Be Cautious with Hot Pot Soup: Avoid 4 Major Traps When Enjoying the Deliciousness
As autumn and winter arrive, people's enthusiasm for "hot pot" begins to grow. However, within this delicious dish lie numerous traps. A moment of carelessness can lead to falling into them and suffering their consequences.
Trap 1: Numbing, Spicy, and Scalding
There's a saying about hot pot: "One scald is worth three fresh flavors," as if the taste is greatly diminished without being piping hot. However, He Fengyi, a dietitian from the Clinical Nutrition Department of Sun Yat-sen University Memorial Hospital, explains that the oral cavity, esophagus, and stomach lining can generally only tolerate temperatures between 50°C and 60°C, while the concentrated broth of a hot pot can reach up to 120°C. Eating food as soon as it's cooked in the pot can easily scald the oral, esophageal, and stomach linings. Coupled with the stimulation of numbing and spicy flavors, it can easily cause or induce various inflammations and ulcers in the digestive organs.
Expert Reminder: Sacrifice the Freshness, Avoid the Scald
It's best to take food from the pot and let it cool slightly in a small dish before eating. For those who already have digestive tract diseases, it's advisable to choose a light hot pot with less oil and less numbing and spicy flavor.
Trap 2: Undercooked
The particularly fresh and tender taste of undercooked food is one of the reasons people love hot pot. However, if you solely pursue this tenderness and eat the food before it's fully cooked, it not only affects the digestion and absorption of nutrients but may also cause gastrointestinal infections due to bacteria and parasites that haven't been killed.
Expert Reminder: Don't Eat Semi-Cooked Food
It's better to sacrifice some texture and ensure that meat is thoroughly cooked before eating. Of course, if food is boiled in the hot pot for too long, it can also lead to the destruction of nutrients. This is especially true for vegetables, as boiling them for extended periods causes a significant loss of vitamins. Generally, they can be eaten once they become tender.
Trap 3: "Nutritious" Soup
Many believe that hot pot soup汇集了 (collects) the essence of various foods, making it delicious and nutritious. The reality is quite the opposite. He Fengyi told reporters from Express News that in hot pot soup that has been repeatedly boiled, most beneficial components like vitamins have been destroyed, while harmful components such as saturated fat, sodium, and purines are particularly abundant. These ingredients are all contributing factors to many chronic diseases like obesity and diabetes. It's not uncommon in clinical practice to see patients with acute gout attacks triggered by eating hot pot. This is because hot pot food is mostly meat, and the breakdown of protein produces a large amount of purines. Excessive purine intake is precisely the cause of acute gout attacks. Drinking beer at the same time is like adding fuel to the fire, as beer is also high in purines.
Expert Reminder: Drink Less of the Long-Boiled Hot Pot Soup
When a hot pot soup has been simmering for more than 60 minutes, the nitrite content in the broth rises rapidly. If you want to taste the umami of the hot pot soup, you should drink it shortly after the pot starts boiling. Do not wait until the hot pot has been cooking for a long time, and it's best to drink it in moderation. Patients with a history of hyperuricemia and gout should avoid hot pot or focus on low-purine foods such as fruits and vegetables, while abstaining from alcohol.
Trap 4: "The Protracted War"
Eating hot pot for several hours, mainly with high-fat meats, forces the gastrointestinal tract to continuously secrete digestive juices. Over a long period, this can lead to digestive dysfunction and may also result in excessive intake of protein and fat, triggering various "rich man's diseases."
Expert Reminder: Keep it Within 2 Hours
Don't eat hot pot more than once a week, as eating too much can easily lead to "internal heat" (a concept in Traditional Chinese Medicine). Moreover, it's not advisable to engage in a "protracted war" when eating; it's best to keep the session within 2 hours. Additionally, people eating hot pot often forget about staple foods and vegetables after eating meat, which can lead to an unbalanced nutritional structure. Therefore, while enjoying the delicious food, don't forget to pair it with staple foods, vegetables, meat, and legumes. If you're going to eat, eat a "healthy hot pot."
How to Eat Hot Pot "To Prevent Internal Heat" and Still Enjoy It
Worried about getting "internal heat" from eating hot pot? Is there a way to prevent it while still enjoying the deliciousness? Nutrition experts suggest that when choosing ingredients for the hot pot, whether it's meat or vegetables, the most important thing is freshness. In addition to meats like fatty beef, lamb, dog meat, and squid, you can add some "cooling" vegetables like winter melon, bok choy, watercress, and lotus root. Those who enjoy a bitter taste can also add some bitter melon. Adding some lotus seeds with their cores intact to the broth not only helps in nutritional balance but also has the effect of "clearing the heart and reducing fire." Adding tofu can not only supplement the intake of various trace elements but also leverage the gypsum in tofu to "clear heat, reduce fire, relieve vexation, and quench thirst."
However, since hot pot involves eating a variety of foods at once, proper pairing is essential to ensure health. If you add tofu to the broth, do not add spinach to prevent kidney stones. After eating radish, avoid eating木耳 (wood ear mushrooms) to prevent dermatitis and other issues.