The real summer is about to begin, which also means everyone will be spending their days in a furnace. Even when wearing shorts and short-sleeved shirts, it's unbearably hot every day. This kind of weather is particularly prone to causing "heatiness" and heatstroke. So, what should you do? Below, we recommend 5 great fruits and vegetables to help you cool down quickly and stay refreshed all summer.
1. Cucumber
"Ben Cao Qiu Zhen" (A True Account of Materia Medica) mentions that cucumber has a "sweet and cold nature, and consuming it can clear heat and promote urination." Therefore, eating more cucumbers in the hot summer is beneficial. Cucumbers have a water content of 96%-98%, the highest among vegetables. The cellulose it contains is very delicate, which helps promote the excretion of spoiled food in the intestines and lowers cholesterol. Not only that, cucumbers contain fine cellulose, which can promote intestinal peristalsis and help expel old waste from the body. The nutrient-rich cucumber is beneficial for "cleaning" internal waste, and regular consumption helps prevent kidney stones.
Pickled Cucumber
2. Watermelon
It can not only clear heat and detoxify, relieve restlessness and quench thirst, but also promote urination and aid digestion. Therefore, people should definitely eat watermelon, especially those working outdoors or in high-temperature indoor environments. Watermelon juice also contains rich nutrients needed by the human body, such as sucrose, glucose, fructose, citrulline, propionic acid, alanine, glutamic acid, arginine, phosphoric acid, malic acid, salts, as well as carotene and vitamin C.
3. Winter Melon
Winter melon has excellent effects for clearing heat and relieving summer heat. Eating more winter melon in the summer can quench thirst, relieve summer heat, and promote urination. Because it promotes urination and contains very little sodium, it is an excellent remedy for reducing swelling in cases of chronic nephritic edema, malnutrition-related edema, and edema during pregnancy. It contains various vitamins and trace elements essential to the human body, which can regulate the body's metabolic balance. Moreover, the malonic acid contained in winter melon can effectively inhibit the conversion of carbohydrates into fat. Coupled with the fact that winter melon itself is fat-free and low in calories, it is of great significance for preventing weight gain and can help maintain a beautiful figure.
Sautéed Steamed Winter Melon with Fermented Black Beans
4. Luffa
Luffa has the effect of clearing heat and relieving summer heat. Ancient medical texts and "Ben Cao Gang Mu" (Compendium of Materia Medica) both state that luffa can "clear heat and benefit the intestines." Eating some luffa soup in the summer can relieve summer heat and reduce fever. When making the soup, the cooking time should not be too long, and it's best to preserve the fresh green color of the luffa. Boiling the luffa peel and flowers together to make tea also has the effect of preventing heatstroke and reducing fever. Luffa also contains B vitamins that prevent skin aging and vitamin C that whitens the skin. It can protect the skin, eliminate blemishes, and make the skin fair, smooth, and tender, making it a rare beauty product. Therefore, luffa juice is known as "beauty water."
5. Bitter Melon
Some people consider watermelon a treasure for summer heat relief, but theoretically, the most appetizing, refreshing, and heat-clearing melon is actually bitter melon. Since ancient times, Chinese folk wisdom has held that "bitter flavors can clear heat" and "bitter flavors can strengthen the stomach." Traditional Chinese medicine believes that bitter melon is bitter in taste and cold in nature, and can clear heat and purge fire. The slightly bitter taste of bitter melon stimulates the secretion of saliva and gastric juices after consumption, greatly increasing appetite and clearing heat to prevent summer heat. Therefore, eating bitter melon in the summer is very appropriate. Using fresh bitter melon to make juice or a decoction is an excellent auxiliary food therapy for liver heat with red eyes, stomach heat with irritability and thirst, stomach pain, and damp-heat dysentery. Bitter melon herbal tea, after drinking, can relieve summer heat and refresh the mind.
Bitter Melon Braised Pork Ribs
Peaches
Barbecue
Cracked chicken root