Introduction: People generally eat mung beans in soups and congee. They can also be ground into flour to make cakes, pastries, or fillings. When making mung bean soup, other ingredients can be added. For instance, adding mint enhances the soup's cooling and heat-clearing effects, while adding Job's tears makes its dampness-eliminating and swelling-reducing effects more pronounced.
The following two groups of people should avoid it:
1. Individuals with a cold constitution or weak spleen and stomach.
Mung beans are inherently cooling. Therefore, people with a weak spleen and stomach or a cold constitution should not consume them excessively. To avoid the excessive cooling effect, you can add more japonica rice to the congee. Japonica rice is neutral in nature, tonifies the middle and replenishes Qi, making it suitable for those with a weak spleen and stomach.
When we say mung beans are cooling, this refers to their overall nature. However, as Li Shizhen noted, "The flesh of the mung bean is neutral, but its skin is cooling." This means the flesh of the mung bean is neutral, while the skin is cooling. In "Chinese Herbal Formulary," it is mentioned that "the skin of the mung bean is superior for clearing heat and toxins." If you want a stronger heat-clearing effect, it's best to cook the beans until they just begin to bloom, but not until they are mushy. Eating them with the skin on is ideal. If the beans are overcooked, their heat-clearing and detoxifying effects are reduced, but the cooling nature is also lessened, making them suitable for a wider range of people.
2. Individuals taking warming and tonifying medications.
While taking warming and tonifying medicines, it is best to avoid mung bean products, as they may dilute the warming nature of the medicine and reduce its efficacy.
Two groups of people are particularly suited to eating mung beans:
1. People with a "heat" constitution or those prone to sores and toxins.
Those who love cold drinks, prefer icy foods, and have a more irritable temperament than others belong to the "heat" constitution type. These individuals naturally have a higher body temperature. Consuming more warming and heat-producing foods would be like adding fuel to the fire. Therefore, they can choose cooling foods, such as fruits like pears, watermelon, and pomelos. Mung beans have the effect of clearing heat, detoxifying, and reducing internal fire, making them suitable for people with a "heat" constitution.
2. People working in toxic environments.
Individuals in industries like chemicals and building materials may be exposed to high concentrations of dust, strong radiation, etc. These people can regularly eat mung beans. Furthermore, in cases of alcohol poisoning, herbal poisoning, gas poisoning, pesticide poisoning, lead poisoning, or accidental drug overdose, a bowl of mung bean soup can be consumed as an emergency measure before being rushed to the hospital.
Which way of eating mung beans is healthier?
People generally eat mung beans in soups and congee. They can also be ground into flour to make cakes, pastries, or fillings. When making mung bean soup, other ingredients can be added. For instance, adding mint enhances the soup's cooling and heat-clearing effects, while adding Job's tears makes its dampness-eliminating and swelling-reducing effects more pronounced. Mung bean congee clears the gallbladder, nourishes the stomach, clears heat and detoxifies, can reduce edema, has a lipid-lowering effect, and can prevent arteriosclerosis, making it a favorite for many. When making mung bean congee, you can cook the beans until they are very soft, which significantly reduces their cooling nature.
Also, many people find that the soup turns black after cooking mung beans. This is definitely due to using an iron pot. Remember, mung beans should not be cooked in an iron pot. Otherwise, the tannic acid they contain will react with the iron to form iron tannate, causing the soup to turn black.
Soaking mung beans in water makes them into mung bean sprouts, a refreshing and delicious vegetable. Don't underestimate these mung bean sprouts; they can be truly inexpensive and nutritious. One of their characteristics is a high content of Vitamin C. It is said that during World War II, the U.S. Navy accidentally ate damp, sprouted mung beans and cured the scurvy that had plagued the entire army for many days. Mung bean sprouts indeed have high medicinal value. Traditional Chinese medicine considers mung bean sprouts to be sweet and cooling in nature, affecting the stomach and San Jiao meridians. They are most adept at clearing heat, detoxifying, promoting urination, and sobering up. "Compendium of Materia Medica" states that they "alcohol and heat toxins, and benefit the San Jiao." This means that in addition to the heat-clearing and detoxifying effects of mung beans, mung bean sprouts can also regulate the Qi mechanism of the entire Zang-Fu organs. As one of the six Fu organs, the San Jiao acts like a large container holding all the organs, representing the entire body cavity. Its main function is to regulate the waterways, making it suitable for those with abdominal bloating and difficult urination.
During the hot summer, people often don't want to eat greasy food and prefer light, refreshing things. At this time, drinking more mung bean soup and using mung bean sprouts as a dish is the most suitable choice.