There is a Chinese saying: "Eat turnips in winter, eat ginger in summer". Now that it has entered the early summer, a variety of ginger types in the supermarket have also been listed, which is not Uncle Zhang bought a lot of ginger back, ready to let his wife Zhang Aunt make ginger for himself every day.
Uncle Zhang had thought that Aunt Zhang would agree with her mouth, but she did not expect to be rejected. Aunt Zhang said: "Ginger contains safringen, eating too much will cause cancer, you can only eat less, you can't eat more." ”
But Uncle Zhang said that now everyone eats ginger, and no one has caused cancer because they have eaten ginger. And the old saying is that eating ginger in the summer is good for the body, and Uncle Zhang believes that Aunt Zhang does not want to eat ginger not because ginger can cause cancer, it is lazy and does not want to do it.
The two argued over this, and the cold war lasted for several days, but there was still no answer to the question of whether ginger was good or not in the summer, and whether ginger would cause cancer.
First, eat turnips in winter and eat ginger in summer, why eat more ginger in summer?
As the saying goes: "Eat turnips in winter and eat ginger in summer, don't bother doctors to prescribe medicine", so why eat more ginger after summer, or what are the benefits of eating ginger in summer?
In the "Compendium of Materia Medica" and the "Qianjin Fang", ginger is recorded as such, ginger taste spicy, non-toxic, slightly warm. Ginger has the effect of warming the lungs to relieve cough, antidote to poison, warm cough, sweating and other effects, and is suitable for sputum drinking, vomiting, external wind chill, stomach cold, cough and other symptoms.
In the summer, the weather is hot, the yang in the human body will go with the flow, emitted on the surface of the body, resulting in weakness of the yang, as the ancients said: "In May, the yang is on the table, and the stomach is cold." "In order to alleviate the weakness of yang qi, the summer diet should be appropriate to choose spicy foods such as ginger, fennel, green onion white and other spicy foods to balance the yin and yang of the internal organs of the body.
Secondly, the temperature is high in the summer, the pores of the human body are open, if you suddenly enter the air-conditioned room or take a cold shower, the external evil will take advantage of the void. Some will get sick at the time, and some may lurk into the winter during the attack. Eating ginger at this time not only prevents colds, but also avoids leaving a root of illness in autumn and winter.
In addition, the summer weather is hot, and everyone likes to eat cold food, resulting in cold in the stomach. Ginger is a hot food, after consumption can get rid of the cold of the body, but also can reduce the incidence of diarrhea because of stomach bloating.
Second, ginger contains toxic substances, eating too much will cause cancer, is it true?
The topic of ginger causing cancer mainly comes from a study by the US FDA that shows that there is an unhealthy ingredient in ginger: safrole. Liver cancer can be induced in mice by adding 0.04%-1% safrin to mouse feed for 150 days to 2 years. Therefore, the rumor that ginger causes cancer is derived from this.
So, according to this graduate student ginger is not really carcinogenic?
First of all, we need to know that the source of ginger carcinogen is safrole, but eating safrole will not necessarily cause cancer. Safrole is actually a natural flavor, in addition to ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and other spices are present, the International Code of Food Additives Code "Guidelines for the Use of Flavours" stipulates that the maximum limit of safrin in food and beverages is 1 mg / kg. Yang Xizhong, vice chairman and secretary general of the China Hepatitis Prevention and Control Foundation, said that eating ginger in moderation will not lead to cancer.
Second, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer classified safrole as a Class 2 carcinogen in 2017, so safrole may be carcinogenic, and there is no evidence of the carcinogenicity of safrole.
Finally, the study conducted by the US FDA is in animal experiments, and the conclusion that safrole is carcinogenic is based on mice, and there is no literature evidence that safrin can cause liver cancer in humans, so there is still a difference between animal experiments and human experiments.
Third, eat ginger without peeling, eat the wrong harm to yourself?
Some people think that ginger skin is poisonous and will cause harm to the body when eaten, but in fact, ginger skin has no toxin and will not cause harm to the body.
Secondly, Chinese medicine believes that ginger is warm and spicy, has the effect of sweating and anti-vomiting and detoxification, and ginger skin is spicy and cool, which is conducive to the effect of water and swelling. Therefore, there is "leaving ginger skin is cool, removing ginger skin is hot". Under normal circumstances, ginger does not need to be peeled, because it can also prevent fire while maintaining ginger's medicinal properties. If edema occurs, eat ginger without peeling, because ginger peel can play a diuretic effect.
However, for people with spleen deficiency and stomach cold, the recommendation to eat ginger is to remove the skin. Also, if you eat cold foods, such as crab, celery and other foods, ginger is best peeled, so that you can balance the coldness of the food. In addition, when suffering from colds and colds, when boiling ginger brown sugar water, ginger is best peeled, and when using ginger to prevent vomiting and stomach pain caused by spleen and stomach deficiency, the ginger skin should be removed.
Fourth, eating ginger is also taboo, these 3 kinds of ginger can not eat without eating
Ginger does not cause cancer, and the skin does not hurt the body, but these 3 kinds of ginger can not be eaten without eating.
1. Rotten and spoiled ginger
Ginger, as a seasoning, has medicinal effects, but it is harmful to eat rotten and spoiled ginger. Rotten curcumin will increase significantly, so this type of ginger should be eaten less.
2. Moldy ginger
A pound of ginger on the surface of the ginger grows something similar to white noodles, that is, moldy ginger is recommended not to eat, because it will also produce safrole, affecting liver health. In rare cases, ginger will grow red or pink and black mold, black mold has a strong toxicity and carcinogenicity, so please throw away such ginger.
3. Sulfur ginger
The so-called sulfur ginger, is sulfur smoked ginger, can play a whitening and antiseptic effect, but sulfur is very harmful to the human body, eat sulfur smoked food, light body weakness, heavy affect liver function.
The benefits of eating ginger are many, and it is also an indispensable spice in life, but we must pay attention when eating ginger, and the three kinds of ginger introduced in the article are harmful to the body, so we must avoid eating. There are still many people in life who are not suitable for eating ginger, and we must eat less, only in this way can we keep our bodies healthy.
Resources:
[1] Why Eat Ginger in Summer? Turns out it has so many benefits". People's Daily Health.2020-08-11
[2] None. Does eating ginger cause cancer? [J].Happy To You: Afternoon, 2016:63.
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