Well, I guess a lot of cultures have beliefs like this. When I was growing up, everyone always said that yoghurt was "good for your stomach". I'm sure I've said it, wisely advising people who were not fortunate enough to have access to the great folk wisdom of eighties central Florida. Truth be told, I have absolutely no idea if yoghurt is good for your stomach or not, and I'm not even sure what 'good' means in this sense. Reduces acid or something, maybe?
But on the Chinese cold water thing, I find it kind of funny that in a lot of the big hot pot restaurants here, where you have all-you-can-eat access to steaming hot boiled goop, they also have all-you-can-eat ice cream. I suspect that immediately after a hot pot gorge, your body can reach exercise grade temperatures. Then everyone runs over and eats the freezing (well, frozen) ice cream. I asked a co-worker about the apparent contradiction between this and the cold drink thing, and was told that "Ice cream is totally different." OK, glad that's settled.
13 comments:
Contradictions FTW
Karl:
OK, just whatever you do don't go swimming for a half hour after you eat all that buffet food.
A lot of people from middle eastern ethnicity have lactose intolerance, hence the idea that yoghurt ( with the lactose reduced by the fermentation ) was good for your stomach. It would not trigger a lactose reaction like milk products with lactose in it.
So what we should say is: Yoghurt is good for *some* stomachs?
Also, supposedly Yoghurt has enzymes or bacteria in it which can help you...
I friggin' HATE the Taiwanese no cold drink rule (or no ice.) Tina is extremely into these things and its burns me up when every cold I get is caused by that diet Coke I had yesterday.
She also has strong beliefs about wind causing colds and exposure to any cold air once you get up is bad, too.
ARTRRRGHJNJKL FNAFGASK
The enzymes or bacteria help me how?
Does Tina hit the ice cream at the hot pot places, or are you fortunate enough not to get dragged to so many hot pot dinners as me? My wife, she love the hot pot.
Dude, if I knew how the enzymes helped you, I'd work for Yoplait. I'm just tossing our pseudoscience and hearsay.
Tina is not so much into the hot pot. Hmmm, I guess I should feel blessed.
People who are otherwise lactose-intolerant often enjoy yoghurt without ill effects, since live yoghurt culture contains enzymes that help break down lactose inside the intestine.[1][2]
Yoghurt is rich in protein, several B vitamins, and essential minerals. It contains as much fat as the milk it is made from.
For women who experience yeast infections, a common cure is the daily ingestion of yogurt containing L. acidophilus, which combats the imbalance of colonies of the fungus Candida albicans by adding more L. acidophilus. Another method to combat a yeast infection is the direct topical application of yoghurt to the affected female area since Candida species are not able to thrive in the acidic pH that topically applicated yoghurt would generally create.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogurt
"Another method to combat a yeast infection is the direct topical application of yoghurt to the affected female area since Candida species are not able to thrive in the acidic pH that topically applicated yoghurt would generally create."
Ya know, I would have been perfectly happy to live my entire life without ever knowing that.
Angus is right about the swimming part. I used to be on my high school swim team, which meant practice 6 afternoons and 5 mornings a week. Every single time I had a sizable meal before practice, I ended up getting stomach cramps and puking in the gutter. I've seen it happen to plenty of other guys, too.
I have heard that yogurt helps to produce bile, which makes our poop hard. Some people advise for this reason to eat or drink it when we are suffering from diarrhea. I for one believe in letting nature take its course (and allowing the toxins to drain from us as naturally as possible). Having said this, I don't think that yogurt will be very helpful in relieving irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The best course of action seems to be limiting our time at Shih Ming-teh rallies, and to resist getting worked up while there.
Well, ice cream must be ok for the stomach after hot pot, because it's a heating food...
Added June 30, 2009: Welcome erstwhile Googlers from Britain, having reached this page through the query "Why are cold drinks bad for you?".
The answer to your question is that cold drinks are not bad for you or anyone else. They do not shock your system. They do not make your body more susceptible to a cold, or make it more difficult for your body to fight off an existing infection, bacterial or viral.
Traditional Chinese Medicine is, in this respect, spectacularly wrong. As are the various new-age health gurus who have followed the same path of medical mythology.
So go have a glass of ice water if you feel like it.
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