Eating More Chinese White Radish Helps Relieve Bloating and Indigestion

In China, there is a popular quote in certain regions "Eating more Chinese radish and cabbage, can keep you healthy". These two vegetables are extremely popular in traditional Chinese cooking at home or in the restaurant, especially when someone has indigestion such as bloating and sluggish bowel movement. In a family it is common for the elder to mention to cook radish if someone in the family has indigestion (food stagnation), which will help benefit the whole family. Chinese people add chinese radish to many other dishes such as chinese radish cake, chinese radish porridge and other chinese radish sweets. You can even find Chinese radishes in many restaurant dishes.

Help to digest food and improve bowel movement

An ancient traditional Chinese herbal book from Tang dynasty called "Tang ben cao" mentions "white radishes taste sweet and spicy, has cooling characteristics and acts more on the digestive channels. It helps to digest food quicker and move the food down the intestines so it can help with indigestion and avoid food stagnation". Chinese white radishes are therefor suitable for the symptoms we mentioned above. If you eat white radishes more often it can help to prevent fat to accumulate around the stomach and prevent food stagnation.

Helping to clear phlegm

Chinese medicine considers phlegm to be stored in the lungs but is not always produced by the lung.

Where is phlegm produced?

Chinese medicine believes that phlegm can be produced by food stagnation. Symptoms may be: heavy white phlegm, bloating especially after eating, burping, poor appetite or craving foods, sluggish bowel movement, heavy arms and legs and overweight. Chinese medicine has a quote “Phlegm is stored in the lung, but produced from the spleen”. When people visit our clinic with chronic phlegm problems, we use traditional methods of diagnosis to find the causes of the issue to solve the root of the problem.

Recipe: Chinese white radish and carrot stir fry

10cm Chinese white radish – peeled and chopped

1 carrot – chopped

2 pieces of chopped ginger
2 tblsp spring onions
3 tsp olive oil
2 cups of water

Stir fry Chinese radish, carrot and ginger in the oil and water for 10 minutes on low heat. After this time, add spring onions, salt and pepper to taste.

Effects: Help digestion; clears bloating and fullness; helps bowel movement.