Eating more fruits and vegetables in the summer is healthier
Core Tip: What are the medicinal and dietary effects of five delicious and therapeutic melon foods, such as watermelon, cucumber, bitter melon, loofah, and winter melon?
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, it is believed that medicine and food share the same origin. Some foods are not only delicious but also have therapeutic properties. For example, eating certain melons regularly can help lower blood pressure and reduce bloating. Below, we introduce five types of melons that are both delicious and therapeutic.
Watermelon:
It is rich in juice with a sugar content of over 95%. It can promote urination, quench thirst, and clear summer heat. In addition to abundant sugars, it contains more organic acids, amino acids, and inorganic salts than other melons. In the hot summer, it is an excellent choice for replenishing the body's water and nutrients. It can lower blood pressure and treat nephritis.
Bitter Melon:
Bitter melon contains various substances such as protein, fat, sugar, calcium, phosphorus, iron, and more. In particular, bitter melon extract has high medicinal value. It can stimulate the secretion of saliva and gastric juices, enhance appetite, lower blood sugar, and relieve vexation and thirst. It is an excellent remedy for clearing heat and preventing summer heat, as well as for clearing prickly heat and treating boils and sores caused by heat toxins.
Cucumber:
Regular consumption of cucumber can aid in weight loss. Eating it raw, washed and consumed like fruit (more than 250 grams daily), has a significant slimming effect. It can also promote urination and reduce edema. Eating it cold can increase appetite and alleviate bloating. Cucumber can also quench thirst and reduce dry heat.
Loofah:
It functions to regulate qi and strengthen the spleen, transform phlegm and stop coughing, relieve wheezing and spasms, and cool the blood and clear heat. Regular consumption can treat boils and sores and relieve summer heat.
Winter Melon:
It contains various trace elements essential to the human body but no fat. It contains malonic acid, which can inhibit the conversion of sugar into fat, preventing fat accumulation in the body, and has the effect of reducing fat and lowering lipids. If one suffers from heatstroke, fever, or dizziness, a soup made with 500 grams of winter melon, consumed three times a day in one large bowl each time, shows significant therapeutic effects. Cutting winter melon into small pieces and rubbing it on prickly heat is also very effective. It is a good remedy for chronic nephritic edema. A soup made with 1000 grams of winter melon and one carp has excellent results.