Is ice cream a forbidden food in hot summer?

The hot summer is here again. For children, although the summer is hot and unbearable, they can eat delicious and refreshing ice cream. It is really a love-hate season. Can children eat ice cream freely? This is a common question among parents. Below we will introduce it in detail based on the characteristics of ice cream and the physiological characteristics of children.

Traditional Chinese Medicine's Understanding of Ice Cream

Ice cream is a frozen food made from drinking water, milk, milk powder, cream, sugar, etc. as the main raw materials, with appropriate amount of food additives added, and made through mixing, sterilization, freezing, hardening and other processes.

Ice cream has two great temptations for people. One is that it is sweet and fragrant, and the other is that it is cool and refreshing, which can relieve the heat in the hot summer. However, for some children, the tempting ice cream is a "delicious bad thing". Eating it may cause abdominal pain, diarrhea, and even cough, asthma and other diseases.

From the perspective of the four elements of Chinese medicine, ice cream is cold in nature; from the perspective of the five flavors, ice cream is sweet. Sweetness is greasy, and excessive consumption can impair the spleen and stomach function; coldness can easily damage yang energy.

TCM's understanding of children's physiological characteristics

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that children have the physiological characteristics of delicate internal organs, immature physical form and Qi, vigorous vitality and rapid development. In other words, children are still immature and imperfect in development, and the physical form and Qi of their internal organs are insufficient, which need to be continuously filled, improved and matured as they grow older.

In addition, Chinese medicine believes that children's spleen is often insufficient, that is, the spleen and stomach functions of children are not yet strong, but because of their rapid growth and development, their demand for nutrients such as essence, blood, body fluids, etc. is greater than that of adults. Therefore, children are easily harmed by diet, and often suffer from diseases such as stagnation, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Children belong to the "pure yang body". The so-called "pure yang" means that children are full of vitality in the process of growth and development, just like the rising sun and the sprouting of grass and trees, which are thriving and flourishing.

According to the above physiological characteristics, it can be seen that children are not suitable for eating cold food such as ice cream, otherwise it will not only damage the spleen and stomach, but also damage the yang and affect the growth and development of children. Therefore, we urge parents to follow the principle of "don't eat it if you can, eat less if you can" when it comes to ice cream.

But some parents ask, why is it okay for my child to eat ice cream? This has to do with the individual differences and physiological characteristics of children.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that everyone has a unique constitution, which is a relatively stable human personality characteristic that is formed during the growth, development and aging process and adapted to the natural and social environment. Children are no exception. Every child has a different constitution. Blind comparison is wrong. We should grasp our own characteristics.

Which children can eat ice cream?

It can be seen that for some children, it is not necessary to completely abstain from ice cream. They can taste it appropriately when conditions permit. According to the different physical conditions of children, they can be divided into the following three categories: first, they can eat ice cream appropriately; second, they can eat ice cream in small amounts; third, they cannot eat ice cream.

①Children who can eat ice cream appropriately

These children are strong, rarely get sick, and tend to be moderate. You can eat ice cream in the hot summer, but it is recommended not to eat more than one piece a day. Don't eat it too fast, otherwise it will easily make your stomach cold and increase the possibility of stomach pain. After eating ice cream, you can drink some warm water to neutralize the temperature in your stomach.

It should be noted that healthy children should not eat too much ice cream. Clinically, there are some children with good physical fitness who have suffered severe damage to their spleen and stomach due to eating more than two ice creams a day or drinking too much cold drinks for a long time. What's worse, their digestive function has declined, they have anorexia, their faces are sallow and their bodies are thin, which affects their physical development.

②Children who can eat ice cream in small amounts

The spleen and stomach conditions and growth and development of these children are generally normal. They get sick 2 to 4 times a year. Their constitution tends to be internally hot, and they often have bad breath, dry stools, and restless sleep. They can eat some ice cream occasionally, but it is recommended not to eat more than 2 pieces per week.

It should be noted that obese children usually have internal heat, crave coolness, and like to eat ice cream. However, such children should eat less ice cream because ice cream is a "calorie bomb" and eating too much will aggravate obesity.

③Children who cannot eat ice cream

Children with spleen and stomach yang deficiency should avoid eating ice cream. Regulating the spleen and stomach is a long process, and eating ice cream may make the usual care fail. Therefore, parents of such children must pay more attention.

Children who are often prone to colds, coughs, diarrhea, or have a history of asthma should also avoid eating cold foods such as ice cream, otherwise it can easily cause attacks of these diseases.

In short, although ice cream is delicious, it should be avoided if it harms children's health. Parents can choose some healthier foods and drinks to cool down and quench thirst according to their children's own conditions, so that children can spend a happy and healthy summer.

Content from China Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine Author: Liu Yingke Gao Jia

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