Smartly Eat Whole Grains for Detoxification, Moisturized Skin, and Beauty.

While coarse grains are great for skin care, they generally have the disadvantages of poor texture and low absorption. To fully utilize their skin-beautifying functions, you must learn to eat them in a refined way.

For a variety of grains, each has its own best way of being eaten to fully maximize their nutritional benefits. Different ingredients call for different cooking methods; although the nutritional components remain the same, the texture can vary greatly. Below, we recommend the top 5 skin-nourishing coarse grains and their best ways to be eaten.

Coarse Grain and Winter Melon Duck Soup

Job's Tears

Suitable for soups

Job's Tears looks more like a grain than a seed, so it is also called Job's Tears in many places. The plump, full grains of Job's Tears are fresh, glutinous, and enjoyed by many. Job's Tears is a great tonic for women. Its rich content of Vitamin B1 can make the skin smooth and fair, and it also has anti-cervical cancer effects.

Although Job's Tears is a type of grain, it has a slightly cool nature, making it unsuitable for congee or eating on its own. It is perfect for stewing with foods that have a warming effect.

Recommendation: Stewing chicken legs, tomatoes, and Job's Tears together is not only easy to digest, but the chicken legs are anti-wrinkle, the cooked tomatoes are antioxidants, and together with Job's Tears, they create an excellent skin-nourishing effect.

Milk Oatmeal Porridge

Oatmeal

Suitable with milk

You can't find a better partner for oatmeal than milk. Oatmeal has a miraculous whitening effect and is rich in dietary fiber, which aids in detoxification and weight loss.

Soak the oatmeal in an appropriate amount of water for at least 30 minutes. Place a pot on the stove, pour in the oatmeal water, and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes. Add milk, mix well, and cook for another 15 minutes. Stir in sugar, and you have a delicious milk oatmeal porridge.

You can also take a portion of this porridge, apply it to your face in a mask bowl, and wash it off after 10 minutes when you feel a slight tightening sensation. Persist for a month, drinking it and applying it, for an amazing whitening and spot-fading effect.

Brown Rice and Chinese Yam Porridge

Fresh Brown Rice

Suitable for porridge

A woman should live elegantly, but not eat too "refined." The more grains are processed, the more vitamins, proteins, and fiber are lost. Brown rice, as its name implies, is coarse rice, with most grains still wrapped in the rice husk. When we eat at restaurants, we occasionally encounter a rice porridge different from the white congee at home. Although also made from rice, its texture and aroma are better than white congee. This is brown rice porridge.

The biggest feature of brown rice is that it contains the germ, which is rich in vitamins and fiber. Regular consumption can help reduce fat and cholesterol. Brown rice is also high in zinc, which can improve rough skin.

Brown rice can be bought in most supermarkets. The best kind is one with intact grains, a yellowish-brown or light brown color, and a fragrant aroma. Before making brown rice porridge, soak the brown rice for about 30 minutes, then cook it like regular rice porridge.

Sorghum Cake

Sorghum

Suitable for making snacks

Sorghum is a rustic food, but its best way to be eaten is quite sophisticated: as a snack. Sorghum porridge or rice can be a bit too coarse, but when ground into flour to make snacks, it becomes much finer.

The most suitable snack to make with sorghum is called sorghum cake. The method is to grind sorghum into flour, then add baking powder, sugar, eggs, and a moderate amount of water to make a thick batter. Knead it into a dough, flatten it, steam it, then briefly deep-fry it, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

If you still find sorghum cake hard to digest, you can try making a sorghum soup. For example, when making tremella soup or corn soup, adding a little sorghum can make an already nutritious soup richer and more full-bodied.

Chinese Yam and Mung Bean Paste

Mung Beans

Suitable for making mung bean paste

Mung beans are excellent for skin antioxidant and free radical scavenging effects. Eating more mung beans is a powerful guarantee against aging and preventing skin spots. Moreover, the good detoxifying effect of these small beans is also extremely effective against various skin problems like heat rash and acne.

Boiling mung bean soup to clear heat and relieve summer heat has been a long-standing habit of the Chinese people. Indeed, mung beans are sweet and cold in nature, and made into a porridge, they can be cooling and thirst-quenching. But in fact, eating mung beans as mung bean paste allows you to intake more Vitamins A, B, and C, and also more dietary fiber.

Mung bean paste is also very easy to make. Wash the mung beans, add an appropriate amount of water, and blend in a soy milk maker for about ten minutes. Put the made mung bean paste into ice molds and freeze it in the refrigerator. After work, eating a piece is as convenient and enjoyable as eating an ice pop.

Recommendation: Other Skin-Beautifying Grains

Five-Spiced Boiled Soybeans

For fair skin

Rice Bran:

Several hundred years ago, people discovered that the hands of brewers were white and tender. Later, they found the secret was rice bran, one of the brewing ingredients. Since then, ancient women began their relationship with rice bran. They often ground rice bran, put it in a bag to soak in water, and used the rice bran water to wash their faces every morning and evening. With long-term persistence, their skin indeed became soft, fair, and clear.

Soybeans:

Soybeans, known as the "king of beans," have a protein content so high that it leaves lean pork, eggs, and milk in the dust. Li Shizhen mentioned in his "Compendium of Materia Medica" that soybeans have the effect of "making the complexion ruddy and fair, never withering," and also specifically mentioned their outstanding effect in eliminating facial dark spots.

Deep Moisturizing + Anti-Aging

Purple Rice and Grape Porridge

Purple Rice:

Purple rice is rich in Vitamin E, nourishes yin and kidneys, and delays aging. Since ancient times, it has been regarded as a great tonic for women. Because it contains abundant anthocyanins, it is also a very effective anti-aging substance. This natural anti-aging component works from the inside out, providing internal regulation and nourishment that topical skincare products cannot achieve.

Rice:

People with sensitive skin can use rice water to wash their faces. It can gently cleanse the skin of dirt without causing irritation, redness, swelling, or itching. This is because rice is rich in natural moisturizing substances like Vitamin A, Vitamin E, amino acids, and niacin. They can effectively prevent skin dryness and delay skin aging.

Improve Sallow Complexion

Red Bean Steamed Cake

Red Beans:

Because red beans are good for nourishing blood and qi in the body, and contain nutrients like protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, and Vitamins B1 and B2, they can effectively promote blood circulation. Therefore, they have long been regarded by women as one of the best choices for regulating complexion and achieving rosy skin. It is worth mentioning that in traditional medicine, red beans are also widely used for diuresis, reducing swelling, detoxifying, and expelling pus. They also have a weight-loss effect.

Peas:

The "Essential Formulas for Emergencies Worth a Thousand Gold" once recorded that when washing the face in the morning and evening, using a "Five-Spice Powder" made with peas as the main ingredient (used like rubbing with soap) to lightly apply to the face, after more than 10 days, the original black or red-purple marks on the face will begin to fade. With consistent use for a year, the face will become fair, moist, and radiant. This shows that peas are excellent for improving complexion.

Grain Skin-Care Tips

Grains can also be used to make masks. Here are a few simple but effective grain masks.

Job's Tears, Oatmeal, and Milk Whitening Mask

Method: Grind Job's tears and oatmeal in a blender. Take a portion of the powder in a 1:1 ratio and mix it with 20ml of milk. Heat in the microwave for 15-30 seconds to form a paste. Apply to the face when it has cooled to slightly warm.

Not only does it have a whitening and moisturizing effect, but the warmth can also promote blood circulation in the skin and better help with exfoliation.

Job's Tears and Mung Bean Acne-Removing Mask

Method: Mix Job's tears powder and mung bean powder in a 1:1 ratio. Add an appropriate amount of water (e.g., 5g of each powder with 10ml of water), stir, and apply the mixture evenly to the face. Then cover with a wet mask paper. After about 15-20 minutes, rinse with water. You can also use loofah water, honey water, or aloe vera gel to mix.

This mask has the effect of removing dampness and toxins, reducing oil secretion, and is very helpful for acne-prone skin.

Gentle and Non-Stimulating Exfoliating Cream

Soak plain, unflavored oatmeal in warm water for 5-10 minutes. Apply it to a cleansed face and massage gently. This is a natural exfoliating cream that even sensitive skin can use. After massaging for about three minutes, rinse with water. Your face will not only have no remaining dead skin but will also feel exceptionally moisturized.

The Simplest Whitening Dessert

First, boil water and sugar, then add a small amount of sago and cook until transparent. Next, add fresh milk and coconut milk and freeze in the refrigerator. This is the delicious coconut milk and fresh milk sago pudding. Eating this dessert, which looks white, tender, and crystal clear, often can make your skin just as fair and smooth.

The Most Delicious Moisturizing and Anti-Aging Drink

Simply mix 200ml of milk with 2 tablespoons of soybean powder and stir well. Remember to drink it immediately before the soybean powder settles. Drinking 1 or 2 cups a day has a significant effect on preventing facial spots and wrinkles.