Longan: Benefits and Effects, How It Differs from Guiyuan, and How Much to Eat Per Day

Longan is one of the fruits many people love to eat, with its small fruit and sweet flesh making it widely popular. So how much do you know about the benefits and effects of longan? What is the difference between longan and guiyuan, and how much longan is appropriate to eat per day? Let me answer these one by one for you.

1. The Benefits and Effects of Longan

1. Guiyuan can tonify the heart and spleen, nourish the blood and calm the mind, and beautify the skin, making it very suitable for people with insomnia, poor memory, neurasthenia, anemia, and weakness after illness. For women, guiyuan is very effective for nourishing the blood and moisturizing the skin, calming the mind and aiding sleep.

2. Middle-aged and elderly people and those with a weak constitution who eat it regularly in winter can replenish qi and blood, restore vitality, resist wind-cold, and delay aging.

3. Pregnant women, people with excess liver fire, and those with coughs or asthma should not eat guiyuan. Silver ear (tremella) is neutral in nature and sweet and mild in taste, and has the effects of nourishing yin and moistening the lungs. Guiyuan contains glucose, vitamins, sucrose and other substances, is rich in nutrients, and has the effects of calming the heart and mind and nourishing the blood and benefiting the spleen. It is regarded by people as an excellent tonic.

4. It also has the effects of promoting body fluid, tonifying qi, nourishing the brain, and strengthening the heart. It is not only suitable for all women and children and those weak after illness, but also has very good skin-softening and beauty effects for women.

2. The Difference Between Longan and Guiyuan

Longan and guiyuan are actually the same fruit; after the longan is peeled, pitted, and dried in the sun, it becomes guiyuan. This is why many people cannot tell them apart and think they are two different things, but there really is a slight difference between them.

1. Difference in Taste

Longan is a fruit we can buy in daily life. It is fresh and can be eaten directly. After peeling off the skin, the flesh is crystal clear and somewhat like lychee, making people unable to resist eating it in one bite. Once in the mouth, the flesh is fresh, smooth, and juicy, delicious and sweet, and in summer it is even more thirst-quenching and cooling after being chilled. Guiyuan, however, is made by drying longan, so it lacks the fresh, tender, and juicy taste of longan, but its flavor is sweeter and richer.

2. Difference in Effects

Longan is rich in nutrients, containing various sugars and proteins, and also has a relatively high iron content, which can promote hemoglobin regeneration. According to research, it can also enhance memory and eliminate fatigue. Guiyuan is not suitable for direct consumption and is mostly used to make soups and decoctions. It can prevent many diseases, and especially has a good nourishing effect on the bodies of women. It can replenish blood and calm the mind, and also has the effect of inhibiting uterine cancer cells. It can prevent various diseases in women during menopause, making it a relatively ideal Chinese medicine.

3. Difference in Storage and Price

Longan tastes better, but because it is not easy to store, it cannot be eaten at all times; it can only be eaten during the peak longan season

. Guiyuan, however, is easy to store and can be eaten all year round. It also has many ways of being consumed, can be used both as food and as medicine, and has powerful effects, so its price is often higher than that of longan.

3. How Much Longan Is Appropriate to Eat Per Day?

If it is fresh longan, eating 10-—15 pieces per day is appropriate, and it is best not to exceed 20 pieces. If it is dried longan flesh, about 8—10 pieces is about right. Dried guiyuan is a dried product of longan, and its hot nature is stronger than that of longan. People who usually have excessive internal heat, frequently feel thirsty, drink a lot of water, and sweat a lot are not suited to eating much of it, as it easily causes internal heat.

Longan is a fruit that is both nutritious and can increase appetite, but at the same time it very easily makes people “heaty.” Therefore, when eating this kind of fruit, the amount should not be too much, especially for children, the elderly, and those with chronic tonsillitis, pharyngitis, “excess deficiency fire,” constipation, diabetes, and other conditions, who should even more so not eat or eat only a little of “heaty” fruits such as longan.

Guiyuan is rich in nutrients, among which the carbohydrate content is 16.2g, and the flesh contains 12.38-22.55% total sugar and 3.85-10.16% reducing sugar. After being made into dried guiyuan, all of these sugars become glucose, and eating a large amount of guiyuan easily causes blood sugar to rise sharply.

Guiyuan is warm in nature and sweet in taste, and can help fire transform dryness. Anyone with yin deficiency and internal heat should not eat it. Longan is a hot-natured food, and dried guiyuan is a dried product of longan, with a hotter nature than longan. People who usually have excessive internal heat, frequently feel thirsty, drink a lot of water, and sweat a lot are not suited to eating much of it, as it easily causes internal heat.

Eating too much guiyuan (longan) very easily causes the body to suffer from longan sickness. The main symptoms of longan sickness are diarrhea, nosebleeds, oral mucosal inflammation or mouth ulcers, and even constipation.

Although in theory guiyuan has the effect of calming the fetus, many women experience yin deficiency during pregnancy, causing internal heat in the body to rise. In traditional Chinese medicine, it is believed that the diet during pregnancy is best kept cooler, while guiyuan is hot in nature, so women must be cautious about taking guiyuan during pregnancy, and excessive consumption may lead to miscarriage.

Women with gynecological inflammation should not eat much guiyuan. Guiyuan is a hot-natured food that can help fire and promote inflammation, aggravating the spread of gynecological inflammation.

1. Pregnant women need to be cautious about eating longan. After a woman becomes pregnant, most have relatively deficient yin blood, and yin deficiency then generates internal heat. Traditional Chinese medicine advocates that before childbirth the diet should be cool, while longan is hot in nature. Therefore, in order to avoid miscarriage, pregnant women should eat it cautiously.

2. Longan is a damp-heat food, and eating too much easily causes qi stagnation, so it should not be eaten when there are symptoms of internal heat and inflammation. Those with phlegm-fire internally or yin deficiency with fire hyperactivity, as well as those with dampness stagnation and retained fluids, should avoid eating it; when there is a thick, greasy tongue coating, qi congestion and fullness, slippery intestines and diarrhea, wind-cold common cold, or indigestion, it should be avoided.

3. Dried longan contains relatively high natural sugar, so people with diabetes should avoid eating it.

4. Those with acne, external carbuncles, furuncles, and sores, women with pelvic inflammation, urethritis, or excessive menstruation should also avoid eating it.

5. Longan is hot in nature and helps fire, so children and adolescents should also eat less of it; longan is best eaten fresh, and pieces that have changed flavor should not be eaten.