How to choose winter melon

　　Green-skinned winter melon is somewhere in between. It is better for citizens to buy black-skinned winter melon. The fruit of this kind of winter melon is shaped like a cannonball (long rod-shaped). Choose one with well-proportioned strips and no hot spots (sunburn spots). Since the selling price is the same, it is more cost-effective than buying other types of winter melon.

　　It is particularly pointed out that you should press the pulp of winter melon with your fingers and buy the ones with dense flesh, because this kind of winter melon tastes good; the soft flesh turns into "bubbles" after being cooked and tastes bad. The best consumption period is the mid-summer season of July and August. Although winter melon is resistant to storage, its eating quality is still the best when fresh.

　　【Nutritional ingredients】

　　Every 100 grams of winter melon meat contains 0.4 grams of protein, 2.4 grams of carbohydrates, 19 mg of calcium, 12 mg of phosphorus, 0.3 mg of iron and a variety of vitamins, especially vitamin C. It contains 16 mg per 100 grams. tomato 1.2 times.

　　Winter melon contains almost no fat (0.2%) and low carbohydrate content (1.9%), so it has low caloric value and is a light food.

　　【Medicinal effects】

　　Winter melon is the vegetable with the highest water content (more than 96%). Because winter melon is cool in nature, it can clear away heat and relieve summer heat, diuretic and laxative, which helps the body to clear away waste and detoxify. It is also suitable for treating edema, fullness, phlegm and asthma, carbuncle, hemorrhoids and other diseases.

　　Because the glycolic acid contained in winter melon can inhibit the process of converting carbohydrates into fat in the body, it has the effect of losing weight. This just provides scientific support for the view in "Dietotherapeutic Materia Medica" that "those who want to be thin, light and healthy can eat it regularly".

　　Li Shizhen, a famous doctor in ancient my country, said in "Compendium of Materia Medica" that using decoction of winter melon pulp to wash your face and take a bath can make people feel better. skin Fair and shiny.

　　Folks often mash winter melon kernels, mix them with honey, and apply them on the face to moisturize the skin. This method can also be used to treat freckles.

　　[Taboos when eating]

　　Winter melon is a cooling food, suitable for people with fire body, but not for people with cold body. "Dietotherapeutic Materia Medica" says: "Hot food is good for eating, cold food is good for slimming. ”"Compendium of Materia Medica" says: "If you are deficient and have cold kidneys, or have chronic illness and have diarrhea, you should not eat. ”