When Is Lotus Root in Season? A Full Analysis of Its Cool/Warm Nature and Incompatible Foods

Lotus root is one of the foods we eat all year round. Lotus root is slightly sweet and crisp, can be eaten raw or cooked, and has quite high medicinal value. Its roots, leaves, flowers, stamens, and fruits are all treasures, and all can be used as nourishing medicine. So when is lotus root in season? Is lotus root a cool-natured or warm-natured food? Which foods is lotus root incompatible with? How do you cook lotus root so it tastes good?

I. When Is Lotus Root in Season?

Because lotus root varieties and growing environments differ, the time they reach market also varies.

For most lotus root, the true ripening season is autumn, and harvesting usually takes place from September to October. Some may reach market as early as July or August, while some lotus root may still be available after overwintering.

Lotus root is a perennial root plant that completes its annual growth and development once a year. Within a single annual growth cycle, it goes through each growth and development stage: sprouting, leaf unfolding, flowering, fruiting, root formation, and dormancy. Early-maturing varieties of lotus root generally begin entering the root-forming stage in early July, while mid- and late-maturing varieties enter this period in late July or early August.

Autumn and winter are the best seasons for eating lotus root. In autumn and winter, using lotus root freshly harvested in season to stew pork ribs in soup is both nutritious and delicious and can also drive away the cold, making it an entirely suitable seasonal recipe.

II. Is Lotus Root a Cool-Natured or Warm-Natured Food?

From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, lotus root is cool in nature and sweet in taste, entering the heart, spleen, and stomach meridians. It belongs to cold-natured foods and has various effects such as clearing heat, promoting fluid production, cooling the blood, dispersing blood stasis, tonifying the spleen, stimulating the appetite, and stopping diarrhea, making it suitable for people with warm-heat constitutions.

From a nutritional perspective, lotus root is an alkaline food. Lotus root contains many minerals such as iron, calcium, and phosphorus. After lotus root is digested, these various mineral components make the metabolic substances alkaline.

1. Lotus root is cold in nature, so from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, people with cold constitutions or cool constitutions are not suited to eating lotus root, especially raw lotus root.

2. Lotus root contains a lot of starch, so obese people and people with diabetes are not suited to eating too much lotus root.

3. Lotus root is a cold-natured food, so children and women during menstruation are not suited to eating too much lotus root.

III. Which Foods Is Lotus Root Incompatible With?

1. Soybeans

 Soybeans are rich in iron and should not be eaten together with lotus root, which contains a lot of fiber, because fiber affects the human body's absorption of iron.

2. Pork liver

 Lotus root contains fiber, and the aldonic acid in the fiber can form compounds with trace elements such as iron, copper, and zinc in pork liver, reducing the human body's absorption of these elements.

IV. How Do You Cook Lotus Root So It Tastes Good?

1. Lotus root + eel 

As the saying goes: “For essence depletion, eat sticky foods; for qi depletion, eat root foods.” Sticky and root foods refer respectively to eel, loach, and shellfish, and to Chinese yam, lotus root, and the like. For supplementing essence, eel is best. The mucus contained in eel is mainly composed of mucin combined with polysaccharides, which can promote the absorption and synthesis of protein and can also enhance the human body's metabolism and reproductive organ function. The mucus contained in lotus root is also mainly composed of mucin, and it also contains lecithin, vitamin C, vitamin B12, and so on, which can lower cholesterol levels and prevent arteriosclerosis. Eaten together, the two have a notable effect of nourishing the body. In addition, lotus root contains a large amount of dietary fiber and is an alkaline food, while eel is an acidic food. Eating the two together helps maintain the body's acid-base balance and is a good dietary remedy for strengthening the kidneys and boosting yang.

2. Lotus root + pork 

From the perspective of the medicinal properties of foods, lotus root is sweet and cold in nature and taste, with effects of strengthening the spleen, stimulating the appetite, enriching the blood, promoting tissue regeneration, and stopping diarrhea. Combined with pork, which nourishes yin and moistens dryness and tonifies the middle and boosts qi, this vegetarian-meat pairing can provide the human body with rich nutritional components and has the effects of nourishing yin and blood and strengthening the spleen and stomach. It is suitable for treating symptoms such as bodily fatigue, weakness, thinness, dry cough, and thirst. For healthy people who eat it, it can tonify the middle and nourish the spirit and boost qi and strength.

3. Lotus root + octopus + red dates 

Octopus combined with lotus root and red dates is nourishing without being drying, moistening without being greasy, fragrant and tasty, and has the effects of tonifying the middle and boosting qi, nourishing the blood and strengthening the bones, and moisturizing the skin.

4. Lotus root + ginger 

Lotus root has effects such as clearing heat and promoting fluid production, cooling the blood and stopping bleeding, tonifying the spleen and stomach, and tonifying deficiency and stopping diarrhea. If eaten together with ginger, which has the same effects, it has a certain therapeutic effect on restlessness and thirst and incessant vomiting.

5. Lotus root + walnut kernels 

Lotus root eaten together with walnut kernels has the effect of invigorating the blood and breaking blood stasis. It is suitable for symptoms such as poor discharge of lochia after childbirth or amenorrhea in women.

6. Lotus root + japonica rice 

If nutrient-rich lotus root is eaten together with japonica rice, it has effects such as strengthening the spleen, stimulating the appetite, stopping diarrhea, and enriching the blood, and is suitable for symptoms such as old age and bodily weakness, poor appetite, loose stools, and restlessness and thirst after febrile disease.