Soup Is Not For Everyone

By Xia Meng

B ack in the day, the Northern Chinese traditionally ate meat and the Southern Chinese ate soup.

Southerners are super particular about soup-making methods, the ingredients and the time it is to be eaten, all of which has made it a culturally significant fashion statement that has spread throughout the whole country.People living in cold regions of the North, who once only eat meat not soup, have learned to warm up their stomach by having some hot soup before meals.

In recent years, it is said that soup is healthy and nourishing.TV talk show gurus talk about it and even cook it for their guests.Truth be told, it makes me anxious every time I see this kind of program. We Southerners like soup for geographical reasons.But if you make Northerners eat soup like Cantonese, it will actually be harmful.

When the meat from animals, birds and fish are mixed with other ingredients,such as vegetables and spices,certain nutrients such as free amino acids, fatty acids, fatsoluble vitamins, salts and micronutrients will dissolve into the soup after a long period of simmering.

Because of the high temperature and high humidity in the South, people need to consume some fat, and the salt they take in is sweated out through work or exercise. In a word, soup is good for the body.However, because of the cold weather in the North, people do little outdoor activities and don’t sweat nearly as much. If they eat a lot of soup, the salt and purine can only be excreted through the kidneys, thereby putting an increased workload on them,and making the eaters prone to hypertension and gout.

Actually having soup in the South is not even a necessity anymore. In the past, people were completely in the natural environment. Today, the environment hasn’t changed,the south is still hot and humid,but the micro-environments in the area have changed. Cars and offices are air-conditioned,keeping the indoor temperature constant. People used to fight against heat stroke, but now they fight against air conditioning diseases.

Of course, if Southerners ate a lot of meat and drink a lot of alcohol like Northerners,they would suffer from chronic discomfort, such as excessive internal heat, acid reflux and indigestion. In the South, it is better to eat fish and duck than beef and mutton. The precepts of Traditional Chinese Medicine state that fish and duck are classified as “cold” meat, meaning that they have a cooling effect on the body, which is suitable for hot and humid weather. On the other hand, mutton and beef have a warming effect. It is often bitterly cold in the North, especially in winter, so it is necessary to eat mutton and beef to keep out the cold.

What’s more, diets differ according to area. People in mountainous areas are short of iodine and vulnerable to disease of the goiter. They should take in more iodized seafood and iodized salt. Kelp is often present in regional cuisine such as Sichuan hot pot or spicy hot pot, but with its dry, arid climate, people living on the plains of Northwest China should eat more fruits and vegetables and steer clear of hot peppers.

When taking all factors into consideration, whether people should eat more meat, more soup, more vegetables or more spicy food or mild food or drink more milk, depends on the environment. The area you come from, its local climate, the season and the overall environment are factors that must be taken into consideration. Whether you stay outdoors or indoors for long periods, whether there is central heating or air conditioning,whether you drive a car every day or take a bus occasionally,your level of physical activity, the microenvironment and individual difference all deserve attention.The good way to keep everything in balance is to make sure your deposits don’t exceed your withdrawals, so to speak.

北吃肉，南喝湯，這是中國人過去的傳統習俗。

南方人把煲湯做法、食材種類、喝湯時間等細節，演繹到了極致，成為一種文化、時尚飲食，傳播到大江南北.生活在寒冷地區的北方人，從過去只吃肉不喝湯，現在也學會了飯前喝湯暖胃。

近幾年來，總有人說喝湯對人體多么有好處，多么滋補，電視里很多大師侃侃而談，甚至現場熬給大家喝。我每次看到這種節目就非常著急，南方人喜歡喝湯，有其獨特的地域因素，讓北方人都像廣東人那樣喝，是會出問題的。

將畜、禽、魚肉，加上配料，經長時間煲制后，會有一些營養素溶入湯中，比如游離氨基酸、脂肪酸、脂溶性維生素、鹽及微量元素。

南方溫度高，濕度大，人們在生產勞動或體育運動后，不僅會消耗脂肪，鹽分也會經汗液排出，所以，喝湯對身體有好處。而北方天氣寒冷，人們在戶外活動很少，出汗也少，喝了很多湯，湯里的鹽、嘌呤，只能從腎臟排泄，不但增加了腎臟的壓力，還容易患高血壓和痛風。

其實，現在即便是南方，也不一定要像以前那樣天天喝湯。過去，人們完全處于自然環境之中。如今，大環境沒變，南方依然濕熱，可人們所處的小環境變了。比如汽車里、辦公室里，大多有空調，可以一直保持恒溫，不冷也不熱。人們以前防中暑，現在防空調病。

當然，如果讓南方人像北方人一樣，大塊吃肉、大口喝酒，也會出現許多不適，比如上火、消化不良等。在南方，吃魚、鴨比吃牛羊肉好。魚和鴨屬于肉類中偏寒的食物，適合天氣濕熱的地方。北方天氣冷，尤其是冬天，要吃羊肉、牛肉，才會有御寒的能力。

還有，生活區域不同，飲食調理的方法也應該有所區別。如山區人缺碘，容易患“大脖子”病，應該適當多攝取含碘的海產品，可以吃加碘鹽。像四川的火鍋或者麻辣燙中，經常出現海帶的身影；氣候干燥的西北平原，則應多吃溫潤的食物，少吃辣椒。

總之，到底應該多吃肉還是多喝湯，多吃疏菜還是多喝牛奶，吃辛辣還是吃溫潤食物，考慮這些問題時，要看環境。不僅看大環境是南方還是北方，是夏天還是冬天，還要看小環境和個人差異，長期在室外還是在室內，有暖氣沒有，有空調沒有，是天天開車還是偶然坐車，運動量大不大。量出為入，才是保持平衡的好辦法。