What should Chinese yam not be eaten with? The benefits and effects of Chinese yam, a food and medicine dual-use ingredient

Chinese yam, also commonly called huaishan, is a highly nutritious food and also a Chinese medicinal herb used as both food and medicine, and it is deeply loved by the public. So what should Chinese yam not be eaten with? What are the benefits and effects of Chinese yam? Let us introduce it to you below!

Chinese yam, also known as shuyu, tushu, shanshuyu, huai yam, huaishan, and white yam, is a medicinal herb recorded in Chinese Materia Medica. It is a relatively common ingredient at home, generally used to make porridge or stir-fries, and is mainly produced in Bo'ai, Wuzhi, Wen County, and other places in Henan.

1. What should Chinese yam not be eaten with?

1. Vegetables

(1) Carrot

Chinese yam is rich in vitamin C, while carrot is rich in vitamin C-degrading enzyme. If Chinese yam and carrot are eaten together, the vitamin C in Chinese yam will be broken down and destroyed.

(2) Cucumber

Chinese yam is rich in vitamin C, while cucumber is rich in vitamin C-degrading enzyme. If the two are eaten together, the vitamin C will be broken down, causing a waste of nutrients.

(3) Pumpkin

The vitamin C-degrading enzyme contained in pumpkin will break down and destroy the vitamin C in Chinese yam, reducing the nutritional value of Chinese yam.

(4) Winter squash

Winter squash is rich in vitamin C-degrading enzyme, and Chinese yam is rich in vitamin C. If the two are eaten together, the vitamin C-degrading enzyme will break down the vitamin C, causing the vitamin C to be destroyed.

2. Meat

(1) Shrimp

Chinese yam should not be eaten with shrimp. If the two are eaten together, symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain may occur.

(2) Carp

Chinese yam should not be eaten with carp. Eating them together may cause symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting.

(3) Pork liver

Chinese yam should not be eaten with pork liver. Pork liver contains metal trace elements such as copper, iron, and zinc, while Chinese yam is rich in vitamin C. When vitamin C encounters metal ions, it is destroyed due to accelerated oxidation.

(4) Venison

Chinese yam should not be eaten with venison. Eating Chinese yam and venison together is astringent and may easily cause constipation.

3. Gansui (Euphorbia kansui)

Chinese yam should not be eaten with gansui.

Chinese yam tonifies the kidney, strengthens the spleen, and moistens the lungs, while gansui drains water and removes swelling, can stimulate the intestinal tract, increase intestinal peristalsis, and produce a purgative effect. The effects of these two are completely opposite, so they should not be taken together.

4. Alkaline drugs

Chinese yam should not be eaten with alkaline drugs.

Chinese yam contains amylase. When Chinese yam is taken with alkaline drugs, the alkaline drugs will make the amylase in Chinese yam inactive, reducing the nutritional value of Chinese yam.

5. Buckwheat rice

Chinese yam should not be eaten with buckwheat rice. Eating them together may cause physical discomfort.

2. What is best to eat Chinese yam with?

1. Chinese yam + hyacinth bean, lotus seed, red date, corn, almond

Eating Chinese yam with these foods has the effect of strengthening the spleen, tonifying the kidney, and benefiting the stomach and intestines, and can absorb more nutrients; paired with red date, it can strengthen the effects of Chinese yam.

2. Chinese yam + duck meat, snow fungus

Chinese yam with duck meat or snow fungus can have the effect of nourishing yin and moistening the lungs.

3. Chinese yam + walnut: Eating Chinese yam with walnut has the effects of tonifying the middle and benefiting qi, strengthening the bones and muscles, and benefiting the brain and intelligence.

4. Chinese yam + sesame: Sesame is suitable for calcium supplementation, and Chinese yam has the effect of promoting calcium absorption.

5. Chinese yam + chicken gizzard: Eating Chinese yam paired with chicken gizzard can treat infantile spleen deficiency and malnutrition.

3. The benefits and effects of Chinese yam

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that Chinese yam is sweet in flavor and neutral in nature, enters the lung, spleen, and kidney meridians, and is neither drying nor greasy.

1. The seven major effects of Chinese yam

(1) Effect one: Delaying aging and prolonging life

Chinese yam can promote the brain's secretion of dehydroepiandrosterone. Taking dehydroepiandrosterone can improve sleep, make people feel happy, full of vitality, look younger, and have a good appetite, achieving the effects of strengthening the body and delaying aging. At the same time, Chinese yam can effectively prevent blood lipids from depositing on blood vessel walls, prevent cardiovascular disease, and achieve the effects of calming the mind and prolonging life.

(2) Effect two: Lowering blood pressure

In some traditional Chinese medicines, there are formulas made with Chinese yam. Chinese yam contains saponins, which can lower cholesterol and triglycerides, and has an improving effect on conditions such as high blood pressure and high blood lipids.

(3) Effect three: Treating skin diseases

Chinese yam is often used to treat chapped hands and feet, ichthyosis, and various keratinizing skin diseases. This is because the allantoin contained in Chinese yam has anesthetic and analgesic effects and can promote epithelial growth, reduce inflammation, and inhibit bacteria.

(4) Effect four: Treating diarrhea due to spleen deficiency

Chinese yam is sweet in flavor and has a good effect on treating diarrhea due to spleen deficiency. Chinese yam is a mild tonic and strengthening medicine that strengthens the spleen, benefits the stomach, and relaxes the intestines, and has a relatively good curative effect on chronic diarrhea caused by decreased gastrointestinal function.

(5) Effect five: Tonifying the lungs and benefiting qi, aiding digestion

Chinese yam has the effect of tonifying the lungs and benefiting qi. In addition, Chinese yam contains substances such as amylase and polyphenol oxidase, which are beneficial to the digestion and absorption function of the spleen and stomach. It is a mild tonic for the spleen and stomach and a product used as both food and medicine.

(6) Effect six: Nourishing yin and stopping cough, regulating the lungs and resolving phlegm

Chinese yam contains saponins and mucilage, which have lubricating and nourishing effects. It can benefit lung qi, nourish lung yin, and treat the symptoms of lung deficiency with phlegm cough and chronic cough.

(7) Effect seven: Tonifying the kidney and benefiting essence

Chinese yam contains a variety of nutrients and has the effect of strengthening the body and nourishing the kidney and benefiting essence. Anyone with symptoms such as kidney deficiency and spermatorrhea, women with excessive vaginal discharge, and frequent urination can eat Chinese yam for regulation.

2. The five major actions of Chinese yam

(1) Action one: Effective blood sugar-lowering effect.

(2) Action two: Regulating immune function.

(3) Action three: Chinese yam has the function of stimulating small intestine movement and promoting intestinal excretion.

(4) Action four: The nutrients it contains are related to mucilage and amylase. It has a tonic effect and can aid digestion, stop diarrhea, and eliminate phlegm.

(5) Action five: Regulating the body's responsiveness to nonspecific stimuli.

4. Who is not suitable to eat Chinese yam?

In fact, the general population can eat Chinese yam.

1. People who are not suitable to eat Chinese yam

(1) People with constipation. Chinese yam contains abundant starch, so people with chest and abdominal distension, dry stool, and constipation should best eat less of it.

(2) Men with prostate cancer and women with breast cancer. The diosgenin component contained in Chinese yam can synthesize hormones in the human body, such as testosterone and estrogen. Therefore, it is not suitable for male patients with prostate cancer or female patients with breast cancer to consume.

2. People who are suitable to eat Chinese yam

(1) People with lung deficiency and cough

(2) People who are fatigued

(3) People who want to lose weight

(4) People with diarrhea due to spleen deficiency

(5) Men and women with kidney deficiency

(6) People with gastric ulcers

There are still many benefits to eating Chinese yam, but you should also pay attention to the foods in the article that cannot be eaten with Chinese yam. In addition, when peeling or washing Chinese yam, be sure to wear gloves, otherwise it may cause itching symptoms.