Many people often eat mung bean sprouts because they are inexpensive. However, few people know that mung bean sprouts also have significant medicinal value. When used properly, they are beneficial to health. During the sprouting process of mung beans, various changes occur that are beneficial to the human body: some proteins are broken down into free amino acids that are easily absorbed by the body; gas-producing sugars such as raffinose and stachyose completely disappear, which means that eating mung bean sprouts does not cause abdominal bloating and pain as excessive consumption of raw mung beans does. Moreover, after sprouting, mung beans release more minerals such as phosphorus and zinc, and the content of vitamins also increases significantly. Vitamin B2 increases by 2-4 times, carotene by 2-3 times, and vitamin C by 6%. Folic acid and vitamin B6 also increase.
Research has found that mung bean sprouts contain protein, fat, carbohydrates, various vitamins, cellulose, carotene, niacin, and minerals such as phosphorus and zinc, making them versatile. Because they are rich in cellulose, stir-frying mung bean sprouts with chives can help prevent and treat constipation in the elderly and young children, which is both safe and effective. Mung bean sprouts contain multiple vitamins, and regular consumption can have a辅助 therapeutic effect on conditions such as tongue sores and stomatitis caused by vitamin B2 deficiency, and diseases caused by vitamin C deficiency. Americans highly recommend mung bean sprouts, considering them one of the most suitable vegetables for obese people.
【Dietary Therapy】Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) believes that mung bean sprouts are cool in nature and sweet in taste. They can not only clear summer heat, unblock the meridians, and detoxify, but also regulate the five organs, beautify the skin, and promote the excretion of dampness-heat. They are suitable for patients with damp-heat stagnation, poor appetite, fatigue, thirst due to febrile diseases, constipation, difficult urination, red and swollen eyes, and sores in the mouth and nose.
Utilizing these pharmacological effects of mung bean sprouts, several dietary remedies for common ailments can be made—
Blanch the mung bean sprouts in boiling water, then dress with soy sauce and vinegar for consumption; this can help sober up and detoxify;
Stewing mung bean sprouts with crucian carp can help treat insufficient lactation;
Take an appropriate amount of mung bean sprouts and winter melon peel, add vinegar and cook into a soup to drink; this can prevent and treat summer heat and vexation with thirst;
Take 100 grams of mung bean sprouts, 1 pig's heart, a little salt, and 20 grams of dried tangerine peel. Add water and stew until cooked. Eat the meat and drink the soup to treat bronchitis;
Mash the mung bean sprouts and extract the juice. Add an appropriate amount of brown sugar and drink it as tea. It has a therapeutic effect on urinary tract infections, hot and reddish urine, and frequent urination;
Take 100 grams of mung bean sprouts, 1 pig's stomach, and 100 grams of dandelion. Add water and cook until well-done. Eat the pig's stomach and mung bean sprouts, and drink the soup to treat stomach pain.
Two points should be noted when cooking mung bean sprouts: first, alkali should not be added during cooking, as it can destroy nutrients such as vitamins and carotene in the sprouts. Second, the green skin of the mung bean does not need to be removed. In TCM, this skin is called "mung bean coat" and has a stronger effect of clearing heat and detoxifying than the mung bean itself.
【Contraindications】Mung bean sprouts grown with chemical fertilizers should not be eaten. Because chemical fertilizers contain nitrogen compounds, which can be converted into nitrosamines by bacteria and exist in the sprouts. Nitrosamines can cause stomach cancer, esophageal cancer, liver cancer, and other diseases. On the other hand, mung bean sprouts are a cold food, and eating too much can easily damage the stomach's energy. They also contain coarse fiber, which can accelerate intestinal peristalsis and cause diarrhea. Therefore, patients with chronic enteritis, chronic gastritis, and indigestion should not eat them in large quantities.