Bitter Melon Porridge

How much do you know about bitter melon porridge? Let me introduce it to you.

Efficacy: Clears away heat and dispels summer heat, detoxifies and reduces swelling.

Indications: Suitable for heatstroke, summer heat and thirst, carbuncles, boils, hot toxic dysentery, etc.

Explanation of the meaning of porridge: Bitter melon, also known as bitter melon, brocade lychee and bitter grape, is the fruit of the bitter melon plant of the Cucurbitaceae family. It is cultivated all over the country and is an excellent food and medicine.

Bitter melon is a delicacy on the table, and it is particularly appetizing because of its bitter and fragrant taste. There are many ways to eat bitter melon, such as stir-fried bitter melon, stir-fried bitter melon, and stir-fried bitter melon with shredded pork. Although bitter melon is bitter, it never transfers the bitterness to other foods, such as shredded bitter melon with pork, stewed bitter melon with meat, and steamed bitter melon meatballs. Therefore, bitter melon is praised by many gourmets as a "gentleman's dish". In summer, people sweat more, lack of taste, and loss of appetite. The bitter taste of bitter melon can stimulate the taste buds, increase appetite, and help digestion, thus playing the role of appetizing and digesting food. Li Shizhen, a medical scientist in the Ming Dynasty, praised in his masterpiece "Compendium of Materia Medica" that "bitter melon tastes bitter, is cold in nature, non-toxic, and has the functions of removing evil heat, relieving fatigue, clearing the heart and improving eyesight, and invigorating qi and strengthening yang." Therefore, bitter melon is a good vegetable for people to keep fit, relieve heat, and whet their appetite in the hot summer. According to measurements, every 500 grams of bitter melon contains 420 mg of vitamin C, which is 10-20 times higher than that of cucumber and loofah. Eating 100 grams of raw bitter melon every day can provide the vitamin C needed for the whole day. In addition, it also contains 4.5 g of protein, 15 g of sugar, 90 mg of calcium, 145 mg of phosphorus, and 3 mg of iron.

Bitter melon is also a top-grade medicine for treating diseases, especially for diabetes, and is praised as "plant insulin". According to Chinese medicine, bitter melon is sweet and cold in nature, enters the spleen and stomach meridians, has the functions of clearing away heat and relieving restlessness, detoxifying and stopping dysentery, and is suitable for heatstroke, thirst, carbuncle, dysentery, etc. "Southern Yunnan Materia Medica" says that it "treats dantian toxic gas, treats malignant sores, or sesame carbuncle all over the body. It can purge the six meridians of real fire, clear heat, replenish qi, and quench thirst". "Shengsheng Bian" says that it "removes evil heat, relieves fatigue, clears the heart and brightens the eyes". "Bencao Qiuzhen" says that it "removes heat and relieves restlessness". Pharmacological analysis shows that bitter melon contains bitter melon polypeptides (each 100 grams of bitter melon contains 25 mg of polypeptides), various amino acids and pectin. Indian researchers have found that bitter melon polypeptides have a significant effect in lowering blood sugar. Animal experiments have confirmed that insulin-like substances can not only reduce the blood sugar of severely diabetic animals and restore it to normal, but also have the same efficacy whether injected or taken orally. Researchers at Peking University Medical School in my country have found that bitter melon polypeptides have the effects of rapidly lowering blood sugar, regulating pancreatic islet function, repairing tail cells, increasing insulin sensitivity, preventing and improving complications, regulating blood lipids, and improving immunity. Therefore, nutritionists and doctors recommend bitter melon as a good medicine for treating diabetes. Middle-aged and elderly people with diabetes can grind bitter melon into powder and press it into tablets for consumption, or fry it, or decoct it in water, or cook it into porridge.

Note: People with weak spleen and stomach should not eat it, as it will cause abdominal pain.