Spicy food can stimulate our appetite, but of course, eating too much of it can lead to internal heat. Here's how to pair your food to avoid it!
1. When eating spicy dishes, it's best to choose whole grains as your staple food. Because they are rich in dietary fiber, they can prevent constipation caused by gastrointestinal dryness. Corn or sweet potatoes are good choices. In addition, Job's tears can also reduce dryness, and if you cook them with lilies in a congee, the effect is even more significant.
2. Secondly, drink more water or soup. Eating spicy food can easily cause symptoms like a dry throat and chapped lips. At this time, it's important to replenish your fluids. A bowl of vegetable or tomato and egg soup can help produce saliva and moisten dryness. When eating spicy food, drinking a glass of yogurt or milk can not only relieve the spiciness but also has a heat-clearing effect.
3. Finally, for those who love spicy food, it's advisable to eat more sour fruits after a meal. Sour fruits contain substances like tannic acid and fiber, which can stimulate the secretion of digestive juices, accelerate gastrointestinal motility, and help people who eat spicy food nourish yin and moisten dryness. Eating apples, pears, pomegranates, or bananas, or having some hawthorn, grapes, or grapefruit, can all help reduce internal heat.
4. In addition, Hyo from South Korea, a special gold medal winner at the World Culinary Competition, reminds us that using fresh chili peppers instead of dried ones for seasoning when cooking can reduce internal heat. This is because the spiciness of fresh chili peppers is milder after being stir-fried at high temperatures. If the dish already contains chili peppers, avoid adding hot spices like Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, or cassia bark, otherwise it's "adding heat to heat," which can more easily lead to internal heat.