According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, Job's tears can strengthen bones and muscles, invigorate the spleen and stomach, reduce edema, alleviate rheumatism, and clear lung heat. Job's tears is an excellent tonic for women. The abundant Vitamin B1 it contains can make the skin smooth and fair, and it also plays a role in preventing uterine cancer.
Most people have the habit of eating fruit after a meal. Nutrition experts believe that eating fruit after a meal is actually a dietary misconception. This habit is actually detrimental to health and can easily lead to weight gain and obesity.
The importance of consuming grains for human health is particularly emphasized. As the base of the dietary pyramid, whole grains are the best staple food and the cheapest source of energy. Adults who consume 250~400 grams of grains daily can help prevent the occurrence of related chronic diseases. For a variety of whole grains, each has its own optimal way of being eaten to fully utilize their nutritional benefits.
When we eat at a restaurant, we occasionally come across a rice porridge that tastes different from the white congee we make at home. Although it's also made from rice, its texture and aroma are better than that of white congee. This is brown rice porridge. The biggest characteristic of brown rice is that it contains the germ, which is rich in vitamins and fiber. Regular consumption can help reduce fat and cholesterol. Brown rice is also high in zinc, which can improve rough skin.
Brown rice is literally "coarse rice," with most grains still covered in the rice husk. Brown rice can be bought in ordinary supermarkets. The best brown rice is one that is intact in appearance, with a yellowish-brown or light brown color and a fragrant aroma. Before making brown rice porridge, you should first soak the brown rice for about 30 minutes, then cook it as you would normal rice porridge. Brown rice porridge can stimulate the secretion of gastric juice, aiding digestion and nutrient absorption. However, diabetics should not drink this brown rice porridge directly. In most cases, drinking plain porridge can cause a sudden spike in blood sugar.
Sorghum is suitable for making snacks.
"Red Sorghum" once gave a generation of people a special feeling for the highlands, but perhaps you would never have thought that such a rustic food is actually best eaten as a snack.
Sorghum rice seems a bit coarse when used to make porridge or rice, but when ground into flour to make snacks, it becomes much more delicate and nutritious. Sorghum rice is best for making a snack called sorghum cake. This is made by grinding sorghum rice into flour, then adding baking powder, sugar, eggs, and a moderate amount of water to adjust to a sticky consistency. Knead the mixture into a dough, flatten it, steam it, then briefly deep-fry it, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Sorghum cake can be difficult to digest for people with slightly weaker gastrointestinal function. You can try making sorghum soup instead. For example, adding a little sorghum when making tremella soup or corn soup can add a richer texture to an already nutritious broth.
Job's tears is most nourishing when used in soups.
Job's tears looks more like a kernel than a grain, so it is also called Job's kernel in many places. More people now like to eat Job's tears because its unique growing environment makes it less contaminated. It prefers to grow in damp, shady areas, and in many places, it is grown in the mountains or along small rivers.
The plump and full Job's tears is fresh and sticky, and many people like to eat it, but few know that Job's tears has many other health benefits. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, Job's tears can strengthen bones and muscles, invigorate the spleen and stomach, reduce edema, alleviate rheumatism, and clear lung heat. Job's tears is an excellent tonic for women. The abundant Vitamin B1 it contains can make the skin smooth and fair, and it also plays a role in preventing uterine cancer.
Job's tears has a slightly cold nature, so it is not suitable for making porridge or eating alone. It is very suitable to cook it in soups with foods that have a warming effect. You can stew it with chicken legs and tomatoes. This is not only easy to digest but also has a very good nourishing effect. Job's tears is not easy to digest, so try not to eat too much of it. Especially for the elderly, children, and those with a cold stomach or gastritis, it is important to eat Job's tears in moderation and not overindulge.
Buckwheat noodles are good for growing bodies.
Buckwheat flour is grayish-black, but don't let its unremarkable appearance fool you; its nutritional value is very high. Buckwheat has various ways of being eaten, but the most common method is to make noodles from it. The protein in buckwheat is higher than in rice and flour. Especially for children in their growth period, buckwheat noodles are more suitable. The lysine and arginine in them will surprise parents with their children's growth rate and intelligence. However, when parents make buckwheat noodles for their children, there are some points to note.
The best accompaniment for buckwheat noodles is to mix them with minced meat and cucumber in a cold salad. Buckwheat noodles are cool in nature and can easily harm the stomach, so they must be soaked for a long time until soft to achieve a better texture and be easier to digest. Cucumber makes the buckwheat noodles fresher and less greasy, and minced lamb is the best choice. Lamb is warming and nourishing to the stomach, making it a great match for buckwheat.
The most suitable people to eat buckwheat are the elderly and children. Occasionally eating buckwheat noodles, the elderly can use it to reduce blood lipids and lower blood pressure. Children in their growth period especially need buckwheat. Although buckwheat noodles are delicious, they are not suitable for breakfast or dinner as they can easily damage the stomach or be difficult to digest. Each serving should not be too much; moderation is the best principle.
Glutinous rice is most suitable for making fermented sweet rice.
Glutinous rice can be used to make porridge or tangyuan (glutinous rice balls), but the healthiest and most wonderful way to prepare it is to make it into fermented sweet rice (jiuniang). Glutinous rice can aid digestion and also has a calming effect, relieving fatigue and dizziness. These effects of glutinous rice are even more pronounced after it is made into fermented sweet rice, and it is also more convenient to eat, with less restriction on the amount.
We can mix glutinous rice, Job's tears, coarse powder of lotus seeds and Chinese yam, Job's tears, coarse powder of Poria, and an appropriate amount of fermented rice starter. Place the mixed ingredients in an enamel basin, add an appropriate amount of water, and steam for 1 hour in a steamer. Take it out and let it cool, then mix in the fermented rice starter. Place the basin in an environment of about 25°C for about 36~48 hours, and the ingredients will ferment into sweet fermented rice. If you like it sweet, you can add some rock sugar. Fermented sweet rice can be consumed at noon and at night. It not only aids digestion but also calms the mind and makes the stomach feel very comfortable.
In addition, Job's tears strengthens the spleen and promotes urination to reduce dampness; lotus seeds and Chinese yam nourish the spleen and benefit the kidneys; and Poria tonifies Qi. The combination of these various ingredients makes a nourishing and health-boosting blend. The resulting fermented sweet rice is truly the most nutritious and healthy combination.
Oatmeal eight-treasure rice is good for weight loss.
Oatmeal is usually eaten soaked in milk, but occasionally making eight-treasure rice with oatmeal can have a better effect on beautifying the skin and delaying aging. Oatmeal contains various enzymes that can not only inhibit the formation of age spots but also delay the aging of human cells, making it the best health food for middle-aged and elderly patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
More importantly, the rich soluble fiber in oatmeal can promote the excretion of bile acids, lower cholesterol levels in the blood, and reduce the intake of high-fat foods. Because soluble fiber absorbs a lot of water, it creates a strong feeling of fullness. Regular consumption has a particularly good effect on weight loss.
Oatmeal eight-treasure rice is made by soaking oatmeal, black glutinous rice, long glutinous rice, brown rice, white rice, soybeans, black beans, lotus seeds, Job's tears, and red beans in water for an hour, then cooking them until done. Eight-treasure rice has more abundant dietary fiber and carbohydrates and is suitable to be eaten as a staple food. Nutrition experts recently stated at the first China Western Nutrition and Health, Sub-health Academic Forum in Chongqing that one of the main problems affecting the health of Chinese residents is excessive calorie intake. Eating fruit after a meal often involves adding food on top of being full or overfull, and the calories from this are almost entirely stored.
Nutritionists suggest that based on the analysis of fruit's own components and the body's digestion and absorption characteristics, it is best for adults to eat fruit before each meal (except for fruits like persimmons that are not suitable to be eaten before a meal). Children are in a period of growth, and some women belong to the "spleen and stomach deficiency cold" constitution in Traditional Chinese Medicine and are not suitable for or do not adapt to eating fruit before a meal. These groups can have a fruit snack between meals instead of immediately after a meal.