Can amaranth and tofu be eaten together? Why is amaranth juice red?

If you like cooking and often go to the market, you should have seen a vegetable with very beautiful colors, red and green, which looks like an ornamental plant. In fact, it is a green food, called amaranth. Amaranth contains a lot of anthocyanins. The purple-red color of amaranth juice is the color of anthocyanins. Can amaranth and tofu be eaten together? Let's open it and take a look!

Contents of this article

1. Can Amaranth and Tofu be eaten together?

2. Why is Amaranth Juice Red?

3. Taboos on eating amaranth

Can Amaranth and Tofu be eaten together?

It is not recommended to eat amaranth and tofu together, because amaranth has a high oxalic acid content, while tofu contains a high calcium content. Eating them together will produce calcium oxalate, which is difficult for the human body to absorb. In addition, spinach, bamboo shoots, wild rice stems and other foods also have a high oxalic acid content, so it is not recommended to eat them with tofu.

It is best not to eat amaranth and tofu together, because amaranth is high in oxalic acid, while tofu is high in calcium. If amaranth and tofu are eaten together, the oxalic acid in them will react with calcium to form calcium oxalate, which is difficult for the human body to absorb.

Spinach, bamboo shoots, wild rice stems and other foods also have high oxalic acid content and are not recommended to be eaten with tofu. Other foods that are not suitable to be eaten with tofu include onions, bitter melon, and black fungus. Eating tofu with these foods may hinder the body's absorption of nutrients or increase the risk of disease.

When eating amaranth, it is not suitable to eat it with turtle meat, wasabi, milk and other foods. Eating it with turtle meat may cause gastrointestinal stagnation. Eating it with wasabi will produce a toxin that may cause food poisoning. Eating it with milk will affect the body's normal absorption of calcium.

Why is Amaranth Juice Red?

Amaranth contains a natural pigment called amaranth red, which exists in the cell vacuole.

The cooking process destroys the cell membrane and wall, disintegrates the chloroplasts, destroys the structure of chlorophyll, and causes the red color in the vacuole to seep out.

At the same time, amaranth contains a large amount of anthocyanins, and the purple-red color of amaranth juice is exactly the color of anthocyanins. (Pure anthocyanins are blue-purple, and the purple-red color of amaranth juice is actually the result of the combined effect of a large amount of anthocyanins and a small amount of other pigments)

Anthocyanins can resist the ultraviolet rays in the sun and have a protective effect.

Taboos on eating amaranth

1. People with allergic constitution should not eat amaranth, because such people may suffer from phytophotodermatitis after eating amaranth and being exposed to sunlight. This disease is more serious and requires more attention.

2. People with weak spleen and stomach who suffer from indigestion, abdominal distension, intestinal rumbling, loose stools, etc. should eat less or not eat for the time being.

3. Pregnant women should not eat amaranth in the early stages of pregnancy as it will cause miscarriage.

4. Do not eat too much at one time, otherwise it may cause dermatitis.