What to Eat During Great Heat: 6 Foods to Beat the Summer Heat and Cool You to the Core.

The Great Heat is the hottest day of summer. As the saying goes, "The Lesser Heat is not considered hot, but the Great Heat is the height of the 'dog days'." On the day of the Great Heat, everyone must be well-prepared for heatstroke prevention and cooling. Diet is also very important, so what should you eat during the Great Heat?

1. Bitter Melon

The fruit of the bitter melon is sweet and bitter, mainly used as a vegetable, and can also be candied; the ripe pulp and aril are also edible; the root, vine, and fruit are used in medicine for the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying. There are many ways to eat bitter melon, but the best way is to eat it cold. Because eating it cold can well retain the vitamins contained in bitter melon. If stir-fried, these vitamins will be largely lost during the process, and the oil content will be relatively high after stir-frying. After eating, people will ingest more oil, which cannot play the role of cooling and reducing internal heat.

2. Mung Bean

Mung beans are cool in nature and sweet in taste, with the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, quenching thirst and relieving summer heat, promoting urination and moisturizing the skin, and also have a certain effect of removing lead toxicity. Mung bean flour, because it contains a large amount of protein, B vitamins, and minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, and iron, has the effects of whitening, lightening spots, cleansing the skin, removing dead skin cells, and inhibiting acne.

Mung Bean Ice Pop

3. Cucumber

Cucumbers are rich in nutrients such as protein, carbohydrates, vitamin B2, vitamin C, vitamin E, carotene, niacin, calcium, phosphorus, and iron. Cucumbers also contain fine cellulose, which can promote intestinal peristalsis and help expel feces from the body. The nutritious cucumber is beneficial for "cleaning" internal waste, and regular consumption helps prevent kidney stones. Cucumbers are refreshing and delicious, and are a food that everyone likes in hot weather.

Sparkling Watermelon Juice

4. Watermelon

Watermelon is known as the "king of midsummer," refreshing and thirst-quenching, sweet and juicy, making it the best fruit of the season. Besides containing no fat and cholesterol, watermelon contains a large amount of glucose, malic acid, fructose, amino acids, lycopene, and rich vitamin C, making it a highly nutritious, pure, and safe food to eat. The pulp generally contains 5-12% sugar, including glucose, fructose, and sucrose. A watermelon on a hot summer day is cool and dispels summer heat.

5. Green Tea

Green tea is known as the "national drink" in our country. A large number of modern scientific studies have confirmed that tea does contain biochemical components closely related to human health. Tea not only has pharmacological effects such as refreshing the mind and clearing the heart, clearing heat and relieving summer heat, aiding digestion and resolving phlegm, removing greasiness and losing weight, clearing the heart and relieving vexation, detoxifying and sobering up, promoting saliva production and quenching thirst, reducing fire and improving eyesight, stopping diarrhea and removing dampness, but also has certain pharmacological effects on modern diseases such as radiation sickness, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and cancer.

6. Cabbage

According to traditional Chinese medicine, cabbage is slightly cold and sweet in taste, and has the functions of nourishing the stomach and promoting body fluids, relieving vexation and quenching thirst, promoting urination and bowel movements, clearing heat and detoxifying. It is a great vegetable for supplementing nutrition, purifying the blood, unblocking the intestines, preventing diseases, and promoting metabolism, suitable for the general public. There is a common saying: "Fish creates fire, meat creates phlegm, but cabbage and tofu ensure peace."

Cabbage and Pork Dumplings