A Rescue Plan for Late-Night Skin: 10 Foods to Detox and Rejuvenate

As environmental pollution becomes increasingly severe, the sources of potentially harmful substances in food are also becoming more widespread and complex. Coupled with the modern preference for staying up late and increasingly irregular lifestyles, toxin accumulation in the body is growing more serious. Therefore, for modern people, eliminating harmful substances from the body is more important than supplementing with nutrients. Regularly consuming foods that have the function of clearing toxins and detoxifying is highly beneficial to health. Below, we recommend 10 detoxifying foods for everyone. Let's take a look.

1. Lotus Root

Lotus root is highly nutritious, rich in trace elements such as iron and calcium, as well as plant-based proteins, vitamins, and starch. It has a significant effect in nourishing qi and blood, and enhancing the body's immunity. Therefore, traditional Chinese medicine refers to it as: "It mainly nourishes the middle jiao and spirit, and replenishes qi and strength."

Lotus root also has a diuretic effect, promoting the rapid excretion of waste from the body to purify the blood. It can be eaten both cold and cooked. Raw lotus root is cool in nature and has the effect of clearing heat and relieving vexation, making it especially suitable for women prone to acne. When cooked, lotus root changes from cool to warm in nature, and has the benefits of nourishing the stomach, nourishing yin, strengthening the spleen, and replenishing qi and blood. It is an excellent food supplement, particularly suitable for individuals with a weak spleen and stomach, or qi and blood deficiency, who experience symptoms like dry skin and a dull complexion.

Lotus Root and Pork Rib Soup

2. Sweet Potato

Sweet potato is sweet and cool in nature. It can clear heat, relieve vexation, promote the production of body fluids, and quench thirst. It contains carbohydrates, proteins, calcium, phosphorus, and components like Pachyrhizol and Pachyrhizol flavonoids. Research has found that the fiber in sweet potatoes is soft and easily digestible, which can promote gastrointestinal motility and aid in bowel movements. Sweet potatoes are rich in antioxidant vitamins C and beta-carotene, and contain more than twice the vitamin E of brown rice, as well as over 40% fiber. This can prevent constipation and expel old waste. The white juice (mucoprotein) in sweet potatoes has the effect of lowering cholesterol and blood lipids. Therefore, sweet potatoes can be considered one of the best foods for detoxification.

Sweet Potato and Oatmeal Porridge

3. White Radish

According to traditional Chinese medicine, white radish is white in color, belongs to the Metal element, enters the lung meridian, and is sweet, flat, and pungent in nature, affecting the lung and spleen meridians. It has the effects of lowering qi, aiding digestion, eliminating diseases, moistening the lungs, detoxifying, promoting the production of body fluids, promoting urination, and relieving constipation. It is primarily indicated for conditions such as lung flaccidity, lung heat, constipation, spitting blood, abdominal distension, food stagnation, indigestion, excessive phlegm, and difficult urination or bowel movements.

Radish has a good diuretic effect, and its fiber content can also promote bowel movements, which is beneficial for weight loss. If you want to use radish for detoxification, it is best to eat it raw. Radish is a medicinal food for all seasons, and its effect when eaten raw is much better than when cooked. White radish can help digestion, stimulate gastrointestinal motility, and promote metabolism and the excretion of toxins from the body. It is especially suitable for people who do not exercise regularly and those who engage in intense mental work.

White Radish and Lamb Soup

4. Carrot

Carrot is a nutritious, common vegetable with a crisp texture and delicious taste, often called "little ginseng." Carrots are rich in nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, volatile oils, carotene, vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, anthocyanins, calcium, and iron.

Moreover, carrots are very helpful for improving constipation and are rich in beta-carotene, which can neutralize toxins. Research has found that carrots are an effective detoxifying food. They not only contain abundant carotene but also large amounts of vitamin A and pectin. When combined with mercury ions in the body, they can effectively reduce the concentration of mercury ions in the blood and accelerate their excretion from the body, making them very suitable for people who often stay up late.

Carrot and Five-Grain Burger

5. Black Fungus

Black fungus is sweet and flat in nature, with the effects of detoxifying, cleansing the stomach and intestines, nourishing blood, and stopping bleeding. Ancient texts record that black fungus "replenishes qi without causing hunger, lightens the body, and strengthens the will." Black fungus is rich in various nutrients such as carbohydrates, colloid, cephalin, cellulose, glucose, xylose, lecithin, carotene, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin C, protein, iron, calcium, and phosphorus, earning it the reputation of "the meat among vegetables."

Furthermore, a type of plant colloid found in black fungus has strong adsorption properties. It can concentrate and adsorb dust and impurities remaining in the human digestive system and then excrete them, thus playing a role in detoxifying and cleansing the stomach. It also has the effect of nourishing the blood to maintain a youthful appearance, making the skin ruddy and radiant, and can help prevent iron-deficiency anemia.

Crispy Tossed Autumn Black Fungus