A Healthy Perspective of the Vegetarian Food (4a) --
從健康談素食英譯(4a)
Translated by
Jack Houng
(Chinese version, by Dr. Hung-Ying Shih,
was published on EHVA Newsletter (12), Dec. 2000)
The Nature, Flavors and Herbal Properties of
Common Vegetables
Introduction to Common
Vegetables
In the following section, we will introduce some common vegetables
and their nature, flavors, and herbal properties. These vegetables include baby
Bok Choy, Napa cabbage, Yu Choy, turnip green, Chinese
mustard green, spinach, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, broccoli, celery, chive,
and onion. Among these, Yu Choy and mustard green are hot in nature while chive
and onion are warm in nature. The rest are either cool or cold. Therefore, we
need to pay attention to the cold-hot balance principle so that we will not
upset our stomach and intestines (a symptom known as “cold stomach”).
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine
(TCM), baby Bok Choy can “relieve heat and irritation” and is listed as mild in
nature. Since it can alleviate heat, it should probably be close to cool in
nature. Cabbage is mild in nature. Lettuce, broccoli, celery, and spinach are
all cool in nature, while Napa cabbage is cold in nature.
Vegetables that are cool in nature can act as diuretics and thus are
helpful in dealing with infections of the urinary system such as urethritis or
vaginitis. In fact, a good way to treat these problems is not to take
antibiotics or drink cranberry juice, but to eat more Bok Choy, baby Bok Choy
and Napa cabbage. These vegetables are cool or
cold in nature, and will help disperse water and dampness. One must note that unless
the body is in heat condition, eating too many cool or cold natured vegetables
will change body constitution to cold type. Mustard green, chive, onion and Yu Choy
are the rare vegetables that are warm or hot in nature. Vegetarians should eat
at least one of these in every meal.
Stem Vegetables
Common stem vegetables
include asparagus, bamboo shoots, and bean sprouts. They are all cold in
nature. According to TCM, asparagus can “clear fire and relieve heat”. Bamboo
shoots can “clear heart fire and alleviate heat”. Mung bean sprouts can “remove
toxin and benefit triple heater”. Asparagus and spinach contain large amount of
oxalic acid and uric acid. For people who have difficulties eliminating oxalic
acid and uric acid, the excess two acids will combine calcium ions in the body
to form crystals (stones). Deposits of the crystals in tissues around the joints
can trigger attacks of gout. If the stone forms in the kidney, it could result
in kidney failure. Seniors who suffer arthritis or gout with swollen and
painful joints; or people whose urine has distinct scent after eating asparagus
and spinach should restrict their intake of these two vegetables.
Our ancestors discovered food that had
been processed at high temperature or cooked for a long period of time would
have its cold nature destroyed partially or altered. Thus its impact of
changing the body constitution to coldness will be reduced. The canned bamboo
shoot is a good example. It is not as cold in nature as regular bamboo shoot
because it has been sterilized at high temperature and its fiber softened.
Therefore, canned bamboo shoots are more digestible.
Root Vegetables
Root vegetables include potato, sweet
potato, taro, Chinese radish (daikon), carrot, lotus root, and burdock. Potato
is mild in nature, and helps “nourishing the vitality (qi) and strengthening
the spleen”. Sweet potato is also mild in nature and helps “movement in
the intestines and stomach, and alleviating constipation”. Taro is mild in
nature and helps “movement in the intestines and lubricating the center
(stomach and spleen)”. Daikon is cool in nature and helps “removing food
stagnation and preventing mucus due to heat condition from forming”. Carrot is
mild in nature and helps “nourishing the spleen and treating minor
indigestion”. Lotus root is cool in nature and helps “strengthening the spleen
and stanching blood”. Burdock is cold in nature and helps “relieving swelling
heat and quenching thirst”. What we must note is that these root vegetables
should not be eaten frequently. We often eat potato, sweet potato and taro as
main sources of carbohydrates, but these vegetables are very sticky in nature
and will cause flatulence.
Chinese radish (daikon) is a very
important vegetable contributing to the wellness of the body, especially in the
winter. There is a famous Chinese saying, “eating more ginger in the summer and
more Chinese radish in the winter”. This is because during the winter, many
people eat hot food (especially in northern China
where hot pot stew is very popular). The cool nature of daikon and its ability
to aid digestion can be used to balance the heat from over-eating the hot food.
If one eats too much cold food in the summer, then eating ginger is a must,
because ginger can warm the stomach. These methods help us to balance the
outcome of our excessive changes in eating habits influenced by different
seasons. However, we will emphasize again that it is not necessary to eat too
much of these root vegetables.
Lotus root helps “strengthening the
spleen and stanching blood.” Many children's nasal polyps are swollen so their
noses bleed easily. A simple cure is to eat more lotus root. Either lotus root
juice, or stir-fried lotus root is effective while lotus root powder is not. We
mentioned earlier that lotus root can stanch blood. It doesn't necessarily mean
we should also eat more lotus roots when other parts of the body bleed. Why
then is lotus root effective in stanching nose bleeding? This actually has to
do with the “affinity” of lotus root in relation to nasal polyp. Theoretically,
when we eat something, the food will be distributed evenly throughout the body.
The concentration is all the same throughout. However, the amount of time that
the food remains in a specific area will be different. Lotus root has stronger
affinity with the nasal polyp; therefore it stays there longer and becomes
effective.
Burdock: Once, some people thought that burdock could treat diabetes
so they ate a lot of it. But burdock is cold in nature, bitter in flavor with
herbal properties of relieving swelling heat and quenching thirst. It must be
very cold in order to relieve swelling heat and quench thirst. Thus it is okay
to eat burdock once a while; but do not treat it as medicine. The side effect
of its “cold nature and bitter flavor” will start to affect the body after eating
too much of it.♁ (To be continued )
如何提高身體的能量？〈一〉
健康新知精選 林溫裕 譯自 Consumer Reports on Health, Vol.
14,No.1
在電視上，你可以看到網球健將皮特山普拉斯猛吞維他命丸以“提高能量”的畫面。網站上有個公司聲稱它的產品最接近“快速能量”。麥片製品Wheatie
Energy Crunch在盒子上的說明書提到“能量”有十二次之多。可提高能量是產品的重要賣點。在做心理測驗時，覺得自己快樂的人通常也認為自己有較高的能量。
雖然這些製造商宣稱他們的產品可以提高能量。基本上，能量得由人體自己製造，而不能取巧買現成的。能量來自日光，經由植物的光合作用，儲存在可被食用的物質裏。人們攝取這些食物後，能量就貯藏在人體的細胞內。即使在休息狀態，人們仍然需要利用這些貯存的能量來維持身體的體溫、心臟的跳動、肺部的呼吸、消化系統、腎臟的運作及腦部的功能。
透過体內物質的生化反應可以產生身心作用所需的能量。你的健康情形、生活方式及家族史都可能影響身体的能量。回答下面十個問題，再參照後面的討論，可以對自己的能量度做一番評估。
能量度測驗：
1. 你的年紀是
- (a) 超過60歲
- (b) 在25歲與60歲之間
- (c) 在15歲與24歲之間
2.
你的健康狀態
3.
你每晚所需睡眠時間
- (a) 4-5小時
- (b) 6-7小時
- (c) 超過7小時
4.
你服藥嗎？
- (a) 每天都服一種或多種藥物
- (b) 很少
- (c) 幾乎從不
5.
你運動嗎？
- (a) 誰有時間？
- (b) 散步而已
- (c) 舉重並常走路
6.
你父母的體格及生活方式
- (a) 過重，很少運動
- (b) 中等体格，中度運動量
- (c) 偏瘦，精力充沛
7.
你的盤子上都裝些什麼食物？
- (a) 含高卡洛里的食物
- (b) 不一定
- (c) 油脂及份量都很注意的食物
8.
當你下午須要提神時，你選擇
- (a) 一杯咖啡及糖果bar〈candy bar〉
- (b) 能量bar〈energy bar〉
- (c) 紅蘿蔔，硬乳酪及餅乾
9.
你的体重
- (a) 醫生說我必須減肥
- (b) 中等
- (c) 瘦且結實
10. 你常情緒低落，緊張嗎？
答案：如果答案大多數是“a”的話，你的能量較低。反之，若多數是“c”的話，能量較高。請參照下面的解釋。
待續•••
石頭記
心得分享 夏潔寰
話說月前，老師傳授了排腎結石的方便法門後，兩件舊事不約而同地，在我現在生活中重現。
我並不是個能回家後勤做功課的學生。可是課堂上，在老師嚴格督導要求下，所完成的就已非常可觀。這排石機關一經啟動，似乎就波濤洶湧勢不可擋。
先是日以繼夜的口乾舌燥，隨身一瓶水是絕不可少。只差沒接根水管到喉嚨，水喝多了實在對身體出清存貨雜貨有極大的幫助。不怕各位看官笑話，這一時期的小號均雲淡風清得緊，然而凡事有利必有弊，此樁也逃不掉。水喝多了，自然就要常往廁所報到。為了避免使用懷孕時打探出來的各大小商號公私廁所起見，我幾乎在家禁足了兩個星期。
曾以為那段訓練孩子們使用馬桶的不堪回首的日子已成歷史，不會再來。無奈我又再度和它親切了起來。無他，只因我的成績都在其中亮相。
其實腎結石因各家廠牌不同而大有出入，課堂上有同修排的是貨真價實如碎米粒的極小碎石。而草包如再下，連排石也不爭氣。只落得如棉絮般實在和石頭沾不上邊的腎結棉。醜媳婦還是得見公婆，某日興起乾脆將它們撈起。一請老師法眼鑑定，二請同修們雅俗共賞，不亦樂乎。
排石近一個月，才知不成功便成仁的嚴重性。在此謝過老師再造之恩。祝同修們排石成功，數量可蓋萬里長城。祝同修們排石順利，體重起碼大跌十斤。
編者附註： 排石期間注意事項如下：
-
必須喝大量的水，以助腎石的排出。
-
避免食用含草酸或嘌呤高的食物〈參照表一，表二〉。
-
利用攝取高劑量維生素C治病〈Vitamin C Therapy〉者必須喝更多量的水，以稀釋ascorbic acid〈維生素C的主要成份〉的濃度。建議不要用中和過的維生素C〈Buffered Vitamin C〉；因為其中含鈣離子，容易形成結晶。
表一：含草酸高的食物
蘆筍、甜菜、菠菜、醡醬草、蒲公英、曼越橘、無花果、醋栗〈Gooseberries〉、李子、大黃葉〈Rhubarb〉、覆盆子、紅茶、巧克力、可可、咖啡、動物膠（Gelatin）、胡椒。
表二：含嘌呤高的食物
鰻魚、牛肉湯、腦、高湯、鵝、肉湯、肉汁、心臟、青魚、腎臟、肝臟、鯖魚、肉精、碎肉，魚卵、沙丁魚、干貝、胰臟、酵母。♁
長青素食譜 素蘿蔔糕
長青