How to fill in dietary restrictions

The core principle of filling in dietary taboos is to only fill in the real facts and not use gimmicks posted online - whether it is a medical form, registration at a nursing home, takeout notes, or the remarks column of a fitness recipe, all the content you fill in should preferably be allergy/disease-related taboos that have been medically confirmed, or items that you will definitely experience discomfort if you eat them yourself. Don’t pile on the dubious "foods that conflict with each other" and "health taboos that are spread online."

Let’s take the most rigorous medical scenario first. When I accompanied a friend to a hospital, I saw the aunt in the next bed write “avoid eating eggs and soy milk together” when filling in the taboos. The nurse in charge was confused when she asked, but in the end she came over to double check whether she was allergic to soybeans or eggs, which cost a lot of communication costs. If you really have a confirmed gluten allergy, avoid alcohol after taking cephalosporins, gout and avoid high-purine foods, or even have real reactions such as swollen lips when eating mangoes or stomachache when drinking iced drinks, just write it down directly. The doctor will deliberately avoid it when prescribing meals or prescribing medicine, which can actually help you suffer less.

As for content that is often controversial, such as the "avoid cold foods" that many people believe in, in fact, different medical systems have different judgment standards, and there is no need to worry about who is right and who is wrong. Just choose the statement according to the filling situation: if you fill in the consultation form of a traditional Chinese medicine hospital, you write "It is easy to have diarrhea after eating watermelon, crab and other cold foods." The doctor who treats you can understand it at a glance； If you are filling out an ordinary Western medicine hospitalization form or a takeout note, just write "avoid raw or cold food, as it may cause gastrointestinal discomfort after eating". There is no need to write a vague concept, so that the person receiving the information will not be sure of the boundaries.

The same applies to everyday situations. Don't confuse preferences with taboos. I have seen some weird comments posted by takeaway merchants before. Someone wrote "dietary taboos: don't eat coriander, don't eat onions, don't eat garlic." In fact, it means that you don't like to eat it. It doesn't mean that eating it will cause adverse reactions such as allergies. It's best to add a prefix to indicate your dietary preference. Otherwise, if the merchant doesn't pay attention and miss it, he will be afraid that something will happen to you after eating it, and he will not be held responsible. If you have special needs such as vegetarians or halal diets, try to write clear boundaries, such as "Vegetarians, abstain from all animal-derived ingredients, including lard and butter." This is much more accurate than just writing "avoid meat." It will also prevent the other party from misunderstanding that you just don't eat pork.

To put it bluntly, the dietary taboos are filled with "foods that will cause problems if eaten", not "foods that I don't like" or "things that the Internet says are best not to be eaten together." If you grasp this core correctly, you will not make mistakes no matter how you fill in the form.