Don’t eat cold things on your period...and other advice from Chinese people.
Don’t eat cold things on your period.
I first found out about this in Taiwan. All the counselors had been served this delicious desert of shaved ice covered with mango. We were all eating, and one girl wasn’t eating.
“Why aren’t you eating?” I asked. “You don’t like it?”
“No” she smiled coyly. “Its my time of the month.”
“I don’t understand.......” All the other Americans around me likewise looked confused. The Taiwanese girl looked embarrassed.
“Because it’s cold. It’d bad to eat cold things on your period”
I have since double checked with other Chinese women and this is indeed a tradition on the mainland and Taiwan. No cold foods when Aunt Flo visits.
edit: My young female Chinese friend said her modern medicine doctor also told her this. Apparently, eating cold foods does create adverse physical symptoms for her.
Ginger is good for women on their period.
When telling a friend about my tea preferences, I mentioned that I enjoy putting chunks of fresh ginger in my hot water. “Oh,” she said. “That’s actually really good for you. Especially when you’re on your period.”
better yet, who believes?
Dried red dates are good for women on their period
I first encountered this in Beijing. My Chinese roommate had gotten a care package from her mom with dried red dates in them. They’re about the size of a grape tomato, with a wrinkled dark crimson outer skin.
They didn’t look like my cup of tea. So when she offered one, I politely declined.
“Are you sure? It’s really good for women. It gives you more iron in your blood,” she encouraged.
“Really?” I was skeptical. In the states everyone totes spinach and red meat, but I’ve never heard of dried red dates.
She continued to insist that it really was good for boosting iron in your blood.
Skip to two years later, I’m talking with Fan about Chinese food that is meant to “boost your blood” and I mentioned that I had red dates was supposed to boost iron.
“Ah HA” says Fan. “Very interesting. This is a very popular idea. Many many people eat red dates, especially women to give their blood more iron. But do red dates actually have a significant amount of iron......no they don’t.”
At this point Fan was working up to a big conclusion. You could see the sparkle in his eyes. “SO, why did people think that red dates have iron? BECAUSE they’re RED. Ancient Chinese people thought that since blood was red and red dates were the same dark red that eating the dates would rejuvenate the blood.”
Maybe color coordination isn’t the best way to determine nutritional benefits of food.
edit: my young female friend said her doctor legit told her that red dates were good for her blood.
Always drink hot water. No matter what ailment.
If you tell a Chinese person you’re not feeling well, they will almost assurdly recommend drinking hot water. “duō hé rè shuǐ 多喝热水“
After singing with the first graders, our classroom helper always tells me to drink hot water.
If my students hear me sneeze, drink hot water.
My friend was given a cupping massage treatment and they told her not to drink anything but hot water for the next day.
And Fan mentioned that in hospitals when recovering from treatment, people always drink hot water. Old Chinese people who have to get operations in the USA are dismayed to discover that the only available water is cold.
Spicy food makes your skin break out.
My friend Lucy says her doctor told her this. The spicy food creates too much “heat” in your body and it comes out in the form of acne. This is a Chinese traditional medicine concept that has apparently infiltrated modern medicine in China.
I explained that the typical attitude of American dermatologists was that food didn’t affect your skin, that hormones and antibiotics were to blame/use to create solution. According to the literature I’ve read, the lack of clinical trials about diet means that doctors are unconvinced of the effect of certain foods. That said, there are some doctors convinced through their personal experience and collected knowledge that dairy products are bad for the skin (because they contain the cow’s hormones) and foods with a high glycemic load (like sugar and refined carbohydrates) are also bad. They never mentioned anything about spicy or not spicy.
In response to this, my Chinese friend said that her doctor told her dairy products were good for her skin.
Honey is bad for small children cause it contains hormones that could start puberty early.
The result of an interesting conversation with Fan and Zhang. Apparently, they don’t want Adrianna eating large amounts of honey. I have no idea if this idea has a scientific consensus.
GMO food could make you infertile. Don’t eat it if you want to have babies.
This is apparently a common misconception among some people. There is actually quite a lot of suspicion against GMO food in China, despite no scientific proof to show it effects human health.
Coca cola will make men infertile?
This a favorite. Benji’s girlfriend say this is apparently a thing.
