Introduction: Chinese yam is highly nutritious and is the best food for autumn nourishment. When paired with certain foods, it can not only double its nutritional value but also help prevent and treat diseases. Let's take a look at the best foods to pair with Chinese yam.
Chinese Yam with Red Dates - Strengthens the Spleen and Nourishes the Stomach
Among sweet-tasting foods that nourish the spleen and stomach, Chinese yam is the top recommendation. It is warm in nature and rich in mucin protein, which helps maintain blood vessel elasticity. Most importantly, it also has the function of moistening the lungs and relieving coughs, making it an absolute must for people with a sore throat. When paired with red dates, its effect of strengthening the spleen and nourishing the stomach is enhanced. There are many ways to prepare Chinese yam and red dates together, whether steamed or boiled, they can be sweet or savory. For those who love soups, you can add more Chinese yam and red dates when cooking.
Blueberry Mashed Yam
Chinese Yam with Pumpkin - Lowers Blood Sugar
The soluble fiber in Chinese yam helps delay the emptying of food from the stomach, control postprandial blood sugar spikes, and aids digestion and lowers blood sugar. Pumpkin contains trace elements such as cobalt, zinc, copper, and pectin, which can promote the normal secretion of insulin in the body, effectively preventing and treating diabetes, high blood pressure, and liver and kidney diseases, while also enhancing the body's ability to resist anemia and cancer. Therefore, consuming them together can better lower blood sugar and also help strengthen the spleen and nourish the stomach.
Chinese Yam with Walnuts - Tonifies the Middle Jiao and Qi
Chinese yam is sweet in taste and is considered a "superior" herb in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Besides its effects of tonifying the lungs and spleen, it can also benefit the kidneys and replenish essence. It is advisable for those with kidney deficiency to consume it regularly. Walnuts have the effects of tonifying the kidneys and securing essence, promoting urination and expelling stones, moistening the intestines to relieve constipation, and warming the lungs to stop wheezing. They are often used for conditions like lower back pain due to kidney deficiency and urinary tract stones. When eaten together, Chinese yam and walnuts have the effects of tonifying the middle jiao and qi, strengthening muscles and bones, and benefiting the brain.
Golden Yam Strips
Chinese Yam with Dried Tangerine Peel - Relieves Autumn Fatigue
Traditional Chinese Medicine believes that Chinese yam is sweet and neutral in nature, and affects the spleen, lung, and kidney meridians. It can tonify the spleen and stomach, generate fluids to benefit the lungs, and tonify the kidneys to secure essence. It is often used for symptoms such as poor appetite due to spleen deficiency, chronic diarrhea, wheezing and coughing due to lung deficiency, and spermatorrhea, leukorrhea, frequent urination, and deficient-heat thirst due to kidney deficiency. Dried tangerine peel is warm in nature, with a pungent and bitter taste, and affects the spleen, stomach, and lung meridians. It can regulate qi to strengthen the spleen, dry dampness to resolve phlegm. In clinical practice, it is often used for conditions like unresolved phlegm-dampness, a feeling of fullness and oppression in the chest, and excessive, white, and sticky phlegm. Therefore, if you have a cough with excessive phlegm due to a cold or other reasons in the autumn, you might try pairing Chinese yam and dried tangerine peel. This can help alleviate symptoms such as excessive phlegm and cough, and is especially suitable for consumption during the autumn season, which focuses on nourishing the lungs.
Blueberry Mashed Yam