A recent statistical survey by American scholars found that among smokers with chronic bronchitis, 31.7% never drink milk, while the proportion of smokers with bronchitis who drink milk daily is below 20%. Researchers believe this is because the large amount of vitamin A in milk can protect the trachea and bronchial walls, reducing the chance of inflammation.
At the same time, researchers have also discovered new disease-preventing effects of the following foods.
1. Vitamin A and Sensorineural Deafness
Experiments at the Einstein University in the United States have shown that vitamin A has a special function of promoting the regeneration of inner ear nerve cells—after experimental animals were given vitamin A, auditory nerve cells regenerated after 3 days, and hearing significantly improved after 7 days.
Experts therefore advise patients with sensorineural deafness to often eat foods rich in vitamin A, such as river snails, oysters, chicken liver, and carrots.
2. Vitamin B6 and Diabetes
Reports from France, Italy, and Japan have shown that for diabetic patients with vitamin B6 levels below normal, supplying 100 mg of vitamin B6 daily can alleviate or eliminate symptoms such as numbness and pain in the limbs after 6 weeks.
Eating more foods rich in vitamin B6, such as brown rice, flour, eggs, cabbage, and dry yeast, is also effective in preventing and treating diabetes.
3. Pumpkin Seeds and Prostate Disease
A recent paper published by American researchers pointed out that eating a handful of pumpkin seeds (about 50 grams) daily can prevent and treat prostate enlargement, bring second-stage symptoms back to the initial stage, and significantly improve third-stage conditions.
Researchers stated that this is because the active ingredients in pumpkin seeds can eliminate initial swelling of the prostate and also have a preventive effect against prostate cancer.
4. Starchy Foods and Colon Cancer
A study by Cambridge University in the United Kingdom showed that the incidence of colon cancer in Australians is 4 times that of Chinese people, one of the main reasons being that the former consumes less starch (less than 100 grams per day) while the latter consumes more (more than 370 grams per day). Experts pointed out that butyrate in starch-rich foods like bananas, potatoes, and peas can directly inhibit the reproduction of大肠 bacteria and is a long-term suppressant of cancer cell growth.
5. Vegetables and Lung Cancer
A scientific group in Hawaii compared the diets of 332 lung cancer patients and 865 healthy residents and found that people with a higher vegetable intake in their diet are less likely to develop lung cancer. Furthermore, this protective effect of vegetables against lung cancer does not come from a specific vegetable or known vegetable components (such as fiber or vitamins), but from the combined effect of all kinds of vegetables.
6. Spinach and Retinal Degeneration
A recent study by Harvard University showed that eating spinach 2 to 4 times a week can reduce the risk of retinal degeneration. It is claimed that the key to spinach's vision-protecting effect is carotene; this compound, found in green leafy vegetables, can prevent damage to the retina from sunlight; and retinal degeneration is the main cause of vision loss in people over 65.
7. Drunkenness and Tomatoes
Getting drunk is indeed troublesome, and the violent vomiting alone is enough to make one feel miserable. Vomiting after being drunk is not only undignified but also causes a significant loss of elements like potassium, sodium, and calcium in the body. After vomiting from drunkenness, it is essential to promptly replenish potassium, calcium, sodium, and other components.
The simplest and most convenient way is to drink some tomato juice, because the rich potassium, calcium, and sodium in tomato juice perfectly replenish the lost elements in the body.
8. Hair Loss and Steak
If someone said that eating steak can cure baldness, most people would be shocked. But scientific research has found that steak indeed has this effect. If you don't want to become "smartly bald" at a young age, be sure to eat some lean beef with every meal. Scientific research has shown that even if people who often eat beef cannot completely solve the problem of hair loss, they can at least delay its arrival.
9. Male Infertility and Whole Grains
Folic acid is a vitamin that women must supplement before becoming a mother because it is beneficial to the health of the baby's nervous system.
Men also need to supplement folic acid, because the latest survey results show that low sperm count in men is also related to a lack of folic acid in the body, as folic acid helps in DNA synthesis. What is unexpected is that the most direct way to supplement folic acid is to eat more coarse grains. The folic acid content in whole grains is very high. Therefore, for couples who want to become parents, supplementing folic acid is a matter for both husband and wife. (Zhu Benhao)