What are the vegetable soups for detoxification and bowel cleansing?

There are quite a few vegetable soup combinations that are often used to make bowel cleansing dishes. The ones that are widely used are broccoli, celery and carrot soup, kale, winter melon and mushroom soup, and tomato, baby, cabbage and enoki mushroom soup. Several friends around me who maintain light eating habits all year round cook them for dinner one or two days a week.

But I have to pour some cold water on it first. The so-called "detoxification and intestinal cleansing" itself is a bit of a marketing gimmick. There is no concept of "detoxification" in modern medicine. After drinking it, I feel that my stomach is relaxed and my bowel movements are smooth. Essentially, these soups are rich in water and dietary fiber, which help promote intestinal peristalsis. There is really no need to believe in the nonsense of "drinking ten pounds of stool in a week."

A while ago, when I was working on a project, I ordered heavy-fat and spicy Maocai and BBQ takeout for a week. On the weekend, my stomach was so bloated that I couldn’t even zip up the skirt I usually wear. So I cooked a tomato, baby, vegetable, and enoki mushroom soup at night, adding only some light soy sauce and A little bit of sesame oil to enhance the flavor, and I drank two big bowls of it. The next day I felt much more refreshed, and I didn’t have that sinking feeling in my stomach. To put it bluntly, it reduced the burden on the stomach, which is constantly working under a high load. It really has nothing to do with "detoxification".

I have learned how to make kale, winter melon and mushroom soup from friends in the fitness circle before. Tear the kale into small florets and remove the hard stems. Cut the winter melon into thin slices and throw it in and cook it with the white jade mushrooms for 10 minutes. The potassium content is very high. I ate too much the day before and it was salty. I drank it when it was swollen into a pig's head, and the effect of reducing edema was quite obvious. However, the grassy smell of kale put many people away. I couldn't swallow it when I first drank it. Later, when I added two slices of fresh lemon when cooking, the taste became much more refreshing.

I have a doctor who is a doctor in the gastroenterology department who strongly disagrees with people drinking so-called "clear intestine soup". He said that the intestines have a normal metabolic rhythm, and eating fresh vegetables, drinking more water, and exercising are enough to maintain normal peristalsis. If you drink this almost oil-free and salt-free vegetable soup every day for the purpose of "cleaning the intestines", you will be prone to malnutrition, and may also disrupt the balance of the intestinal flora, which will burden the gastrointestinal tract.

I have been through a similar pitfall before. I heard online that the lighter the better, I drank vegetable soup without adding any oil or salt for three consecutive days, and almost fainted on the subway on the fourth day. Later I realized that there is no need to be so extreme. It is perfectly fine to add some lean beef slices and shrimp to supplement protein. Even adding a little less sesame oil or olive oil can help absorb the fat-soluble vitamins in vegetables. Some people think that drinking it after diarrhea is "effective in cleansing the intestines." I have tried vegetable soup with half a bitter melon and lotus leaves before. After drinking it for a whole afternoon, I later realized that it was not a bowel cleanse at all, but cold ingredients that irritated the intestines and stomach. Especially for those who have weak intestines and stomachs, don't add those strange ingredients indiscriminately, and just choose common vegetables that are comfortable to eat.