The Investigation of Dietary Habits According to TaThuJaoruen Belief and Its Development of Illness History

Abstract

Introduction: Thai Traditional Medicine theory states that the human anatomy and physiology were created by combination of various elements. They also be defined their main element (TaThuJaoruen) and suggestion on consuming food according to their main element to promote and support their main element function to be healthy was passed down from Thai ancestor. Unfortunately, lack of study on effectiveness of consuming food according to TaThuJaoruen and its knowledge is limited.
Methods: This cross sectional study aimed to investigate food habits and it relationship of its illness history according to TaThuJaoruen belief of randomly 431 selected participants. Self-administered questionnaires (main element screening questionnaire, food frequency questionnaire on TaThuJaoruen food habit, and illness history questionnaire) were completed by all participants to collect their data on frequency of dietary habits and illness history.
Results: In general, most participants had regularly practiced consuming TaThuJaoruen food and the results found that consuming TaThuJaoruen food among regular practitioners had significantly lower health risk scores compared with non-regular practitioners (p < 0.05). In addition, the average body mass index of participants in Wata and Semha element who had regularly practiced consuming TaThuJaoruen food were significantly lower than non-regular practitioners (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: In conclusion, a regularly dietary habit according to the TaThuJaoreun belief demonstrates a subtle reduction in risk of illness among participants.