Introduction: In life, we tend to love foods that are sweet, delicate, and rich, while disliking those that are bitter, coarse, or bland. Yet, it is precisely in these foods with less appealing textures that unexpected nutritional and health benefits can be found.
Coarse Foods
Some people prefer fine fragrant rice and white flour products, disliking brown rice and cornmeal cakes because they feel "scratchy" on the throat. In fact, it is the precious dietary fiber that causes this "scratchiness." It stimulates intestinal peristalsis, aids in bowel movements, alters the types and numbers of gut microbes, and reduces the formation of carcinogens. Dietary fiber is widely found in coarse-textured foods, including whole grains like rice, wheat, and miscellaneous beans, such as brown rice, oats, and red beans. To prevent constipation and colon cancer, one should ensure a daily intake of 20-30 grams of dietary fiber. It is recommended to replace traditional white rice porridge for breakfast with a multi-grain porridge, and fine white rice with whole wheat steamed buns.
Red Bean Paste with Crispy Skin
Astringent Foods
The presence of tannins, phytic acid, and oxalic acid can make food astringent. This is because they bind with and precipitate salivary proteins in the mouth, causing the saliva to lose its lubricating properties and the epithelial tissue on the tongue to contract, producing a puckering sensation. However, these substances have strong antioxidant properties and are beneficial for preventing diabetes and hyperlipidemia. For instance, olives, purple grape skins, apple skins, and walnut skins all have stronger antioxidant effects than their flesh. It is recommended to eat apples and grapes with their skins on, and not to remove the brown skin when eating walnuts.
Canned Hawthorn
Sour Foods
Compared to sweet oranges, watermelons, and bananas, fewer people enjoy sour fruits like sand pears and hawthorns. In fact, the sourness in these fruits mainly comes from natural organic acids like citric acid and malic acid. These natural acids can promote the absorption of minerals such as iron. If you find sour foods unpalatable, you can make them into fruit jelly by adding a little rock sugar and chilling it in the refrigerator, which will greatly improve the texture.
Hawthorn in Syrup
Bitter Foods
Natural bitter substances in food also have certain health benefits. For example, naringin in lemons and pomelos, polyphenols in tea, polyphenols in red wine, and polyphenols in chocolate are all components that help prevent cancer and heart disease. Quinine in bitter gourd can also boost the human immune system and help control blood sugar. Therefore, it is important to eat a variety of fruits, not just sweet ones, but also to include some bitter and sour ones. Don't throw away the peels of pomelos; you can cut them into strips to make honey pomelo tea. As for bitter gourd, you can blanch it in hot water, chill it, and then eat it dipped in honey.
Shrimp with Bitter Gourd