Introduction: In the face of summer high temperatures, the most important thing to do is to prevent heatstroke and cool down. How can we prevent heatstroke? Dietary therapy is a good choice, and you can skillfully use some seasonal vegetables to achieve the purpose of cooling and refreshing. Below, we have compiled 10 types of seasonal heatstroke-relieving and cooling vegetables for you, allowing you to feel more and more refreshed as you eat.
1. Bitter Melon
The bitterness of bitter melon comes from quinine in its alkaloids. These nutrients have effects such as promoting appetite, promoting urination, activating blood, reducing inflammation, lowering fever, and refreshing the mind. Modern scientific research has found that the "polypeptide-P" in bitter melon is an insulin-like substance that can lower blood sugar. Xi'an Medical University has already extracted an oral insulin-like substance from bitter melon.
Although bitter melon is bitter, it has a bitter taste and a cool nature when eaten, refreshing and not greasy, making people feel particularly comfortable and refreshed when eaten in summer. It has the effect of clearing the heart and stimulating the appetite. Moreover, it does not pass its bitterness to "others". For example, when braising fish with bitter melon, the fish pieces will not absorb the bitterness. Therefore, bitter melon has the nickname "the gentleman of vegetables". If bitter melon is soaked into a cooling tea and drunk in summer, it can make people feel the heat dissipate and the spirit refresh, and relieve vexation and thirst. In some regions, bitter melon is cut, lightly pickled with salt to reduce some of the bitterness, and eaten as a vegetable. Others cut the bitter melon into rings and stew it with minced meat, garlic, and fermented black beans to make a delicacy.
Bitter Melon Braised with Pork Ribs
2. Loofah
The various nutrients contained in loofah are higher among melon foods, especially the special substances such as saponins, loofah bitter substances, mucus, mucilage, citrulline, xyloglucan, and interferin, which have certain special effects. Moreover, the medicinal value of loofah is very high, and its whole body can be used as medicine. Loofah contains nutrients such as protein, fat, starch, carbohydrates, vitamins, carotene, citrulline, saponins, as well as calcium, phosphorus, iron, etc. Eating loofah in the hot summer has the effects of clearing heat and resolving phlegm, cooling blood and detoxifying, relieving summer heat and vexation, and promoting menstruation and activating collaterals. It is mainly used for treating heat diseases with fever and thirst, phlegm-asthma and cough, intestinal wind and hemorrhoids, carbuncles and sores, and insufficient lactation in women.
Dried Scallop and Loofah Soup
3. Green Pepper
Green pepper is now a common vegetable in all four seasons. But summer is the peak season for green pepper to mature, so the green peppers in summer are more nutritious and have a purer taste than in other seasons. Green pepper is the food richest in vitamin C among all vegetables. Vitamin C can improve human immunity and help resist various diseases. People are prone to summer colds in summer, and often go out, which increases contact with the external environment and the chance of being infected by viruses, so it is necessary to improve their own immunity. Moreover, green pepper is pungent and warm, which can lower body temperature through sweating and relieve muscle pain, so it has a strong antipyretic and analgesic effect. It is a good idea to eat more green peppers in the hot summer.
Green Peppers Stuffed with Meat
4. Eggplant
Eggplant is rich in nutrients, containing protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, and many other nutrients such as calcium, phosphorus, and iron. The vitamin P content in eggplant is very high, with 750 milligrams per 100 grams. It can enhance the adhesion between human cells, enhance the elasticity of capillaries, and reduce their brittleness and permeability, preventing rupture and bleeding of microvessels. Eggplant also contains trace elements such as phosphorus, calcium, and potassium, and various alkaloids such as choline, trigonelline, stachydrine, and solanine. Especially purple eggplants have higher vitamin content and can inhibit the proliferation of digestive tract tumor cells.
There are many ways to eat eggplant. Peel and shred fresh round eggplants, and mix them with an appropriate amount of salt and sesame oil for a cold salad. Selenium has an antioxidant effect, can maintain the normal function of human cells, improve immunity, and has the effects of preventing disease and anti-aging for the human body. It can also play an anti-cancer role through in vivo metabolism. It is especially suitable for people who are prone to heat rash and sores.
Sauce-Fried Eggplant
5. Cucumber
Cucumber is sweet, cool, bitter, and non-toxic in nature. It enters the spleen, stomach, and large intestine; it has the effects of clearing heat, promoting urination, and detoxifying; it is mainly used for treating vexation and thirst, sore throat, eye inflammation, and scalds. It also has the effect of weight loss. Cucumber contains vitamin C, B vitamins, and many trace minerals. The nutrients it contains are rich, and it has a crisp and refreshing taste when eaten raw.
From a nutritional point of view, the cucumber peel is rich in nutrients and should be retained when eaten raw. However, to prevent the harm of pesticide residues to the human body, cucumber should be soaked in salt water for 15-20 minutes before washing and eating raw. When soaking cucumber in salt water, do not cut off the head and roots. Keep the cucumber intact to avoid the loss of nutrients from the cut surface during the soaking process. In addition, cold dishes should be made and eaten immediately. Do not leave them for a long time after preparation, as this will also cause the loss of vitamins.
Cucumber and Almond Salad with Natto
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