convenient for taking.