--- title: "HKBU Chinese Medicine Students Launch TCM Dietary Therapy Recipe App That Helped a Relative Improve Hair Loss" locale: "en" language: "en-HK" published: "2020-05-30T13:41:44+08:00" updated: "2026-03-17T23:02:21.186Z" canonical: "https://accordhk.com/blog/hkbu-chinese-medicine-students-launch-tcm-dietary-therapy-recipe-app-that-helped-a-relative-improve-100" --- # HKBU Chinese Medicine Students Launch TCM Dietary Therapy Recipe App That Helped a Relative Improve Hair Loss Four Chinese medicine students at Hong Kong Baptist University have developed the mobile app "Foodmula", which lets users assess their body constitution and receive TCM dietary therapy suggestions suited to it, with more than 270 recipes now available. Its "Ingredient Calculator" also checks whether a dish's ingredients suit the user's constitution. ## In brief Four HKBU Chinese medicine students launched Foodmula in April, an app that assesses a user's TCM body constitution and recommends matching dietary therapy recipes (more than 270 so far). It has been downloaded about 700 times, and the team plans to add a "Wellness AI" function and a partnership with a social enterprise for meal kits. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) dietary therapy focuses on the role of diet in maintaining health and preventing and treating disease. Four TCM students at Hong Kong Baptist University recently developed a mobile app, "[Foodmula]()". Users can assess their own body constitution with the app and receive TCM dietary therapy recommendations based on their constitution, and there are now more than 270 recipes available. In addition, users can use the app's "Ingredient Calculator" to check whether the ingredients used in a dish suit their constitution, so as to improve their eating habits. The mobile app "Foodmula" was launched in April this year and has been downloaded about 700 times so far. About 77% of users are female, and users are mainly young: 86% are aged 18 to 34. The team explained that body constitutions are classified as balanced, yang deficiency, yin deficiency, qi deficiency, qi stagnation, phlegm-dampness, damp-heat, blood stasis and special diathesis. A constitution is an individual characteristic of the human body formed during growth and development, and TCM practitioners nourish and regulate a patient's body according to that patient's constitution. The constitution assessment in "Foodmula" is based on the "Classification and Determination of Constitution in TCM" and adjusted for local conditions. Users can complete the constitution test on their own through the app, including choosing the lip colour, complexion and tongue coating closest to their own, and describing the condition of their chest, abdomen, back and limbs, in order to determine their primary and secondary constitutions, so that suitable recipes and ingredients can be recommended. The app currently offers more than 270 recipes, including desserts, snacks, herbal teas, soups, rice dishes, noodles and side dishes, and recipes are updated weekly. A relative of team member Li Hiu-yan once suffered from hair loss. She explained that most people believe hair loss is caused by kidney deficiency and so keep eating foods that nourish the kidneys, such as sesame, but after her relative was assessed with the app, it was found that the problem was mainly caused by heavy work stress, poor sleep and poor appetite, resulting from liver qi stagnation and spleen deficiency, so nourishing the kidneys had no effect. She then adjusted her lifestyle and ate foods suited to her constitution (primary constitution qi stagnation, secondary constitutions phlegm-dampness and qi deficiency), and her condition improved greatly. For example, those with qi stagnation can choose rose, kumquat, hawthorn and the like; for phlegm-dampness, Job's tears and red beans are used; and for qi deficiency, soybeans, chicken and the like can be chosen. In its next phase, the team plans to add a "Wellness AI" function that uses artificial intelligence to hold simple consultations with users and tailor a wellness plan to each user's constitution. For example, it would use the functions built into users' phones that record step counts, screen time and sleep time to remind users to adjust their lifestyle. The team is also planning to work with a social enterprise that offers ingredient ordering services (meal kits), so that users can order personalised TCM dietary therapy ingredients. Original article URL: https://bit.ly/3cfNUfa ## Frequently asked questions ### What is Foodmula? Foodmula is a mobile app developed by four Chinese medicine students at Hong Kong Baptist University. Users assess their body constitution with it and receive TCM dietary therapy recommendations, with more than 270 recipes available. ### How does Foodmula assess a user's constitution? The assessment refers to the "Classification and Determination of Constitution in TCM" and is adjusted for local conditions. Users choose the lip colour, complexion and tongue coating closest to their own and describe the condition of their chest, abdomen, back and limbs, and the app determines their primary and secondary constitutions. ### What is the Ingredient Calculator? It is a function in the app that lets users calculate whether the ingredients used in a dish suit their own constitution, so that they can improve their eating habits. ### Who uses the app? The app was launched in April and has been downloaded about 700 times. About 77% of users are female, and 86% are aged 18 to 34. ### What does the team plan to do next? The team plans to add a "Wellness AI" function that tailors wellness plans to users' constitutions through simple consultations. It is also planning to work with a social enterprise offering meal kits so users can order personalised TCM dietary therapy ingredients.