Some Vegetables Which Prevent & Treat Cold & Flu

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Some Vegetables, No 2

Vegetables Which Prevent & Treat Cold & Flu

Periillae (Zi Su Ye in Chinese, Shi-soh in Japanese)

Highly aromatic herbal leaf disperses cold and nasal congestion, reduces nausea and vomiting. Full of vitamins and minerals: carotene, vitamin C, B1, B2, calcium, potassium, iron, perilla aldehyde. There are purple and green perillas: purple one contains slightly less carotene.

A sushi chef may make give you a perilla wrapped sushi (especially good with squid). Fresh one, you can place a leaf at the bottom of tea cup and pour hot water and drink as tea. You can also dry the leaves and make it as tea. Sprinkle chopped perilla in a salad.

Green Onion

November and December are the best months for green onions. Cold weather adds sweetness and softness to the onion (comes March, they become hardened).

How To Select:

White part of the onion should have luster and the separation of the part to the green part is clear and distinct. If you press on it, you should sense certain hardness, and upon picking up, it should have a weight. (Unfortunately, green onions we see in supermarket are not the quality we would want. I suggest trying Asian markets to see if they have fresh ones).

Power of Green Onion:

In the white part, it contain large amount of allicin (garlic has it). Allicin helps absorb vitamin B1 and helps reduce fatigue. It is antioxidant as well as anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic. Green onion also contains large amount of vitamin C and calcium and keeps the blood vessel and the bone healthy. (other vitamins: vitamin K, carotene).

Cooking:

Do not overcook. When cooked with meat or fish, it neutralizes the smell. When catching cold or fatigued, I suggest that you make miso soup with a large amount of chopped green onions (Soup will control sweating, reduce the aversion to cold and headache)

Lotus Root

Power of Lotus Root

Full of vitamin C, B1 and B2. Contains potassium, iron, copper, tannin (antioxidant, good for stopping cough), and fiber. It has mucin, which turns to glucuronic acid to eliminate toxic substances (also good for people with high blood pressure and diabetes). The root has starch, unusual for vegetable, and vitamin C is in the starch, so the break up of the C is minimum. This combination will give you energy and warmth to the body.

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