According to a report in Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao, many people eat large amounts of mung bean soup and drink herbal tea when the weather is hot. For the sake of their health, one should still be cautious when drinking herbal tea and consult a doctor when necessary.
Many people eat large amounts of mung bean soup and drink herbal tea when the weather is hot.
The general effects of herbal tea are to clear heat and detoxify, remove dampness and promote the production of body fluids, reduce internal heat, and improve eyesight.
However, many people only know one aspect of herbal tea and not the other. There are some misconceptions about the understanding of herbal tea. Dr. Guo Meiling analyzes the reasons for this. Misconception 1: Drink herbal tea regardless of body constitution?
When the weather is hot and the heat is unbearable, during abnormal climate, "virtual fire" is more likely to rise, which also means it's easier to get "internal heat". Various herbal teas are then favored by people. The general effects of herbal tea are to clear heat and detoxify, remove dampness and promote the production of body fluids, reduce internal heat, and improve eyesight. However, many people only know one aspect of herbal tea and not the other; there are some misconceptions about the understanding of herbal tea.
Dr. Guo Meiling, a Chinese medicine practitioner, said that although herbal tea can reduce "internal heat", it should not be drunk casually. The consumption of herbal tea should still be based on an individual's different body constitution. Many people drink herbal tea without considering its effects, which can lead to counterproductive results; especially for those with poor health and a weak spleen and stomach, they should be even more cautious when drinking it.
Dr. Guo Meiling pointed out that the herbal teas commonly seen on the market generally have two effects, which are clearing heat and removing dampness, or removing damp-heat. "Dampness-removing" herbal tea focuses on removing dampness while reducing heat, while "heat-clearing and detoxifying tea" focuses solely on reducing heat. Therefore, when the weather is extremely humid, herbal teas that emphasize dampness removal are more suitable.
If one feels heavy-bodied, has a bloated abdomen, sticky mouth, and loose stools, it belongs to the "damp-heat" syndrome. Dr. Guo said that Singaporeans often lean towards reducing heat when drinking herbal tea, paying less attention to removing dampness. Therefore, even if the body feels "damp-heat", drinking only heat-reducing tea and forgetting to also drink some herbal tea with dampness-removing effects is a mistake.
Dr. Guo Meiling said that herbal tea should not be too cold. In general, one can choose Five Flower Tea, Job's tears water, Prunella, or Houttuynia cordata, which are all good choices. She said that it is also very good to cook more homemade soups regularly, such as old cucumber soup or loofah soup.
Also, Dr. Guo Meiling said that the five-color bean sweet soup also has a very good therapeutic effect. She said that the five-color beans are mung beans, red beans, hyacinth beans, black beans, and soybeans. After cooking them, rock sugar or slab sugar is added to make a sweet soup, which has the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying and is also beneficial to the skin. The general effects of herbal tea are to clear heat and detoxify, remove dampness and promote the production of body fluids, reduce internal heat, and improve eyesight. However, many people only know one aspect of herbal tea and not the other. Misconception 2: Drinking mung bean soup as water?
When it's hot, many people also like to drink mung bean soup. Because traditional medicine believes that mung bean is cool in nature and sweet in taste, it has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, relieving summer heat and quenching thirst. Some people, in their eagerness to reduce internal heat, even drink mung bean soup as water. Dr. Guo Meiling said: Although there are no obvious contraindications to drinking mung bean soup, people with a weak body constitution should not drink too much of it. Most importantly, do not drink it as a beverage.
People with a cold constitution, such as those with symptoms of cold limbs, abdominal bloating, and loose stools, are not suitable for drinking it too frequently, as eating mung beans can worsen the symptoms. Also, avoid making the mung bean soup too cold. It is not necessary to drink mung bean soup; one can choose another way to eat it, which is to eat mung bean congee. The method is to wash the rice and mung beans separately, and cook them together in a pot with water to make congee. At the same time, if you want to cook sweet water with mung beans alone, you must cook the mung beans until they are soft to avoid it being too cold, because mung beans are the most cooling when they are just starting to split open during cooking. Misconception 3: Is chrysanthemum tea suitable for everyone?
Traditional medicine believes that chrysanthemum tea is sweet in taste and cold in nature, with the effects of dispersing wind-heat, calming the liver, and improving eyesight. Therefore, many people drink chrysanthemum tea with great confidence, and many people believe it is suitable for everyone, but this is not the case. However, since chrysanthemum is ultimately cool in nature, people with a weak body constitution or a cold stomach should not drink too much of it. Dr. Guo Meiling suggests that drinking chrysanthemum tea should also be limited, and it is best not to steep or boil more than 100 grams of chrysanthemum per day.