If you ask what is the most delicious snack in the streets and alleys in winter, roasted sweet potatoes must be on the list.
Sweet potatoes belong to the category of coarse grains and are a favorite food of many centenarians. In some longevity areas and longevity villages in my country and Japan, surveys and studies have found that local people use sweet potatoes as their staple food and eat them continuously for many years. Therefore, sweet potatoes are also known as "fitness and longevity" foods.In breakfast shops in Guangdong, steamed sweet potatoes and sweet potato porridge are also common. Today, let's take a look at the therapeutic value of sweet potatoes.
Different varieties of sweet potatoes have different effects. White-skinned and white-hearted sweet potatoes can nourish the lungs and produce body fluids, such as "Compendium of Materia Medica": "White skin and white flesh can benefit the lungs and produce body fluids." People with rough and dry skin can also eat white-skinned and white-hearted sweet potatoes.
Red-skinned and red-hearted sweet potatoes have the effect of replenishing qi and blood. "Sui Xi Ju Diet": "Cooking and eating nourishes the spleen and stomach, strengthens qi and strength, protects against wind and cold, and improves complexion." Girls with pale faces can improve their facial complexion by eating this kind of sweet potatoes for a long time.
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that yellow enters the spleen, and eating yellow sweet potatoes often can help us nourish the spleen.
Children have delicate spleen and stomach, and sweet potatoes can also be used to replenish them. If it is a healthy child with no phlegm and dampness in the body, you can often eat some sweet potatoes, which is very good for the body.
Purple sweet potatoes have the effect of replenishing kidney yin, and are suitable for people with kidney yin deficiency who often suffer from backache, fatigue, dizziness, tinnitus, insomnia, forgetfulness, dry mouth and sore throat, and afternoon hot flashes.
For friends who are prone to constipation, eating sweet potatoes is a convenient and effective choice. Sweet potatoes are rich in dietary fiber, which not only increases satiety, but also promotes gastrointestinal motility and has a laxative effect. At the same time, dietary fiber can also absorb harmful substances in the intestines for excretion.
In addition, the nutritional value of sweet potatoes is relatively high. It is rich in protein, fat, carbohydrates, crude fiber, carotene, and various mineral elements such as calcium, phosphorus, and iron, which can effectively meet the nutrients needed by the human body.
Eating sweet potatoes in moderation can also prevent the absorption of fat and cholesterol in the intestine, and decompose cholesterol in the body.
In recent years, the sweet potato leaves that everyone likes to eat are also good for health. The Qing Dynasty's "Differentiation of Diet for Treating Diseases" records: "(Sweet potato) seedlings and leaves are very good to cook, and steamed millet is especially delicious." Sweet potato leaves have the effects of strengthening the spleen and stomach, benefiting the lungs and kidneys, and have a certain effect of clearing heat and detoxifying.
Studies have shown that sweet potato leaves are also very nutritious, rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals, and are good for health. Fry a dish every day, it is fragrant and delicious.
Sweet potatoes are rich in crude fiber and have the effect of nourishing yin. People with dampness blocking the spleen and stomach, loose stools, and diarrhea should not eat too much.
In addition, according to the "Supplement to Compendium of Materia Medica", "People with fullness should not eat too much, which can block qi." Therefore, people with qi stagnation and food accumulation should not eat too much.
Although sweet potatoes are good for the human body, you should also avoid eating too much at one time to avoid being detrimental to digestion. Sweet potatoes contain an oxidase that easily produces a large amount of carbon dioxide gas in the human gastrointestinal tract. If you eat too much sweet potatoes, you will have bloating, hiccups, and farts.
Sweet potatoes have a high sugar content. Eating too much can stimulate the secretion of a large amount of gastric acid, causing "heartburn". The stomach contracts and strengthens due to the stimulation of excessive gastric acid, and gastric acid can flow back into the esophagus, causing acid vomiting.
At the same time, it is recommended that sweet potatoes must be steamed and cooked thoroughly before eating, because the starch granules in sweet potatoes are difficult to digest without high temperature destruction.
Dietary Recipe 1 - Sweet Potato and Ginger Soup
[Ingredients] 250g sweet potato, 6 slices of ginger, appropriate amount of rock sugar. (2 servings)
[Method] Wash the sweet potato, peel it and cut it into pieces, slice the ginger; put the above ingredients into a pot, add appropriate amount of water, boil it over high heat, then simmer it on low heat for 30 minutes; add appropriate amount of rock sugar and you can eat the potato and drink the soup.
[Effects] Moisturize the intestines and relieve constipation.
[Suitable for] People with constipation often have dry stools, difficulty in defecation, pale complexion, pale lips, and fatigue.
Sweet potatoes have the effects of strengthening the spleen and stomach, moisturizing the intestines and relieving constipation. Paired with ginger, which warms the middle and dispels cold, it can also play a role in invigorating qi and moistening the intestines, just as it is said in "Compendium of Materia Medica": "Add a piece of ginger when cooking, and adjust the middle and have the same effect as ginger and jujube." Such a bowl of warm and sweet soup is suitable for people with weak constitution and constipation.
Dietary Recipe 2 - Sweet Potato Leaf Porridge
[Ingredients] 100g sweet potato leaves, 50g rice. (2 servings)
[Method] After boiling the rice into porridge, do not turn off the heat, chop the washed sweet potato leaves into pieces and put them into the pot, add a little salt and stir well, boil again and it is ready to eat.
[Effects] Lubricates the intestines and relieves constipation.
[Suitable for] People with constipation, common dry stools, and difficulty in defecation.
This porridge is smooth and fragrant. Regular consumption can improve gastrointestinal function and relieve constipation.
