Ilaj-Bil-Ghiza (Dietotherapy)

Unani medicine lays great stress on treating certain ailments by administration specific diets or by regulating the quality and quantity of food. There are several books written by many Unani Scholars on this topic. Some of them are:

• Manafe-ul-Atima wal Ashriba, by Rabban Tabari
• Kitab fil Aghzia by Rabban Tabari
• Tibb-al-Maluki Fil Ailal wa Ilajil Amraz Kulloha Bil Aghziya by Razi
• Maqala Fil Aghziya by Razi
• Kitab Manafe-Il-Aghziya wa Daf-e- Mazarreha by Razi
• Fit Tadbir-al-Asehha Bilmakul Wal Mashrub by Hunanin Bin Ishaq
• Kitab Aghziya-Tul-Marza by Najibuddin Samarqandi

In addition to nutrition properties several foods are capable of pharmacological actions too. For example many foods are laxative, diuretic and diaphoretic. Eggs are used as food for energy and externally used in fractures to relieve pain and to cure baldness. Sagu is good for diarrhoea.

The weakness of certain organs is corrected by administering the same organ of an animal by way of food; for instance, disorders and weakness of liver are treated by feeding the patient on liver. Likewise heart, kidneys and brain are administered in treating the ailments of these parts.