Deer fat and plums, if eaten by pregnant women, can cause the child to have bluish blindness (optic atrophy) and impair men's essence.

bubble_chart Collected Annotations

• Li Wen said: The human eye takes yin as its substance and yang as its function. The deer is a yin creature, and plums have a sour and bitter taste, also belonging to the yin category. If a pregnant woman consumes these three things together, the yin qi becomes excessively strong while the yang qi becomes extremely scarce, thus causing the child to have bluish blindness (optic atrophy). Men's essential qi should be warm; excessive yin leads to cold essence. The 'Materia Medica' states: Deer fat causes impotence.

Note: Deer hooves have two openings, serving as nocturnal eyes. 'Huainanzi' says: If a pregnant woman sees a deer, she will give birth to a child with four eyes. Now, consuming these three things together causes the child to have bluish blindness, all due to the mutual influence of similar substances. Be cautious in nourishing the fetus.