People should avoid eating too many zongzi (粽子, glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves), as consuming several in one meal could cause indigestion, bloating, gastric acid reflux, heartburn and other stomach ailments, a doctor said on Saturday.
Zongzi is a traditional delicacy for the Dragon Boat Festival, which was on Thursday.
Citing a recent case as an example, Cathay General Hospital gastroenterology department head Chu Yu-ming (朱淯銘) said that a 58-year-old taxi driver surnamed Hsiao (蕭) ate meals at irregular hours due to his work and has been taking diabetes medicine for three years.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Hsiao recently bought a bag of zongzi and ate several in one sitting, Chu said.
He later developed bloating, gastric acid reflux and hiccuping, and sought medical help, he said.
Chu said that the glutinous rice in zongzi cannot be easily digested, while other ingredients and their preparation methods lead to high levels of fat and salt, and low dietary fiber.
He advised people not to eat too many zongzi, as the slowdown of digestion would lead to gas buildup and other discomfort, which would exacerbate conditions such as diabetes.
When people consume excessive amounts of food that is high in fat, but has little dietary fiber, the gas buildup would cause bloating and discomfort in the stomach, he added.
People with diabetes should get the disease under control, and take medication to improve stomach and bowel movement, and reduce bloating, Chu said.
They should consume soft foods with low fat, cut the food into small pieces and chew thoroughly to reduce the burden on the stomach, he said.
“It is best to go with vegetable dishes to increase fiber content, which can soothe the greasy after-taste palate, and mitigate the load on the digestive tract, and also hold back the blood-sugar level,” he said.
Indigestion and bloating can have other causes that might be difficult for doctors to diagnose, including irritable bowel syndrome, bacterial growth in the small intestine, and carbohydrate or galactose intolerance, which can lead to constipation and diarrhea, he added.
Chu advised people to avoid food that is likely to cause bloating, such as lentils and legumes, milk, yams, potatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, onions and high-fat foods, and to seek medical treatment if the condition does not improve.
The US-Japan joint statement released on Friday not mentioning the “one China” policy might be a sign that US President Donald Trump intends to decouple US-China relations from Taiwan, a Taiwanese academic said. Following Trump’s meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday, the US and Japan issued a joint statement where they reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Trump has not personally brought up the “one China” policy in more than a year, National Taiwan University Department of Political Science Associate Professor Chen Shih-min (陳世民)
‘NEVER!’ Taiwan FactCheck Center said it had only received donations from the Open Society Foundations, which supports nonprofits that promote democratic values Taiwan FactCheck Center (TFC) has never received any donation from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a cofounder of the organization wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday. The Taipei-based organization was established in 2018 by Taiwan Media Watch Foundation and the Association of Quality Journalism to monitor and verify news and information accuracy. It was officially registered as a foundation in 2021. National Chung Cheng University communications professor Lo Shih-hung (羅世宏), a cofounder and chairman of TFC, was responding to online rumors that the TFC receives funding from the US government’s humanitarian assistance agency via the Open Society Foundations (OSF),
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
RSS