Reviewing the Top "A-List" Foods for Autumn Nourishment
Introduction: As autumn takes the stage, food becomes a major player on this stage. What's the most nourishing food to eat this autumn? Let's see how to satisfy your palate while also eating your way to "health"!
First Nourishment: Chinese Yam
Chinese yam is not only known as the "food of the gods" but also has the effects of a "medicinal food". It contains substances like amylase and polyphenol oxidase, which are beneficial for the digestion and absorption of the spleen and stomach. Chinese yam is rich in mucoprotein, vitamins, and trace elements, which can effectively prevent the deposition of blood lipids on blood vessel walls, prevent cardiovascular diseases, and has the effect of prolonging life.
Best way to eat: Can be steamed, made into soup, or stir-fried. Steaming results in the least loss of nutrients.
Best pairing: Goji berries. If not eaten alone, it can be paired with goji berries to make goji yam congee to better enhance its nourishing effects.
First Vegetable: Lotus Root
During the autumn season, fresh lotus root is in its prime. The weather is dry at this time, and eating lotus root can help nourish yin, clear heat, moisten dryness, quench thirst, and calm the mind.
In addition to containing a large amount of carbohydrates, fresh lotus root is also rich in protein, various vitamins and minerals, and is rich in dietary fiber, which is very beneficial for treating constipation and promoting the excretion of harmful substances.
Best way to eat: The seven-hole lotus root has a higher starch content, less moisture, is glutinous but not crispy, and is suitable for making soup. The nine-hole lotus root has a high water content, is crispy, tender, and juicy, making it most suitable for cold salads or stir-frying.
Best pairing: Black and white fungus. Pairing with white fungus can nourish the lung yin, while pairing with black fungus can nourish the kidney yin.
First Nut: Peanut
In traditional Chinese medicine, peanuts are considered neutral in nature and sweet in flavor, and they act on the spleen and lung meridians. They can invigorate the spleen and harmonize the stomach, moisten the lungs and transform phlegm, nourish and regulate qi, and clear the throat and stop coughs. They are mainly used to treat malnutrition, poor appetite and weakness, dry cough with little phlegm, hemoptysis, skin purpura, insufficient lactation in postpartum women, and constipation.
Best way to eat: Fresh peanuts are best boiled in their shells. Boiled peanuts are not only easy to digest and absorb, but also make full use of the health care effects of the peanut shell and the inner red skin. The peanut red skin can inhibit the dissolution of fibrin and promote platelet regeneration, and can be used to treat thrombocytopenia and prevent and treat bleeding diseases; peanut shells can lower blood pressure and regulate cholesterol.
Best pairing: Jujube. Pairing with jujube can tonify the spleen and benefit the blood, and stop bleeding. It has a certain therapeutic effect on spleen deficiency and blood deficiency, anemia, and is especially beneficial for women.
First Meat: Cuttlefish
Regarding eating meat, there has always been a saying: "Four legs are not as good as two, and two legs are not as good as none". Cuttlefish is nutritious, with 13 grams of protein and only 0.7 grams of fat per 100 grams of meat. It also contains carbohydrates and essential substances for the human body such as vitamins A, B vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, and iron, making it a high-protein, low-fat nourishing food.
Best way to eat: It can be braised, stir-fried, quick-fried, stewed, or made into a cold salad or soup. However, to prevent autumn dryness, making soup with cuttlefish is more appropriate.
Best pairing: Tofu. Tofu is also a food that nourishes yin and promotes fluid production. Eating them together can also have a complementary effect on proteins.
First Fruit: Pear
Pears are fresh, tender, and juicy, containing 85% water. They are sweet and sour, rich in vitamins and trace elements such as calcium, phosphorus, iron, and iodine. They are known as "natural mineral water" and have been revered since ancient times as the "king of all fruits". In autumn, the air is dry and there is less moisture. If you can eat a certain amount of pears every day, it can relieve autumn dryness, promote fluid production, and moisten the lungs.
Best way to eat: Eating raw pears can significantly relieve symptoms such as dry, itchy, sore throat, hoarseness, constipation, and dark urine in patients with upper respiratory tract infections. Cooking or steaming pears, such as rock sugar steamed pears, can have the effects of nourishing yin, moistening the lungs, stopping coughs, and resolving phlegm. It has preventive and therapeutic effects on gout, rheumatism, and arthritis, and has a better effect on treating lung heat cough and sore throat.
Best pairing: Honey. The world-famous pear syrup is made by simmering pears with honey, which has a significant therapeutic effect on patients with chronic lung heat cough.
First Congee: Lily Congee
Lily is sweet and slightly bitter in taste, and neutral in nature. Its nutritional components are rich, including protein, vitamins, carotene, and some special active ingredients such as starch, polysaccharides, pectin, and various alkaloids, which have a certain therapeutic effect in inhibiting the proliferation of cancer cells. Lily has the effects of moistening the lungs to stop coughs, clearing the heart to calm the mind, etc., making it a top-grade food for autumn consumption.
Best way to eat: Cooked into congee. Lily can be eaten as a dish, such as celery stir-fried with lily or lily stir-fried with beef; it can also be cooked into congee, such as lily congee made with glutinous rice, with a little rock sugar added. It is not only delicious but also calming and helps with sleep.
Best pairing: Almonds. Almonds have the effects of moistening the lungs to stop coughs and clearing the mind to calm the spirit. Lily congee with almonds is suitable for patients with post-illness weakness and dry cough.