Diet taboos tofu

More than 90% of the mythical statements on the Internet such as "eating tofu and spinach together can cause stones", "tofu and honey poisoning" and "eating tofu and eggs together affect nutrient absorption" are rumors without scientific basis. The dietary taboos related to tofu that really need to be paid attention to are only the consumption restrictions of three special groups and two situations that must be avoided. There is no need to be as cautious about eating tofu as doing chemical experiments.

Speaking of this, I think of the old rule that my mother has adhered to for more than ten years. Every time she makes spinach and tofu soup, she must blanch the spinach three or four times until the leaves are rotten. This statement is actually a typical one that only talks about toxicity but not dosage: the oxalic acid in spinach will indeed combine with the calcium in tofu to form calcium oxalate. However, as long as the spinach is blanched in boiling water for 1 minute in advance, more than 70% of the oxalic acid can be removed. Even if the remaining oxalic acid is combined with calcium, it will not be absorbed by the body and will be excreted with the feces. This is equivalent to reducing the amount of oxalic acid absorbed by the body in disguise, which is beneficial to preventing stones. Of course, if you insist on saying that the elderly in your family believe this and don't want to blanch spinach or eat it together, there's no need to argue. It's just a eating habit. You can do whatever makes you feel comfortable. It's not a principled taboo.

When I was helping a friend with gout to adjust his diet, he asked me this question, saying that the doctor told him not to eat high-purine foods, and he didn't even dare to touch tofu. In fact, this is also a common misunderstanding: soybeans themselves are indeed not low in purine, but during the processing of tofu, a large amount of purine will be lost with the yellow slurry. The purine content of northern tofu per 100g is only about 60mg, which is lower than many green leafy vegetables. During the remission period of gout, it is perfectly fine to eat it two or three times a week, and within 100g each time. Only in the acute stage, temporary taboos are needed. Here, I would like to mention something from traditional Chinese medicine. Traditionally, tofu is said to be cold in nature. People with weak spleen and stomach and frequent diarrhea should eat less. This fact is consistent with the conclusions of modern nutrition: some people with sensitive stomachs eat refrigerated cold tofu, or eat too much tofu at one time. The oligosaccharides in tofu can easily cause flatulence and diarrhea. You can adjust it according to your physical condition. You don’t have to completely avoid it or force yourself to eat it.

Another controversial issue is whether patients with kidney disease can eat tofu. In the early years, nutrition guidelines recommended that patients with kidney disease completely avoid soy products, believing that plant protein would increase the metabolic burden on the kidneys. However, research in recent years has overturned this conclusion: soy protein is a high-quality plant protein, and its amino acid pattern is highly matched to the needs of the human body. As long as the total daily protein intake is controlled under the guidance of a doctor or nutritionist, patients with renal insufficiency can also eat a small amount of tofu without being completely blacklisted. Of course, you must follow the doctor's advice and don't just eat it by yourself.

Last time I was chatting with Uncle Zhang, who has been making tofu for 30 years at the market, what he said was more truthful: "I have been selling tofu all my life, and I have never seen anyone have problems eating tofu. Unless he has a weak stomach, and he drinks cold beer instead of cold tofu, it would be weird." ”To be honest, most of the so-called taboos on tofu are essentially a matter of individual physique and eating methods, and have little to do with the food combination itself.

The only situations that really need to be avoided are actually two types: one is when you are taking tetracycline antibiotics (such as minocycline, doxycycline), it is best to wait 2 hours before eating tofu. The calcium and magnesium ions in the tofu will combine with the drug to form an insoluble complex, which affects the efficacy of the drug. I had a colleague who took minocycline for a cold and showed off a large plate of mapo tofu at noon. The fever that should have gone away in half a day lasted for a day and a half. The doctor only reminded this point after asking about the diet. The other is not to eat raw homemade tofu that has not been thoroughly cooked, especially potato tofu made in small family workshops. If the sterilization is not complete during the processing, it is easy for pathogenic bacteria to remain, and eating it can easily cause acute gastroenteritis. This situation has nothing to do with the tofu itself, but a problem with the processing process.

As for the more outrageous statements such as "Eating too much tofu will kill sperms" and "Eating tofu and milk together will cause diarrhea", there is really no need to believe it. There is currently no authoritative research to support these conclusions. To put it bluntly, food itself does not have so many black and white taboos. If you are healthy and have no underlying diseases, you can eat tofu three or four times a week, whether it is braised, stewed, cold or mapo tofu, and you can be happy as long as you want. There is no need to eat in front of a bunch of taboos that come from nowhere. It would be too boring.