Spring is the best season for liver protection. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, spring belongs to the element of Wood, and among the five organs of the human body, the liver is also associated with Wood. Therefore, the energy of spring is connected to the liver, and spring is when the liver is most likely to become excessive. So, how can you better care for your liver through diet in the spring?
The following appetizers are most harmful to the liver and should not be eaten.
1. Carrots: Because the carotene they contain, under the action of liver enzymes with alcohol, can produce toxic substances that harm health.
2. Liangfen (cold jelly): Because in its processing process, a certain amount of alum is added, and alum has the effect of slowing down gastrointestinal motility. Eating Liangfen as an appetizer with alcohol will prolong the residence time of alcohol in the gastrointestinal tract, thus increasing the body's absorption of alcohol and also increasing the stimulation of alcohol on the gastrointestinal tract. It slows down blood flow, prolongs the residence time of alcohol in the blood, and promotes drunkenness, which is harmful to health.
3. Smoked and cured foods: Because they contain more nitrosamines and pigments, which react with alcohol, not only harming the liver, but also damaging the oral, esophageal and gastrointestinal mucosa, and can also induce cancer.
4. Barbecue: Many people like to gather with friends and family at food stalls, drinking and eating grilled skewers, which is very enjoyable. However, eating barbecue foods as appetizers while drinking is not good for your health. During the barbecue process, not only is the utilization rate of protein in food reduced, but also carcinogenic substances like benzopyrene are produced. Moreover, nucleic acids in meat, after heating and decomposition, can produce gene-mutating substances that may also lead to cancer. When excessive drinking increases the lead content in the blood, the substances in barbecue food can combine with it, easily inducing digestive tract tumors. In addition, in summer, the amount of alcohol consumed is larger, so the probability of inducing such diseases is often higher.
Eating these foods nourishes the liver.
In spring, it is advisable to eat sweet foods to strengthen the spleen and stomach. For example, jujubes have a mild nature and flavor, can nourish the blood vessels, strengthen the spleen and stomach, and can be eaten raw, or made into jujube porridge, jujube cakes, and jujube rice. Yam is also a dietary delicacy in spring, with the effects of strengthening the spleen and Qi, nourishing the lungs and yin, and tonifying the kidneys and securing essence. Yam can be made into sweet dishes like candied yam, braised yam, top-grade yam, and crystal yam balls; it can also be made into snacks like yam cake, yam bean paste buns, yam candied haws, and yam sesame crisp cookies; it can also be made into yam porridge and yam red date porridge.
Eat more vegetables: After passing through winter, people are more likely to have insufficient intake of various vitamins, inorganic salts, and trace elements. For example, in spring, people often suffer from stomatitis, angular cheilitis, glossitis, and some skin diseases. These are all caused by nutritional imbalance due to eating too few fresh vegetables. Therefore, when spring arrives, people must eat more vegetables. In the early spring season, fresh vegetables are scarce. At this time, winter-stored, dried, pickled, and salted vegetables can be very useful. Such as pickled radish, ginger, onion, cabbage, mustard greens, chili, and Zha cai.
In spring, you can eat more wild vegetables: Wild vegetables grow in the suburbs, have less pollution, and are simple to prepare. They can be eaten cold-dressed, stir-fried, in soups, or as fillings. They are nutritious and have significant health benefits, such as shepherd's purse, purslane, dandelion, plantain, elm money, and bamboo shoots.
Nowadays, greenhouse-grown vegetables have gradually changed the situation of insufficient supply of fresh vegetables in spring. In places where life is convenient, fresh vegetables can be eaten at any time. Such as spinach, celery, rape, water bamboo, lettuce, toon sprouts, and green beans. Soups in spring should mainly use red carrots, white radishes, kelp, winter melon, tomatoes, and spring bamboo shoots as the main ingredients, supplemented by chicken liver, pork liver, and shredded lean meat. The soup should be light and fresh in flavor.
Supplement with protein: In spring, the diet should also include more high-quality protein to enhance resistance, such as eggs, fish, beef, chicken, and soy products.