On a snowy and cold day, there's nothing more enjoyable than gathering around a table for a hot pot meal. A warm pot of simmering broth not only allows you to savor delicious flavors but also invigorates the blood and dispels the cold, making it a true winter favorite for many. However, some bad habits during a hot pot meal, which often go unnoticed, can silently steal away the health benefits of this delicious experience. Do you have any of these 6 bad hot pot habits?
1. Craving a "fresh" taste by eating undercooked food can lead to illness
Meats like lamb, fatty beef, and fish are often considered the "main dishes" that many people order when eating hot pot. In the cold winter, feasting on these delicious meats can indeed boost your energy and is very satisfying. However, many people love their meat so tender that they don't pay attention to the cooking time, often tossing in raw slices of meat or fish and immediately taking them out to eat. Lu Tong, a nutritionist from the Nutrition Department of Tongren Hospital, reminds everyone that raw meat and seafood can easily be contaminated by pathogenic microorganisms and parasite eggs. Therefore, they must be thoroughly cooked in boiling broth to kill these germs and parasites before consumption, to prevent or reduce the occurrence of digestive tract inflammation and parasitic diseases. Generally speaking, thin slices of meat should be simmered in boiling broth for about 1 minute, until the color changes from bright red to grayish-white, before they are safe to eat. For shellfish like clams and river shrimp, which have thicker flesh, they should be boiled in the pot for more than 5 minutes.
2. Mixing raw and cooked foods can easily lead to cross-contamination
When cooking hot pot, chopsticks often serve two purposes: they are used to pick up raw food to put into the pot and to lift cooked food out of the pot. Some people even use the same pair of chopsticks to pick up raw meat from the pot and then immediately use them to serve food from their bowl to their mouths. This can easily transfer bacteria from the raw food into your mouth and even contaminate an entire dish of food. Experts point out that failing to use separate utensils for raw and cooked foods during a hot pot meal can also lead to illness. Utensils used for handling and serving raw food should be kept separate from those for eating directly, to avoid mixing raw and cooked items and prevent the spread of germs, which can lead to illness. To avoid cross-contamination, it's best to use serving chopsticks.
3. The extreme contrast between hot and cold is most likely to harm the digestive system
When eating hot pot, especially spicy hot pot, the heat and spiciness often cause people to break into a sweat, even in the cold winter. Some people like to drink iced beer or other cold beverages while eating, thinking it can counteract the spiciness and heat. However, experts warn that such extreme temperature changes can easily cause indigestion, leading to diarrhea and constipation. Nutritionist Lu Tong explains that drinking cold beverages can cause the blood vessels in the stomach to constrict, slow down gastrointestinal motility, and reduce the secretion of digestive fluids. At the same time, the drop in temperature can also reduce the activity of digestive enzymes, which is not conducive to digestion. When eating hot pot, don't be too impatient and avoid eating food that is too hot. Additionally, you can choose some room-temperature vegetable juices, dairy products, or plant-based protein drinks to better aid digestion.
4. Excessive spiciness and oiliness can easily lead to "internal heat"
On cold days, red oil hot pot and spicy hot pot are more popular. A thick layer of red oil enveloping the food is indeed flavorful, but this layer of spicy and greasy coating can turn even healthy vegetables into unhealthy "culprits." Nutritionist Lu Tong also notes that red oil contains a large amount of stimulating foods (like scallions, ginger, and chili peppers), which can cause swelling and congestion in the digestive tract and irritate the gastrointestinal mucosa, making it unsuitable for patients with gastric ulcers or ulcerative colitis. When you pick up food from the hot pot, you also inevitably bring some red oil into your mouth, significantly increasing your fat intake. Furthermore, winters in northern regions are relatively dry, and spicy foods can cause the body to lose a lot of water and easily lead to "internal heat." It's best to pair spicy hot pot with cooling and neutral vegetables that have a sweet and mild nature, as they can help to cool down, detoxify, and reduce "internal heat." Examples include winter melon, loofah, rape, spinach, cabbage, enoki mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, lotus root, water bamboo shoots, bamboo shoots, and bok choy.
5. Eating and chatting at the same time can easily lead to overeating
Unlike stir-fried dishes, hot pot keeps the food warm, and as long as you keep adding broth to the pot, it will continue to emit a warm steam. This can cause people to eat and chat unconsciously, losing track of time. In fact, sitting for a long time to eat hot pot can significantly increase the burden on the digestive system.
Experts point out that as the stomach continuously receives food, consuming too much at once causes digestive fluids like gastric acid, bile, and pancreatic juice to be secreted non-stop, which can easily lead to gastrointestinal dysfunction, causing abdominal pain and diarrhea. Overeating can even trigger acute pancreatitis. A good strategy is to eat vegetables and starchy foods first, and save the meat for last. Also, stop eating when you are 80% full to reduce calorie intake.
6. Prolonged boiling of the broth can easily trigger gout
Nutritionist Lu Tong reminds everyone that the purine content in hot pot broth is very high and is not suitable for patients with hyperuricemia and gout. Secondly, the nitrite content in the broth increases with prolonged boiling. If you plan to drink the hot pot broth, you should skim off the surface oil and consume it within 20 minutes after the broth comes to a boil. Furthermore, patients with high blood lipids, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, arteriosclerosis, and coronary heart disease should eat hot pot in moderation.