Just after the "Beginning of Spring" solar term, during the days of alternating warmth and cold, radish is the首选 (first choice) for the folk tradition of "biting the spring." Experts say that radish is sweet, pungent, and spicy, and consuming it as a nutritional supplement in late winter and early spring has a sound medical basis for health preservation—
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) reminder: Radish dispels Qi. Do not eat radish after taking supplements such as Ginseng, American Ginseng, raw and prepared Rehmannia root, or Fo-ti, as it will affect the efficacy of the medicine.
Eating radish in early spring has the benefits of moistening the lungs, stopping coughs, and resolving phlegm.
Radish,
this affordable and delicious daikon radish, can be said to be the most common and very popular folk vegetable—"When radishes are on the market, doctors can go out of business," "Eat radish in winter and ginger in summer, and you won't need a doctor to write prescriptions," "Radishes are crisp and crunchy, eating them can help you live to a hundred years old"... These proverbs are all familiar to everyone. Although a bit exaggerated, they show the status of radish in the hearts of the people.
The ancients also said, "He who can eat vegetable roots can accomplish anything," and the white radish is such an ordinary yet deeply meaningful root vegetable. It can be eaten raw, stir-fried, stewed with meat, pickled, dried, or used as a filling. It can even be treated as a fruit. No matter how it is served, it is a beloved household item with rich and balanced nutrition; it can also be used in medicinal cuisine, boiled, decocted into a soup, pounded into a juice for drinking, or applied topically to affected areas, which is why the white radish is also called "little ginseng."
Right now, just after the "Beginning of Spring" solar term, radish is the首选 (first choice) for the folk tradition of "biting the spring." Experts say that radish is sweet, pungent, and spicy, and consuming it in late winter and early spring has a sound medical basis for health preservation. Regular consumption of radish can help prevent cancer and promote calcium absorption.
According to nutritionists, white radish contains large amounts of glucose, fructose, sucrose, multiple vitamins, minerals, double-stranded ribonucleic acid, and dietary fiber:
The vitamin C content is 8-10 times higher than that of pears and apples. Vitamin C helps eliminate waste from the body, promotes metabolism, can prevent skin aging, stop the formation of dark spots, and keep the skin fair and tender.
It contains various trace elements that can induce the human body to produce interferon—chewing 100 grams of raw radish daily can produce interferon to resist disease—it can enhance the body's immunity and inhibit the growth of cancer cells. Recent studies have also shown that the fiber lignin in radish has a strong anti-cancer effect, which is more effective when eaten raw.
The pungent component in radish, mustard oil, has the effect of promoting better metabolism of fatty substances, which can prevent fat from accumulating under the skin. It also contains choline and enzymes; enzymes can absorb starch in food and can also resolve indigestion in the stomach, providing a good digestive effect and is very beneficial for weight loss. Other studies have shown that radish can regularly increase the tension and enhance the peristalsis of the intestines, shortening the time food stays in the digestive tract, which is beneficial for food metabolism and waste excretion, achieving the effect of dieting without actually dieting.
The B vitamins and minerals such as potassium and magnesium in radish can promote gastrointestinal motility and help eliminate waste from the body.
Therefore, eating radish can lower blood lipids, soften blood vessels, stabilize blood pressure, and prevent diseases such as coronary heart disease, arteriosclerosis, and gallstones. Moreover, radish does not contain oxalic acid, so it not only does not bind with calcium in food but also promotes calcium absorption.
Folk wisdom holds that "the head of the radish is spicy, the tail is 'dry' (heaty), and the middle section is just right." Experts also remind that radishes should be eaten in sections, as the nutritional content varies: The top of the radish contains the most vitamin C and is best suited for quick-frying and soups; the middle section has a higher sugar content and can be shredded for cold salads; the tail is pungent and contains amylase and mustard oil, making it suitable for pickling and mixing... When a family is small and a large radish cannot be finished at once, it can be cut lengthwise in half and eaten that way. This way, the head, middle, and tail are all in the dish, ensuring a balanced nutritional intake. Eating radish at night can clear heat, aid digestion, and resolve phlegm.
White radish is sweet in taste and pungent and cool in nature, and it is also a Chinese medicinal herb that enters the spleen and stomach meridians. TCM believes that radish has the functions of resolving food stagnation, transforming phlegm and stopping asthma, clearing heat and regulating Qi, detoxifying and relieving alcohol toxicity, and reducing swelling and dispersing stasis. Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" lists it as a good medicine for its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects, reducing phlegm and eliminating fat, aiding digestion and removing stagnation, and regulating Qi and benefiting the spleen. The "Materia Medica for Food Therapy" states that radish "benefits the five organs, makes the body light, and makes the skin fair, white, and fine." Thus, radish also has beauty-enhancing effects, making the skin delicate.
At the same time, radish is also very effective in treating bronchitis, sore throat, dry nose, gastritis, coughs due to cold wind, canker sores, and itchy ears. There are folk remedies for this:
Take 100 ml of radish juice (made from fresh radish), take it with warm water, 2-3 times a day, to treat tonsillitis;
Decocting radish, ginger, honey, and water can treat coughs and asthma;
After Frost's Descent, wash the white radish, pound it to extract the juice, stew it, add an appropriate amount of honey, and take it warm. 50 ml each time, twice a day, has the effect of stopping coughs and resolving phlegm;
Cut the radish into thin slices with the skin on, place them in a bowl, add 2-3 spoons of maltose on top, and leave it overnight to make radish sugar water. Take it frequently to relieve coughs and phlegm;
Taking radish juice with lotus root juice can treat hematemesis and hematochezia (bloody stools)…
When some people catch a cold and experience symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections such as a dry throat, sore throat, persistent cough, and difficulty expectorating phlegm, eating more crisp and delicious radish at this time not only whets the appetite and aids digestion but also nourishes the throat, transforms phlegm, and regulates Qi, effectively preventing and reducing cold symptoms.
There is also a folk saying, "Radish at bedtime, ginger at rising," which means that eating a little ginger in the morning and a little radish before going to bed is beneficial to health. TCM calls this determined by the nature of the food. Ginger is pungent and warm in nature. In the early morning, the Qi in the stomach needs to rise and flourish. Eating some ginger can strengthen the spleen and warm the stomach, helping the Yang Qi to rise. After a busy day, when night falls, the body's Yang Qi converges and Yin Qi flourishes. Eating too much ginger at this time would go against the laws of nature. Radish, on the other hand, is cool, reduces fire and heat, and promotes the descent of Qi and aids digestion. It plays a role in moistening the throat, aiding digestion, clearing deficiency dryness, and is beneficial for the body's rest.
Radish also has a good effect on healing injuries, mainly because of its diuretic function, which can be used to reduce swelling; the antibacterial mustard ingredient in it can also activate muscles and bones, playing an analgesic role:
During winter and spring, some people may experience muscle or joint pain. At this time, you can directly peel the radish skin and use it as a compress on the affected area; or you can put the radish skin in a gauze bag for a hot compress. If you have a toothache from "internal heat," you can place this radish skin hot compress bag on the surface of the cheek, or you can use a cotton ball dipped in a little white radish juice and place it on the gums of the bad tooth…
In addition, if you encounter someone with gas poisoning in cold weather, you can continuously feed them white radish juice to detoxify them.
Radish Health Consumption Tips
It is worth mentioning that many people are used to peeling radishes when eating them, but 98% of the calcium in radish is in the skin, so it is best to eat radishes with the skin on.
Eating raw white radish can maintain the highest nutritional and medicinal value, but experts remind that when using radish medicinally, it is best not to eat anything else within half an hour after consumption to prevent its active ingredients from being diluted.
Moreover, for eating raw radish, those with more juice and less spiciness are better. It is best to choose radishes that are green, juicy, mildly spicy, and sweet. For those who are afraid of the spiciness, you can peel the radish, shred or slice it and dip it in sugar, or make it into a vinegar-dipped radish. For those who don't usually like cold-natured foods, it is better to cook radishes.
Experts also remind that radish is a cool-natured vegetable. People with weak Yin constitution, a cold-natured constitution, a weak spleen and stomach, simple goiter, threatened abortion, uterine prolapse, etc., should eat less radish; moreover, radish produces a lot of gas after consumption, which is not good for ulcers, so patients with such diseases should also eat less radish. For elderly people whose bodies are relatively weak, excessive consumption of radish may cause harm to the body.
Some people like to cut white radishes and carrots into cubes or shreds to make a red-and-white mixed dish, which is not only beautiful to look at but also crisp to eat. However, the white radish contains an extremely high amount of vitamin C, which is beneficial to human health. If mixed with carrots, an ascorbic acid-decomposing enzyme in carrots will destroy the vitamin C completely. TCM also believes that white radish is primarily purgative, while carrot is tonifying, so it is best not to eat them at the same time. However, experts explain that when carrots are cooked with vegetables high in vitamin C, adding some vinegar can rapidly weaken the effect of the ascorbic acid. Therefore, when cooking white radish and carrots together, adding vinegar can help with vitamin C absorption. But at the same time, vinegar will also destroy carotene, reducing the amount of vitamin A absorbed by the body. So, how to choose between the nutritional benefits depends on your family's specific situation. If you want to stew them together with meat, you can let the carrots cook for 20 minutes longer than the white radish, which can also reduce their interaction.
Recently, radishes and fruits such as oranges, persimmons, pears, apples, and grapes are almost on the market at the same time, so it is quite likely that radish dishes will meet these fruits in the home. At this time, you need to pay attention—after radish is consumed by the human body, it can quickly produce a substance called thiocyanate, which is quickly metabolized in the body into thiocyanic acid, which has an inhibitory effect on the thyroid. The flavonoids in oranges are converted into p-hydroxybenzoic acid and ferulic acid in the intestines, and fruits like persimmons, pears, apples, and grapes contain plant pigments, which will also break down into an acidic substance in the intestines... They can enhance the inhibitory effect of thiocyanic acid on the thyroid, thus inducing or causing goiter. Therefore, after eating radish, do not eat large amounts of these fruits in a short period.
In addition, radish should not be eaten with fungus (mushrooms), as it is easy to cause dermatitis.
TCM also reminds that radish dispels Qi. In winter, after taking supplements such as Ginseng, American Ginseng, raw and prepared Rehmannia root, or Fo-ti, be careful not to eat radish at the same time, otherwise it will affect the medicinal effect and the tonic effect will not be achieved.
Radish Dishes Don't Cause "Heatiness"
In daily life, we often eat dishes with radish as the main or auxiliary ingredient. Nowadays, people are paying more and more attention to nutrition, and when cooking, they pay attention to using radish for diet therapy. In winter, to resist the cold, people tend to eat more meat, which can easily produce phlegm and cause "heatiness." At this time, pairing it with a little radish, or making some dishes with radish as an ingredient, will not only not cause "heatiness" but will also provide a good nutritional and tonic effect.
※ White Radish and Lamb Stew: One large white radish, 500 grams of lamb shank, a little ginger and salt. Cut the white radish into pieces, slice the ginger into three pieces, and cut the lamb shank into chunks. Add an appropriate amount of water to the pot, bring to a boil over high heat, add all the ingredients above, then turn to medium heat and continue to stew for about 2 hours. Add salt to taste and serve. It has the effects of tonifying the middle and Qi, strengthening the spleen, and aiding digestion. It can also prevent dry, chapped skin and chilblains.
※ Radish Cakes: 250 grams of white radish, 100 grams of lean pork, appropriate amounts of ginger, green onion, salt, vegetable oil, and 250 grams of flour. Stir-fry the radish shreds with vegetable oil until half-cooked, then mix with the pork shreds and other seasonings to make the filling. Add the filling to the dough to make cakes and pan-fry until cooked. It is mainly used for treating dizziness and headache due to phlegm-dampness obstructing the middle Jiao, as well as vomiting and cough.
※ Cabbage and Radish Soup: 500 grams of cabbage heart, chopped into small pieces, 120 grams of white radish, sliced thinly. Add 800 ml of water, cook until it reduces to 400 ml, and add an appropriate amount of brown sugar. Take 200 ml each time, twice a day. Taking it for 3-4 consecutive days can treat colds.
※ Steamed Radish with Honey: 1 fresh radish, 60 grams of honey. Wash the radish, peel it, and hollow out the center. Fill it with honey, place it in a bowl, and steam it over water until cooked. It has the effects of moistening the lungs, stopping coughs, and resolving phlegm. It is suitable for chronic bronchitis, cough, and a dry throat with blood in the sputum associated with tuberculosis.
※ Five-Juice Drink: 60 ml of sugarcane juice, 30 ml of water chestnut juice, 30 ml each of radish juice and pear juice, and 60 ml of watermelon juice. Steam them together over water, let cool, and drink as tea. 1-2 servings daily. It can assist in the treatment of measles.
※ Braised White Radish with Cuttlefish: Cut the white radish into diamond-shaped pieces, and cut red and green chili peppers into chunks. Blanch the cuttlefish in boiling water and set aside. Add a little base oil to the wok, add chopped green onion and ginger first, then add all the ingredients and an appropriate amount of broth, and cook for 3 minutes. Thicken with starch and season to taste.
※ Tremella and Radish "Double Silver" Soup: The main ingredients are tremella (silver ear), white radish, and duck soup. Shred the radish, separate the tremella into small pieces, and simmer them gently in a light duck broth. Be careful not to cook for too long. White radish can clear heat and resolve phlegm, tremella can tonify the lung Qi, and duck soup is warm in nature. The combination of the three is beneficial for people with a history of "bronchitis" and those who have a dry mouth and throat and are prone to "heatiness."
※ Pork Rib and Radish Soup: Cut 500 grams of white radish into irregular chunks and boil in water, then discard the water. Add 500 grams of pork ribs (soft ribs) to the pot, add cooking wine and salt, and cook until tender. The soup is light and delicious, and can nourish the spleen and stomach, resolve phlegm stagnation, and promote the absorption of protein and calcium.
※ Braised Radish: Cut the white radish into irregular chunks and boil in water, then discard the water in the pot (this can remove the spicy taste of the radish). Stir-fry the boiled radish in a little oil, add soy sauce and salt, add a little water and cook until done, then add a little sugar. This dish is delicious, tender, and has the effect of harmonizing the middle, aiding digestion, and resolving phlegm.
※ Radish Congee: 2 radishes, 150 grams of japonica rice. Cook into a congee with water as usual. Take once daily. It has a certain auxiliary effect in treating diabetes.
※ Radish Porridge: 2 radishes, 150 grams of japonica rice. Cook into a porridge with water as usual. Take once daily. It has a certain auxiliary effect in treating diabetes.