After Mr. Jiang insisted on eating Lycium barbarum for a year, he found that his mental outlook was much better than before, and his body was not abnormal. He thought it was the reason for eating Lycium barbarum, so he told his family and friends around him to keep in good health as early as possible, and not to get sick easily after middle age.
Mr. Jiang said that Lycium barbarum has health preserving effect. Is it scientific?
Lycium barbarum is no stranger to everyone, because most people say it has high nutritional value. So, where is it?
I think it is necessary for everyone to understand some ingredients contained in Lycium barbarum. Next, let's take a look at the contents of various nutrients contained in every 100g of Lycium barbarum. Note: This data comes from Data Sheet of Basic Components of Functional Food Raw Materials in China.
It can be seen from the table that Lycium barbarum is rich in β carotene, hydroxylutein and Lycium barbarum polysaccharide, among which β carotene is the precursor of vitamin A and its color is red, which is why Lycium barbarum is red. Moreover, the substance can prevent the deficiency of vitamin A, which is very suitable for the "night cat family".
But recently, a kind of black and purple wolfberry has appeared on the market, that is, black wolfberry. What's the explanation? In fact, it is not only black wolfberry, but also common fruits and vegetables such as grapes, purple cabbage, red amaranth, purple potato and blueberry. This is mainly because they are rich in an ingredient called anthocyanin. As the name implies, anthocyanin is a pigment that can change color with the acidity and alkalinity of cell fluid. Generally speaking, the cellular fluid is red when it is acidic, and blue when it is alkaline. Therefore, there will be a distinction between black wolfberry and red wolfberry.
However, it is also worth noting that anthocyanins belong to the flavonoid family. You may be unfamiliar with this name, and it seems that you have heard of isoflavones (phytoestrogens), which generally exist in soy products. In fact, the functional activity of flavonoids is also very important. Because it is a phenolic compound, it is a subset of plant nutrients found in a large number of different plant foods.
Prior to this, a study in the international academic journal Nature showed that eating foods rich in flavonoids can effectively reduce the incidence of cancer and heart disease, especially for smokers and alcoholics.
Studies have shown that Lycium barbarum can also prevent macular aging and lesions, which are mostly related to lutein. Therefore, doctors advise patients to supplement lutein properly, which may alleviate and prevent macular degeneration.
Because of this, many researchers call Lycium barbarum a food with the same origin of medicine and food. In addition, the role of Lycium barbarum in treating diseases is not limited to this, and there are some things you may not know.
If you are interested, please read patiently.
Nowadays, with the steady improvement of the quality of life, the number of people suffering from three high diseases (hypertension, hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia) is also growing. Therefore, everyone is always vigilant. Before eating food, it may be necessary to evaluate whether the food is beneficial to the body.
Take Lycium barbarum as an example, there are many controversies. Some people think that "Lycium barbarum is so sweet that it is easy to raise blood sugar after eating it." Others think that "Lycium barbarum is a health food, and everyone should eat more."
So, what is the truth about whether Lycium barbarum lowers blood sugar or raises blood sugar?
Accurately speaking, according to many research reports, Lycium barbarum has hypoglycemic and antidiabetic effects, and can even reduce radiation damage. This is mainly due to the fact that Lycium barbarum contains polysaccharides. Polysaccharide is composed of different monosaccharides, so polysaccharide is not a single chemical substance, but a mixture with different polymerization degrees.
Why is polysaccharide good? Take the well-known sea cucumber as an example. The reason why sea cucumber is called tonic is mainly because it is rich in collagen and sea cucumber polysaccharide. Collagen is not a high-quality protein. If the body contains enough vitamin C and some amino acids, it can be synthesized by itself.
The polysaccharide in sea cucumber is really valuable, which has therapeutic effects such as lowering blood sugar, lowering blood pressure and enhancing immunity.
Even if you know exactly that Lycium barbarum has the effect of lowering blood sugar, you can't blindly overeat it. Because the content of polysaccharide active substances in Lycium barbarum is not as much as you think, and the amount of Lycium barbarum eaten a day is limited, it is a bit whimsical to reduce blood sugar by eating Lycium barbarum.
Moreover, many doctors have proved that Lycium barbarum can only play an auxiliary role in treating diabetes. In order to really lower blood sugar, it is necessary to control the intake of fatty and high-sugar foods through a balanced diet.
At this point, I would also like to take this opportunity to extend a knowledge point to you, or to help you correct a misunderstanding. Diabetes is also classified as a chronic disease, and sugar friends should not have too many misunderstandings especially in diet, because once they eat the wrong food, they may endanger their lives. Therefore, they directly reject some foods that are easy to raise blood sugar.
In fact, for diabetics, there is no food that can't be eaten at all, like some foods with high sugar content. Just eating a little bit will directly raise blood sugar? So, it's a matter of intake.
In addition, some foods are not sweet or even sour, and the sugar content is not necessarily low, such as hawthorn is a common example. Therefore, if you want to really judge whether a food is suitable for diabetics, you should not only look at whether it tastes sweet or not, but also look at its GI and GL values.
GI value refers to the glycemic index, which is equal to the ratio of the speed of blood sugar increase caused by carbohydrate (sugar) in food intake to the speed of blood sugar increase caused by the same amount of glucose intake (generally calculated by 50g glucose), and this ratio can be used to measure the speed of blood sugar change caused by food.
It can be said that the higher the GI value, the faster the blood sugar will rise. If the GI value is between 55 and 70, it belongs to medium GI food; if it exceeds 70, it belongs to high GI food; if it is less than 55, it belongs to low GI food. For diabetics, it is recommended to eat low-GI foods, little or no high-and medium-GI foods.
However, it is not rigorous to judge the influence of the food on blood sugar changes only by GI value. Watermelon, for example, has a GI value of 75, which is a high GI food, but because it contains less carbohydrates, moderate consumption will not have a great impact on blood sugar.
In this case, we will introduce GL value. The calculation formula of GL is: GL = carbohydrate content in GIX food/100, which can be obtained from the formula. GL value represents GI value and carbohydrate content in food to comprehensively evaluate the effect of food on raising blood sugar. Therefore, foods with low G 1 and low GL value are more suitable for diabetics, because they have the least influence on the fluctuation of blood sugar level.
After we understand the GI and GL values, you may be eager to ask the GI and GL values of Lycium barbarum. The GI value of Lycium barbarum is lower than 55, which is a low GI food, and the GL value of Lycium barbarum is not high. Therefore, it is a friendly food for diabetics. Therefore, people with diabetes can drink with medlar in water, so don't worry too much.
So, who are not suitable for eating medlar?
It is not recommended that people with overheated constitution eat more Lycium barbarum.
According to records, Lycium barbarum is flat and warm, which is suitable for most people. However, it is difficult to avoid some people's internal fever caused by cold air from outside. To put it bluntly, they catch a cold. If this is the case, it is suggested that such people avoid eating Lycium barbarum, otherwise it is likely to lead to aggravated symptoms.
Not suitable for people with weak digestive function.
Generally speaking, people with weak spleen and stomach will also be accompanied by poor absorption function of the stomach and intestines. However, people with weak spleen and stomach accumulate cold in their own bodies, and if they continue to eat Lycium barbarum, it is easy to cause more serious stagnation of cold phlegm in their spleen and stomach, and then indigestion occurs.
People with yin deficiency constitution can't eat medlar either.
People with yin deficiency constitution often show thin body shape, flushed cheeks on both sides, fever in hands and feet, excessive sweating, irritability, dry mouth, dry hair and skin, and so on. Lycium barbarum is hot. If you eat more, your body will be even hotter and have adverse consequences.
In a word, Lycium barbarum is a relatively healthy food, which not only contains many nutrients, but also has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities. Moreover, many studies have also found that eating Lycium barbarum may reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. However, when eating, you must remember the right amount.
References:
Long-term Dietary Flavonoid Intake and Subjective Cognitive Decline in US Men and Women. Neurology Sep 202 1, 97 ( 10) e 104 1-e 1056
Wang Zichao. Origin of Lycium ruthenicum and hypoglycemic mechanism of anthocyanins [D]. Shaanxi Normal University, 2020.
Xie Wen, Chen Huaguo, Zhao Chao, Gong Xiaojian, Zhou Xin. Research progress on biological activity and mechanism of Lycium barbarum polysaccharide [J]. Food Science, 202 1,42(05):349-359.
James Zhou, Ma Jianping, tianhao, Guo Tao. Research progress on chemical constituents and biological activities of Lycium barbarum [J]. China Food Industry, 2019 (11): 74-77.