The Allure of Hot Pot: Who Should Avoid It in Winter?
Sichuan-style Hot Pot: Individuals with chronic pharyngitis, stomatitis, stomach diseases, ulcers, skin diseases, hemorrhoids, anal fissures, frequent nosebleeds, gum bleeding, those with a "heat constitution," and pregnant women should avoid it.
Seafood Hot Pot: Patients with diabetes, high blood pressure, high blood lipids, gout, and those allergic to seafood should avoid it.
How to Eat Hot Pot Healthily?
First, the hot pot must be thoroughly cleaned before use. Especially for copper hot pots, the copper rust must be completely removed to prevent copper poisoning, which mainly manifests as symptoms like nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and rapid breathing.
Second, food must be thoroughly cooked in the boiling broth. When eating hot pot, raw meat, raw fish, and raw vegetables are often swished in the broth as you eat. These foods can easily be contaminated by pathogenic microorganisms and parasite eggs. Therefore, they must be cooked thoroughly in the boiling broth to achieve a "sterilizing and disinfecting" effect, thereby preventing or reducing the occurrence of digestive tract inflammation and intestinal parasitic diseases.
Third, the temperature of the food should not be too hot. Food just taken from the hot pot should be allowed to cool slightly before eating to avoid scalding the oral and esophageal mucosa, which can lead to ulcers in the mouth and esophagus, or damage to the gums and teeth, causing allergic toothaches.
Fourth, the duration of the hot pot meal should not be too long. Sitting for a long time to eat hot pot causes continuous secretion of digestive juices like gastric acid, bile, and pancreatic fluid. Without normal rest for the glands, this can easily lead to gastrointestinal dysfunction, causing abdominal pain and diarrhea.
The hot pot broth is best made and used fresh. Hot pot broth should not be reused, nor should leftover broth with vegetables be left in the pot overnight and reheated. Otherwise, the content of nitrite (a potent carcinogen) in the long-boiled broth will increase, which is harmful to health after consumption.