Summer is a season when all things grow, but also a season of scorching sun. At this time, the celestial heat descends and the earthly heat rises, causing the energies of heaven and earth to combine. Therefore, summer health preservation should be based on the characteristics of "all things growing and heart-fire flourishing," paying attention to diet and daily routine, especially diet.
Why should one "eat more bitterness" in summer?
T nutritionists believe that the body's yin and yang should be relatively balanced. However, due to people's preference for rich, sweet, and spicy foods and aversion to bitter tastes, the body often becomes excessive in yang and deficient in yin. From the perspective of balancing the body's yin and yang and preventing disease, people should eat some bitter foods appropriately all year round, especially more so in summer. This is because the spleen and stomach functions are weaker in summer, leading to poor appetite. Bitter foods can restore the motility of the spleen and stomach and increase appetite. Bitter flavors enter the heart meridian, and can be used to reduce heart-fire with their bitter nature, and to adjust the summer's heat with their yin properties. Modern nutritional research has found that bitter foods are rich in amino acids, vitamins, alkaloids, bitter principles, trace elements, etc., and have effects such as antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, reducing heat and relieving summer heat, aiding digestion, increasing appetite, refreshing the mind, and eliminating fatigue.
Why is bitter melon the top recommendation for "eating bitterness"?
Among bitter foods, the most representative is bitter melon. Bitter melon is the fruit of the Momordica charantia plant of the Cucurbitaceae family, also known as cool melon. According to Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" from the Ming Dynasty, it is named for its bitter taste, and its name, along with lychee and grape, comes from the similarity of its fruit, stems, and leaves. Although it is bitter itself, it does not impart its bitterness to other dishes when cooked with them, earning it the name "gentleman's vegetable." Bitter melon is native to Indonesia, was introduced to China in the early Ming Dynasty, and is now cultivated throughout the country, especially in the provinces south of the Yangtze River.
The "Compendium of Materia Medica" states: Bitter melon can "eliminate pathogenic heat, relieve fatigue, and clear the mind and brighten the eyes." "Dian Nan Ben Cao" says: Bitter melon can "purge the excessive fire from the six meridians, treat malignant sores and detoxify, or alleviate the unbearable pain of sesame-sized pustules all over the body." "Quan Zhou Ben Cao" states: Bitter melon can "primarily treat vexing heat, thirst, polydipsia, wind-heat red eyes, summer heat dysentery, and diarrhea."
In addition to momordicoside, bitter melon also contains glutamic acid, alanine, β-alanine, phenylalanine, α-aminobutyric acid, citrulline, galacturonic acid, pectin, minerals, and vitamins. In particular, the rich vitamin B1 in bitter melon has the effect of preventing and treating beriberi and maintaining heart function. Modern scientific research has discovered that bitter melon contains a substance similar to insulin, which has a significant effect in lowering blood sugar.
How can bitter melon be prepared for eating?
Bitter melon is also a common folk medicine. Common folk remedies include: using 200 grams of fresh bitter melon, deseeded and cubed, with 100 grams of lean pork sliced, adding an appropriate amount of water to make a soup, seasoned with a little salt. Drink the soup and eat the bitter melon and lean pork for several consecutive days to treat summer heat colds, summer boils, excessive prickly heat, conjunctivitis, etc.; slicing fresh bitter melon, deseeding it, and decocting or infusing it with tea, or cutting fresh bitter melon in the middle, deseeding it, filling it with tea, rejoining it, and hanging it in a ventilated place to dry. Each time, take 10-15 grams to decoct or steep in boiling water as a tea to prevent and treat summer heat fever.
In addition to bitter melon, other common bitter foods include bitter bamboo shoots, lettuce, celery, fennel, etc., as well as bitter beverages like tea, coffee, and cocoa. However, bitter foods should not be consumed excessively, as excessive bitterness can easily cause discomfort such as nausea and vomiting. People with stomach ailments, a weak spleen, or severe constipation should use them with caution.