As the weather turns cool, people's favorite food becomes hot pot. But did you know that many people experience gastrointestinal discomfort after eating hot pot, and some even develop symptoms like canker sores, inflammation, and swollen gums. While the irritation from surface-level canker sores might not grab your attention, once the esophagus is injured and repeatedly irritated by food, it can easily lead to reflux esophagitis. In severe cases with erosion, the condition can progress to something more serious.
Many people like to have a bowl of hot pot soup after their meal. From a medical perspective, drinking hot pot soup is not recommended because the broth, after being repeatedly boiled, has a high purine content. Many people will experience a transient increase in uric acid. For patients with a history of gout, eating hot pot can even trigger a gout attack.
How to eat hot pot correctly:
1. Do not cook for too long. Generally, the mucous membranes of the mouth, esophagus, and stomach can only tolerate temperatures around 50°C, while repeatedly boiled hot pot can reach 120°C or even higher. Furthermore, after cooking for over an hour, the nitrite content in the broth increases. Repeatedly irritating the gastrointestinal tract causes digestive fluids like gastric juice, bile, and pancreatic juice to secrete continuously, leading to gastrointestinal dysfunction and diseases like chronic gastritis.
2. Order dishes from raw to cooked, starting with starches. It is recommended to eat in a raw-to-cooked order when having hot pot. Before starting, it's advisable to eat some starchy foods, such as potatoes or sweet potatoes. This not only helps control your food intake but also protects your stomach. It's best to blanch vegetables before eating meat. Don't just chase a tender texture by not mastering the cooking time, especially with raw meat and raw fish, which should not be taken out of the pot immediately after a quick dip. It's best to prepare two extra pairs of chopsticks: one for cooked food and one for raw food, to prevent bacteria or parasite eggs in the meat from directly entering the digestive tract and causing gastrointestinal infections.
3. Avoid cold drinks. Generally, both baijiu (Chinese liquor) and iced cold drinks can irritate the stomach. When combined with scalding hot pot, the irritation to the gastrointestinal tract is even greater. Therefore, for drinks, you can order options like soy milk or yogurt to protect your stomach. However, for people with reflux esophagitis or gastrointestinal discomfort, yogurt is also not recommended.
4. Don't blindly order "nourishing" hot pots. "Nourishing" broths have always been a popular feature in winter hot pot restaurants, but generally, the use of nourishing Chinese herbs like Astragalus, longan, goji berries, and Codonopsis is not advised. Professor Zhang Zhong'ai from the Jinling Famous Doctor's Hall at Nanjing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Jiangsu Province says that while nourishing Chinese herbs like Astragalus and goji berries have a certain effect in boosting immunity, they are not appropriate for people who are already showing symptoms of a cold or fever. For those with a "heat" constitution (who are prone to "internal heat"), heavy phlegm-dampness (obesity, thick greasy tongue coating), or those who frequently feel bloated and have a distended stomach, these nourishing herbs are also not suitable.
Who should avoid nourishing hot pots?
Experts say that children eating too many "nourishing" herbal hot pots can easily develop "internal heat." Children's gastrointestinal functions are weak, and hot pot can be irritating to their stomachs, easily causing gastrointestinal discomfort.
Additionally, people with hypertension, stomatitis, stomach diseases, ulcers, skin diseases, hemorrhoids, anal fissures, frequent nosebleeds, or bleeding gums, as well as those with a "yang-heat" constitution, should best avoid broths containing warming and nourishing Chinese herbs. It is recommended to switch to a lighter broth base and avoid overly salty or oily ones.