Eat radish in winter, eat ginger in summer. Radish in bed and ginger in bed, no need for doctors to prescribe medicine. Eat ginger in the morning, better than ginseng soup; eat ginger at night, equal to arsenic. We often hear some folk sayings related to radish and ginger. So, do these old sayings apply to our present life? Why do you eat radish in winter? The main reason for saying “eat radish in winter” is that in the past, there were not many other vegetables to eat in winter except radish. In the past, there were not many choices other than radish, and there were not many other vegetables besides cabbage and pickles. But today, with the development of cultivation techniques and means of transport, we can eat a very wide variety of fresh vegetables and fruits all year round. But with the cold weather, everyone prefers to eat meat. This is because, according to the “food heat effect”, eating protein-rich foods (such as meat) will consume more calories and the body will produce heat and feel less cold. The radish eaten with it is mostly fiber and is crisp, refreshing and slightly sweet, which relieves the greasy feeling from eating hot pot or stewed meat. It is important to note that radish does not have any miraculous healing powers. If you compare the nutritional content, radish is, in most cases, a very average “loser”, providing only a modest amount of vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber. There is no need to mention the exaggerated claims such as “radish is ginseng” and “radish cures all diseases”. Don’t be fooled by health rumors. Why eat ginger in summer? Ginger is a common ingredient in everyday cooking. Ginger contains a variety of active ingredients, including volatile oil, curcumin and diphenylheptane. Saying “eat ginger in summer” has something to do with these active ingredients: 1. It can promote appetite In fact, various aromatic and spicy condiments, can promote appetite. Summer weather is too hot, for people with a poor appetite, eating a lot of ginger (for example, in some places there are drinking ginger juice, stewed ginger dessert, chewing ginger food customs) helps to promote appetite and facilitate the digestion and absorption of food. 2, helps inhibit the growth of bacteria Summer food is easily spoiled by bacterial contamination, adding the right amount of ginger, garlic, etc. to dishes can help inhibit the growth and reproduction of bacteria. 3, can promote vasoconstriction and sweating ginger pungency, is the main component of ginger to give a spicy flavor, has a certain effect on the contraction of blood vessels, may promote blood circulation, fever, sweating. 4, suppress vomiting In pregnancy vomiting, seasickness, you can also try to use ginger to suppress the feeling of retching and nausea. But if you just take a small amount of ginger as a condiment, these effects are minimal. Nutrition should be more about variety and balance Folk proverbs like to associate summer, hot and morning, and winter, cold and night. However, it is good to keep our stomach and intestines in a comfortable state of “not too full but not too hungry” when we go to sleep, and it is generally recommended not to eat 2 to 3 hours before going to bed. Eat breakfast regularly every day, the overall nutrition is rich and balanced, where do you have to chew a bite of ginger to get vitality? If you are looking for health, you should pay attention to the overall food diversity and balance, not a single food, or a specific time of the day, time of the year, and do not identify with an old saying.