For busy modern people, minor ailments like constipation, bloating, and stomach pain are commonplace, yet medical examinations often fail to detect any specific diseases.
Millet and Pumpkin Porridge
At such times, it's worth improving gastrointestinal health through diet, for instance, by eating pumpkin. The vibrant, soft, and comforting pumpkin is not only a delight to the eye but also a great remedy for stomach health; for women, it also has detoxifying and beautifying effects. Zhang Zhidong, a famous minister of the Qing Dynasty, once advised Empress Dowager Cixi to eat more pumpkin. The Compendium of Materia Medica records that pumpkin is "warm in nature, sweet in taste, and enters the spleen and stomach meridians." Traditional Chinese medicine believes it has the effects of tonifying the middle and replenishing qi, reducing inflammation and relieving pain, detoxifying and killing parasites, making it an excellent food therapy for a weak spleen and stomach. Pumpkin is rich in carbohydrates and pectin, which can protect the gastrointestinal mucosa from irritation by rough foods. Its abundant vitamins and components like calcium and phosphorus make it a master at strengthening the stomach and aiding digestion. The rich pectin in pumpkin can also promote the healing of ulcers, "absorb" bacteria and toxic substances including heavy metals like lead, thus playing a detoxifying role. The mannitol in pumpkin has a laxative effect, reducing the harm of toxins in feces to the human body. The very fine and soft dietary fiber can promote intestinal peristalsis, relieve constipation, and at the same time, it does not damage the gastric mucosa.
Autumn and winter are the golden season for eating pumpkin. It is simple to cook and suitable for steaming, boiling into congee, or making soup. For example, for Millet and Pumpkin Porridge, soak 100 grams of millet in water for 20 minutes, peel and cube 300 grams of pumpkin. After boiling the millet for 30 minutes, add the pumpkin, stir well, and continue to cook for another 15 minutes. It should be noted that pumpkin is warm in nature, and excessive consumption can promote damp-heat. Therefore, people with symptoms of stomach heat and bad breath, or suffering from skin sores, itching, jaundice, beriberi, diarrhea with bloating, qi stagnation and dampness obstruction, should not eat too much.
Porridge