Lychees are in season during the minor and major heat periods. From a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective, eating lychees now is considered more beneficial than ginseng. Lychees are rich in nutrition and contain multiple vitamins that can better nourish the body. Today, the editor will take everyone to learn about the benefits of eating lychees.
Lychees, along with bananas, pineapples, and longans, are known as the "Four Great Fruits of the South." Lychees are native to southern China and are a subtropical fruit tree, an evergreen growing to about 10 meters in height. The fruit peel has many scale-like protrusions and is bright red or purplish-red. The flesh is translucent and gel-like when fresh, fragrant, and delicious. However, it is not suitable for long-term storage. Yang Guifei became famous for her love of lychees, which inspired Du Mu to write the famous ancient line: "A horseman kicks up a cloud of dust, and the concubine smiles; no one knows it's lychees that have arrived." In addition, writers and poets of various dynasties have written numerous poems about lychees. Lychees are considered "hot" in nature; eating too many can easily lead to "internal heat" and cause "lychee sickness." Besides being eaten, the lychee pit is used in medicine as an astringent to relieve pain, treating heartache and intestinal colic. The wood is solid, dark reddish-brown, with an elegant texture and is rot-resistant, making it a high-quality material throughout history. The flowers are numerous, rich in nectar, and are an important source for honey.
Traditional Chinese Medicine considers lychees to be sweet, neutral, and slightly sour. They have the effects of promoting fluid production to quench thirst, strengthening the spleen, and harmonizing the stomach. They are used for stomach yin deficiency, vexation and thirst, and spleen and stomach qi deficiency. Eating them in summer can replenish qi and nourish blood, replenish essence and improve complexion. They can also be used to treat anemia, postpartum weakness, insomnia, forgetfulness, and dry mouth. In the "Lychee Recipe" by Song Biyu from his hometown, it is recorded: "When picking lychees, do so while they are still covered in dew, and soak them in cold spring water. When eating, it is best to serve them in a white porcelain bowl; the contrast of red and white will better highlight the delicate color of the lychees. In the evening, after a bath, under the light of the new moon, is the best time to eat lychees." The elders say: On the day of Major Heat, first soak fresh lychees in cold well water. Once the time of Major Heat arrives, take them out and taste them carefully. Eating lychees at this time is the most enjoyable and nourishing. Therefore, it is said that eating lychees during Major Heat is as nutritious as eating ginseng.
Benefits of Eating Lychees
1. Replenish energy, nourish the brain and improve intelligence. The flesh of lychees is rich in glucose and sucrose, with a total sugar content of over 70%, ranking it first among many fruits. It has the effect of replenishing energy and increasing nutrition. Research has shown that lychees have a nourishing effect on brain tissue and can significantly improve symptoms such as insomnia, forgetfulness, and mental fatigue.
2. Enhance immune function. Lychee flesh is rich in vitamin C and protein, which helps to enhance the body's immune function and improve disease resistance.
3. Reduce swelling, detoxify, stop bleeding, and relieve pain. In addition to its well-known nourishing effects, lychees can also be used for surgical diseases such as tumors, scrofula, malignant sores, and external bleeding.
4. Stop hiccups and diarrhea. Lychees are sweet and warm, strengthening the spleen, and can also lower rebellious qi, making them a good food therapy option for persistent hiccups and diarrhea at dawn (five-generations diarrhea).
Nutritional Value of Lychees
1. The rich sugar content in lychees has the effect of replenishing energy and increasing nutrition. Research has shown that lychees have a nourishing effect on brain tissue and can significantly improve symptoms such as insomnia, forgetfulness, and mental fatigue;
2. Lychee flesh is rich in vitamin C and protein, which helps to enhance the body's immune function and improve disease resistance;
3. Lychees have the effects of reducing swelling, detoxifying, stopping bleeding, and relieving pain;
4. Lychees are rich in vitamins, which can promote blood circulation in fine capillaries, prevent the occurrence of freckles, and make the skin smoother.
What to Do If Eating Lychees Causes "Internal Heat"
1. Enjoy "dew-covered red lychees" to avoid internal heat. This means eating lychees freshly picked from the tree before the morning dew has evaporated. It is said that at this time, the lychees have absorbed a day of sunlight and been tempered by a night of coolness, so their "hot" nature has diminished. Each lychee is in its best state of being fragrant, sweet, fresh, and crisp. Not only do they taste delicious, but you can eat as many as you like without getting "internal heat."
2. Place freshly picked lychees in a container and submerge them in a well or cold spring water overnight before eating. This can prevent "internal heat" and can transform dryness and nourish yin. The great poet of the Qing Dynasty, Qu Dazhou, wrote a poem: "A deep cold well of a hundred feet, plucked and soaked overnight in the well, the essence of the sun transforms into the cold splendor of the moon, eating much of it nourishes the great yin."
3. Drinking salt water, summer-hemp leaf iced tea, winter melon soup, or mung bean soup before eating lychees can have a preventive effect against "internal heat." Alternatively, while eating lychees, drink more salt water. You can also use 20-30 grams of raw rehmannia root to cook pork or pork bone soup, or boil it with honey dates to drink, all of which can prevent "lychee sickness."
4. Eat salted fish. Steam a Cao-bai salted fish and eat it with rice, or make it into a soup or congee, which can prevent "internal heat" from eating lychees.
5. Boil fresh lychee leaves or lychee shells in water to drink, which can prevent "internal heat" from eating lychees.
6. Eat lychees from the eastern part of the tree canopy to reduce dryness. Lychees are long-day fruit trees that prefer the western sun, and the fruit ripens from the west. Those who know how to appreciate lychees pick and eat the western ones because lychees from this direction are especially sweet. Those who are afraid of "internal heat" should pick and eat lychees from the east. Because lychees that have absorbed the "west-slope heat" are nourishing but drying, and not everyone can tolerate them. Lychees that have absorbed the gentle eastern sun are nourishing but not drying.
7. When eating lychees, eat the thin white membrane under the peel along with the flesh to avoid "internal heat." The membrane is a bit astringent, but when you chew the flesh, it becomes instantly fresh and sweet. After eating a lychee, eat the concave white, stem-like part at the base of the fruit. Eating 2-3 lychees this way can also effectively prevent "internal heat."
In conclusion: Many women choose lychees for beauty because they are rich in vitamins, which can promote blood circulation in fine capillaries, prevent freckles, and make the skin smoother. For female friends who are afraid of getting "internal heat" from eating lychees, the editor has also provided solutions. I believe this summer will be different.