Since ancient times, "grains" have been an important member of people's tables.
In ancient times, there was a saying that "five grains are nourished", and the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022)" also emphasizes adhering to the "cereal-based" dietary pattern.
How important is it for the body to eat enough grains? "Life Times" invites experts to interpret the "temper" of grains and teach you to eat them scientifically.
Traditional Chinese Medicine: Grains are the most important food
As early as more than 2,000 years ago, the "Yellow Emperor's Neijing" put forward the dietary preparation principle of "five grains for nourishment, five animals for benefit, five fruits for help, and five vegetables for filling".
Grains, which are at the top of the list, now refer to grains, i.e. carbohydrates.
The ancients said that the five grains are the five grains
Wang Shaokang, director and professor of the Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene at the School of Public Health of Southeast University, said that according to archaeological evidence and ancient records, there are two versions of five grains:
One is "麻 (flaxseed), 菽 (shū, beans), wheat (wheat), 稷 (jì, millet), 黍 (shǔ, rhubarb rice)".
The other is "rice (rice), soybean, wheat, millet, millet".
Regardless of the version, grains include not only cereals, but also soybeans and even seeds.
However, nowadays, many people refuse to consume carbohydrates in order to lose weight, and only eat meat, vegetables and fruits, which is a great departure from the way of health.
Li Jialou, chief physician of the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Fosun Chancheng Hospital in Foshan, Guangdong Province, said that traditional Chinese medicine believes that food and medicine, like medicine, are divided into four attributes: cold, hot, warm and cool, and the five flavors of sour, sweet, bitter, pungent and salty belong to different viscera meridians, but compared with medicine, the sexual taste of food is relatively peaceful.
Therefore, food is the focus of health preservation, and in the eyes of the ancients, grains were the top priority, not only must be eaten, but also should be eaten according to one's own physique.
Grains come with 4 nutritional advantages
Wang Shaokang said that contemporary grains refer to various food crops, and their nutritional value is mainly reflected in the following points.
The body's most important source of energy
Grains are rich in carbohydrates and are the most economical and important source of energy for the human body.
Rich in dietary fiber
Postprandial blood sugar response is low, and the feeling of fullness is strong, which helps to control weight and prevent constipation.
Rich in vitamins and minerals
Grains can provide more vitamins and minerals such as vitamin B1, vitamin B2, potassium, magnesium, etc.
Among them, vitamin B1 and vitamin B2 are very important for maintaining the efficient work of the nervous system and abundant physical energy, and potassium is helpful for controlling blood pressure.
Meet the food variety
The colors are diverse, the variety is rich, and the active substances contained in different colors are different, such as the red, purple, and black cereals of the epidermis are good sources of anthocyanins, while the yellow ones contain carotenoids, and barley and oats are rich in β glucans.
◉ How to make cereal-based?
The latest version of the dietary guidelines recommends "cereals in meals", with a daily intake of 200~300 grams of cereals, including 50~150 grams of whole grains and miscellaneous legumes; 50~100 grams of potatoes.
How to eat grains is more nourishing
It is worth noting that the five grains mentioned by the ancients are all "coarse grains", that is, whole grains that are often referred to nowadays, that is, whole seeds that have been husked but not refined;
And the white rice, white steamed buns, noodles, etc. that we often eat are made with refined grains.
Refined grains, also known as "fine grains", are refined to remove the outer layer of rice and wheat grains, such as the husk and aleurone layer, leaving only the white part with a uniform color, that is, refined white rice and refined white flour.
During processing, most of the nutrients such as dietary fiber and B vitamins are removed, and the health benefits are greatly reduced.
Try to choose real "whole grains", that is, "coarse grains" that retain the aleurone layer, grain germ and other parts, and have a coarser taste, such as oat grains, black rice, brown rice, etc.
Real whole grain food, rich in cereal, the more you chew, the more fragrant it becomes; Consumers should check whether the words "whole wheat" or "whole grain" are at the top of the ingredient list.
Each grain has its own "temper"
- millet
According to Li Jialou, millet is yellow, and it should be soil in the five elements and spleen in the five organs, which has the effect of strengthening the spleen and stomach, nourishing deficiency, and calming the heart and nerves.
Li Shizhen mentioned in the "Compendium of Materia Medica" that millet can "cure nausea and dysentery, cook porridge, benefit dantian, replenish weakness, and open the stomach".
According to different constitutions and symptoms, millet is often used with longan meat and lily to treat insomnia; Add wolfberry and red dates to soften the liver and nourish blood; For those who sweat and catch colds easily, they can be used with astragalus to make porridge; For children with spleen deficiency and diarrhea, you can add yam and gourd to cook porridge together.
- rice
Rice includes japonica rice, glutinous rice, etc., sweet and flat in taste, white in color, should be gold in the five elements, and should be lungs in the five organs.
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that rice has the effect of clearing the lungs and nourishing yin. Occasionally, rice porridge with soft and smooth water and valley blending is used as the staple food, which is not only easy to digest and absorb, but also nourishes yin and lungs, strengthens the spleen and replenishes deficiency.
Japonica rice is made into medicinal porridge with Chinese medicinal herbs, which is often used for health care, such as yam barley porridge for spleen deficiency and diarrhea, white fungus lily porridge for insomnia, red adzuki bean kapok porridge for dampness, etc.
- wheat
Wheat is cool, sweet, yellowish in color, should be wood in the five elements, should be spring in the season, should be liver in the five organs, is called "the valley of the liver", has the effect of soothing liver depression and removing heat.
Zhang Zhongjing, the "medical saint" of the Eastern Han Dynasty, created a famous prescription for treating liver depression and irritability in "Jin Kui Yaolu" - Ganmai jujube soup.
In addition, floating wheat is a special wheat, although the edible value is not high, it is a well-known astringent Chinese medicine, which can fix the surface and stop perspiration, clear heat and remove annoyance.
- Douzi
There are many types of beans such as soybeans, black beans, mung beans, red adzuki beans, lentils, etc.
Black beans are known as the "Valley of the Kidneys", which should be used by the kidneys in the five internal organs, which is beneficial to the kidneys and nourishes the blood;
The soybean color is yellow into the spleen, which has the effect of strengthening the spleen and promoting dampness, clearing heat and detoxifying, and replenishing and invigorating qi;
The red bean color is red into the heart, which can invigorate blood and replenish blood, dilute water and reduce swelling;
The green color of mung beans enters the liver, which can clear the liver and relieve fire, relieve heat and trouble;
The lentils are yellow and white in color, which strengthens the spleen and dispels dampness, and has a good effect of regulating qi.
- sorghum
Sorghum is beige red, sweet and astringent, warm in nature, in the five elements should be fire, in the five organs should be heart, help to get rid of troubles and heat down; It is also rich in dietary fiber, and eating it appropriately can help relieve laxative and diarrheal fever, but excessive consumption may be difficult to digest.
Sorghum rice can be eaten with rice and millet to boil porridge, which has the effect of nourishing the spleen and stomach, nourishing yin and moistening dryness. ▲
Editor of this issue: Xu Menglian
Copyright Notice: This article is the original of "Life Times" and is not reproduced without authorization.