You know you are Asian when ... Part I

You know you are Asian when you have been told by someone (well, your parents, grandparents or other elderly) that icy water/drink and cold food is not good for you, especially when you are menstruating and when you are pregnant. I have been told that cold drink and cold food lead to indigestion because it disrupts our system and our digestive systems becomes more stagnant as it has to first expend energy to bring the icy water/food back to normal body temperature. I was also told that during menstruation, women usually are at a stage where they don't have sufficient Qi (they called it YIN which means internal cold) so cold drink and food only make it worse, contributing to more cramps and more pain. Hot drinks and heating pad will alleviate the symptoms as you are balancing the internal cold in your body with external heat. I was also told that pregnant ladies should avoid ice cold drink during the first trimester especially as it may lead to miscarriages.

Now I am not sure if this is an old wives' tale or not, but we have 5000 years of ancient Chinese history to back this up LOL. All I know is that when I have my period, a cup of hot yummy chocolate certainly makes me feel a whole lot better (I am not sure if it's the 'hot' part or the 'chocolate' part that does the trick though). Oh I also forgot to mention that I couldn't live without ice or popsicle when I was pregnant (I think it's because I was anemic) and oops, and I had a few popsicles during my labor also .... I better not tell my grandmother about this. And, if our body has to expend extra energy to counteract the icy drink/food that we intake, wouldn't that be a good thing as it helps burn more calories? Anyway, next time if you go to a restaurant in Hong Kong, you shouldn't be surprised that instead of water with ice, you would be greeted with hot water or hot tea instead. It's all part of an ice-phobic culture.

Originally published on Bubblews
http://www.bubblews.com/news/716575-you-know-you-are-asian-when-part-i

(Image Credit: morguefile)