Summer Diarrhea: 10 Foods to Soothe Your Stomach

Introduction: In the summer, the hot weather can easily lead to gastrointestinal diseases from even minor dietary indiscretions. So, how can you effectively regulate gastrointestinal function and prevent gastrointestinal diseases? The following 10 foods for regulating the stomach are natural experts in gastrointestinal care. Let's take a look.

1. Sweet Potato

Sweet potatoes are rich in protein, starch, pectin, cellulose, amino acids, vitamins, and various minerals, earning them the reputation of a "longevity food." They contain a sugar content of 15%-20%. They have effects such as anti-cancer, protecting the heart, preventing emphysema, diabetes, and aiding in weight loss. The Compendium of Materia Medica by Li Shizhen of the Ming Dynasty records that "sweet potatoes supplement deficiency, strengthen the spleen and whet the appetite, and nourish kidney yin," and mentions that people who eat them live long. Traditional Chinese Medicine regards sweet potatoes as a good medicine.

Moreover, sweet potatoes themselves have the effect of nourishing the stomach. The dietary fiber they are rich in can aid digestion, resolve food stagnation, and increase appetite. However, sweet potatoes can promote gastric acid secretion, so people who usually have excess stomach acid and often experience acid reflux or heartburn should not eat them. Eating sweet potato porridge or steamed sweet potatoes are good choices. It's best not to eat roasted sweet potatoes from street stalls, as they can easily burn and their hygiene cannot be guaranteed.

Sweet Potato Balls

2. Pumpkin

Pumpkin is soft and easily absorbed. Many people love to eat pumpkin, especially the elderly and children who particularly enjoy its golden-yellow color and soft, sticky texture. Pumpkin has a great effect on nourishing the stomach. The carbohydrates and pectin it contains can protect the stomach from irritation, and its dietary fiber is very fine and soft, making it easy to absorb. Pumpkin porridge, stir-fried pumpkin, and steamed pumpkin are common stomach-nourishing delicacies on many family tables. People with high blood sugar can choose to eat steamed pumpkin, with one piece per meal being just right. Furthermore, the rich carotenoids in pumpkin can be converted into vitamin A, which has important physiological functions, such as promoting the growth and differentiation of epithelial tissues, maintaining normal vision, and promoting bone development.

Golden Roasted Pumpkin

3. Cabbage

Raw cabbage is rich in vitamin C, vitamin B1, folic acid, and potassium. Cooked cabbage is also rich in vitamin C, potassium, and folic acid. Moreover, cabbage is hailed as a natural "stomach vegetable," that promotes saliva production, quenches thirst, aids digestion, promotes gastric juice secretion, and protects the gastric mucosa. People with a weak stomach, especially those suffering from gastric ulcers or duodenal ulcers, can drink cabbage juice daily, perhaps with a little added honey, which is very helpful in promoting ulcer healing.

Although the nutritional value of cabbage is not much different from that of Chinese cabbage, its vitamin C content is about twice as high. In addition, cabbage is rich in folic acid, which is an advantage of cruciferous vegetables, so pregnant women and patients with anemia should eat more cabbage. Cabbage is also an important beauty product.

Cabbage, Lemon, and Mayonnaise Salad

4. Kelp

Kelp is a vegetable with very high nutritional value and also has certain medicinal value. It is rich in mineral elements such as iodine. Kelp is low in calories, moderate in protein, and rich in minerals. Research has found that kelp has various biological functions, such as lowering blood lipids, lowering blood sugar, regulating immunity, anticoagulation, antitumor, lead detoxification, and antioxidant.

TCM experts point out that kelp is an alkaline food. The iodine it contains can promote the metabolism of triglycerides in the blood and prevent blood acidification, which helps to moisten the intestines and promote bowel movements. Moreover, it is low in calories and rich in dietary fiber, which can accelerate intestinal movement. In addition, kelp contains alginic acid, which can reduce the intestines' ability to absorb the radioactive element strontium and excrete it from the body. While detoxifying and losing weight, it also plays a role in preventing leukemia, killing two birds with one stone.

Minced Meat with Shredded Kelp

5. Black Fungus

Black fungus is a plant of the Auriculariaceae family. It is neutral in nature and sweet in taste, and acts on the stomach and large intestine meridians. It has the effects of nourishing, moistening, nourishing blood and benefiting the stomach, activating blood to stop bleeding, moistening the lungs, and moistening the intestines. Black fungus is also an outstanding "timekeeper" for intestinal rejuvenation. The plant glue it contains has a strong adsorption capacity and can quickly adsorb unhealthy substances left in the intestines, such as dust and impurities, and concentrate them for excretion, playing a role in cleansing the blood and washing the intestines.

Research has found that black fungus also has the effect of dissolving stones in the body. This is mainly because the ferment and plant alkali contained in black fungus can effectively promote the secretion of various glands in the digestive and urinary tracts, catalyze stones in the body, lubricate the ducts, and promote the excretion of stones. In addition, the various mineral elements in black fungus can also cause various stones in the body to have chemical reactions, leading to peeling, disintegration, continuous desquamation and shrinkage, and then being excreted through the ducts.

Mustard Black Fungus