Fruits are one of the healthiest foods in people's minds. In winter, the climate is relatively dry, and people are prone to dryness and discomfort in the nose and throat. Eating more fruits is good for health and can alleviate these symptoms, making people feel refreshed, comfortable, and full of vitality. However, there are some things to pay attention to when eating fruits in winter, such as timing and quantity, otherwise, it may have the opposite effect.
Elderly people can eat fruits "warm" in winter
On cold days, the elderly can eat many fruits "warm" to reduce irritation to the stomach and intestines. Generally, the elderly tend to have a "cold" constitution, so they can choose to eat some "warm" fruits raw, such as lychee, longan, pomegranate, kumquat, red dates, etc. For "cool" fruits like pear, pomelo, banana, and neutral fruits like apple, grape, sugarcane, papaya, it is best to heat them before eating.
Hawthorn: Strengthens the spleen, whets the appetite, aids digestion, and resolves stagnation
When the cold winter arrives, eating some delicious and nutritious hawthorn is a great choice to help regulate the body. Hawthorn has important medicinal value and has been a good medicine for strengthening the spleen, whetting the appetite, aiding digestion, resolving stagnation, invigorating blood, and resolving phlegm since ancient times. The fruit of hawthorn is used medicinally. It is slightly warm in nature, sour and sweet in taste, and enters the spleen, stomach, and liver meridians. It has the functions of aiding digestion and strengthening the stomach, invigorating blood and resolving stasis, and astringing to stop dysentery. It has a good therapeutic effect on meat accumulation and phlegm-fluid retention, epigastric fullness and sour regurgitation, dysentery, intestinal bleeding, lumbago and hernia, postpartum pain from retained placenta, lochiorrhea, and infantile food stagnation.
Pomegranate: Helps lower blood lipids and blood sugar
Pomegranate not only aids digestion but also has multiple effects of lowering blood lipids, blood sugar, and cholesterol. Red pomegranate is rich in minerals and contains two major antioxidant components—pomegranate polyphenols and anthocyanins. At the same time, it also contains linolenic acid, vitamin C, and folic acid. The mineral extracts such as calcium, magnesium, and zinc in red pomegranate can quickly replenish the moisture lost by the skin, making the skin brighter and softer. However, although pomegranate is good, it should not be eaten in excess. Excessive consumption can damage teeth, produce phlegm, and is not suitable for people with constipation, urethritis, diabetes, or those with excess heat and stagnation.
Pomelo: Regulates qi, transforms phlegm, moistens the lungs, and clears the intestines
Pomelo, known as the "natural fruit can," is the best fruit in winter. It is rich in protein, organic acids, vitamins, and essential elements for the human body such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and sodium. In addition to its high nutritional value, it also has the effects of strengthening the stomach, aiding digestion, transforming phlegm, and relieving cough. Regular consumption has a辅助 therapeutic effect on hypertension and diabetes. Eating it in winter can reduce internal heat and inhibit mouth ulcers. It can promote wound healing and has a good auxiliary therapeutic effect on sepsis.
Banana: Helps prevent stroke and hypertension
Bananas are sweet and delicious, rich in vitamins, dietary fiber, and minerals such as potassium, magnesium, and sodium. They can effectively maintain the health of skin and hair and help prevent stroke and hypertension. At the same time, they have sedative and hypnotic effects, moisten the intestines to relieve constipation, moisten the lungs to relieve cough, clear heat and detoxify, aid digestion, and nourish the body, and are also quite effective for weight loss.
Orange: Helps improve liver detoxification
Oranges have high water content and are rich in nutrition, containing more than ten nutrients such as vitamin C, citric acid, and glucose. When eaten properly, they can nourish the body. For patients with chronic hepatitis and hypertension, eating more tangerines can improve liver detoxification, accelerate cholesterol conversion, and prevent arteriosclerosis.
Pear: Relieves lung heat and constipation
Five "Don'ts" for eating fruit in winter
1. Don't eat fruit immediately after a meal: Eating fruit immediately after a meal will not aid digestion; on the contrary, it will cause bloating and constipation. Therefore, it is best to eat fruit 2 hours after a meal or 1 hour before a meal.
2. Don't eat fruit without rinsing your mouth: Some fruits contain various fermentable sugars that are highly corrosive to teeth. If you don't rinse your mouth after eating, fruit residues in the mouth can easily cause cavities.
3. Don't eat too much fruit: Excessive consumption of fruit can lead to copper deficiency in the body, which in turn increases cholesterol in the blood and causes coronary heart disease. Therefore, it is not advisable to eat too much fruit in a short period of time.
4. Don't eat unhygienic fruit: Eating fruits that have started to rot, or fruits that are not protected from dust and flies and have not been thoroughly washed and disinfected, such as strawberries, mulberries, and sliced watermelon, can easily cause digestive tract infectious diseases such as dysentery, typhoid fever, and acute gastroenteritis.
5. Don't disinfect fruit with alcohol: Although alcohol can kill bacteria on the surface of fruit, it will change the color, aroma, and taste of the fruit. The interaction between alcohol and the acids in the fruit will reduce the nutritional value of the fruit.