Foods for Digestion: The Donguibogam's Records and Everyday Eating Advice
Hawthorn fruit and radish are classic traditional digestive foods. This article also looks at what modern health sources say to avoid with indigestion.
Quick answer
The NHS advice on indigestion focuses less on what to eat than on what to avoid: cut down on tea, coffee, cola and alcohol, avoid rich, spicy or fatty foods, do not eat 3 to 4 hours before bed, and lose weight and stop smoking if relevant. The NHS page does not mention ginger or herbal remedies.
The Donguibogam records hawthorn fruit as dissolving accumulated food, and radish as a food that digests food. This article presents these as traditional uses, not as proven effects.
Traditional context in the Donguibogam
Hawthorn for accumulated meat
山査ㆍ阿魏, 治肉積
Hawthorn and asafoetida treat accumulation from meat.
Source: Japbyeong-pyeon · quoting the Danshim
This line is part of a passage that assigns herbs by the kind of accumulation (blood, food, meat and so on). It cannot be equated with modern indigestion.
Hawthorn Fruit (山査子)
消食積, 化宿滯, 行結氣, 消積塊痰塊血塊, 健脾開膈, 療痢疾, 兼催瘡痛.
It dissolves food accumulation, resolves old stagnation, moves knotted qi, and dissolves accumulations of lumps, phlegm and blood. It strengthens the spleen and opens the diaphragm, treats dysentery, and also hastens the pain of sores.
Source: Tangaek-pyeon (herb entry)
Radish (萊菔)
性溫, 味辛甘, 無毒. 消食, 去痰癖, 止消渴, 利關節, 練五藏惡氣. 治肺痿吐血.
Its nature is warm, its taste pungent and sweet, and it is non-toxic. It dissolves food, removes phlegm accumulation, stops wasting-thirst, benefits the joints, refines away the foul qi of the five viscera, and treats lung wasting with blood-spitting.
Source: Tangaek-pyeon (herb entry)
What modern health sources say
- NHS: "cut down on tea, coffee, cola or alcohol" and "do not have rich, spicy or fatty foods".
- The NHS lists coffee, tomatoes, alcohol, chocolate, and fatty or spicy foods as things that can cause or worsen indigestion.
- It advises not eating 3 to 4 hours before bed, and raising your head and shoulders in bed to stop acid coming up overnight.
- Taking ibuprofen or aspirin without a prescription can make indigestion worse.
Safety and limits
- Persistent indigestion, severe pain, unintentional weight loss, difficulty swallowing, repeated vomiting, iron-deficiency anaemia, a feeling of a lump in the stomach, or bloody vomit or stool need medical assessment; the NHS says these can signal something more serious.
- Hawthorn is sour and dissolves accumulations, so traditionally it is used cautiously where digestion is weak and appetite poor, and sour fruit can irritate a sensitive stomach. The classics advise against eating radish together with tonics such as ginseng.
Related pages
Frequently asked questions
Does hawthorn tea help digestion?
The Donguibogam records hawthorn as dissolving accumulated food, but that is a traditional description and the sources checked for this article hold no modern evidence for it. The NHS indigestion advice does not mention hawthorn.
I heard ginger is good for digestion.
The Donguibogam records ginger as stopping vomiting but does not directly say it aids digestion. The NHS indigestion page does not mention ginger either.
Can I lie down right after eating?
The NHS advises not eating 3 to 4 hours before bed, meaning lying down soon after a meal may worsen indigestion.
References and verification
- NHS — Indigestion — Source page last reviewed: 2023-05-05, accessed: 2026-10-09
The classical quotations above were checked against the original text by script. Modern statements are paraphrases of the sources listed here, checked on the access date shown. Editorial review date: 2026-10-09.
Educational information only; it does not replace diagnosis or treatment.