What Are the Benefits of Longan, Red Dates, and Goji Berry Congee?

Porridge is a type of food that is deeply favored by many in our daily lives, and many people even consume it as breakfast. Its popularity is not only due to its easy digestibility and health benefits but also because there are a variety of ingredients that can be used to make it. Mixing multiple ingredients to cook porridge can create a particularly delicious taste, such as the commonly consumed longan, red dates, and goji berry porridge. Drinking this porridge regularly can help tonify qi and nourish blood, as well as benefit the liver and kidneys.

Longan, red dates, and goji berry porridge have the effects of nourishing yin and blood, tonifying the liver and kidneys. Red dates primarily function to tonify qi and blood, while longan also tonifies qi and blood, making it useful for conditions of deficiency in both the heart and spleen. Many people choose to consume longan, red dates, and goji berry porridge because of its excellent effects on tonifying qi and blood. Drinking it regularly can help treat symptoms such as physical weakness, deficiency of qi and blood, pale complexion, and weak voice due to qi and blood deficiency.

Ingredients: Longan flesh, goji berries, red dates, japonica rice, brown sugar

Method:

1. Wash the japonica rice thoroughly and soak it in cold water for half an hour. Drain and remove excess water.
2. Soak the goji berries in warm water until softened, then wash and drain.
3. Wash the red dates and remove the pits.
4. Wash the longan flesh.
5. Add approximately 1000 milliliters of cold water to a pot, add the japonica rice, and bring to a boil for 10 minutes.
6. Add the longan flesh, goji berries, and red dates, then reduce the heat to low and continue cooking.
7. When the porridge becomes thick, stir in the brown sugar, cover, and let stand for a moment before serving.

1. Nutritious: Longan contains various nutrients and has the effects of nourishing blood, calming the nerves, strengthening the brain, and tonifying the heart and spleen.
2. Tonifying: Longan has tonifying effects and can assist in recovery after illness or for those with weak constitutions.
3. Women's health: Studies have found that longan has a suppressive effect on uterine cancer cells exceeding 90%. During menopause, which is a stage of increased risk for gynecological tumors, consuming longan appropriately can be beneficial for women's health.

1. Strengthening the spleen and stomach: For those with spleen and stomach weakness, diarrhea, and fatigue, eating seven red dates daily or combining them with dangshen and baishu can tonify the middle and strengthen the spleen and stomach, enhancing appetite and relieving diarrhea. When used with ginger and pinellia, they can treat gastritis symptoms such as bloating and vomiting caused by improper diet.
2. Tonifying qi and nourishing blood: Red dates are a nourishing food often used in dietary therapy and medicinal dishes to tonify the body and moisturize qi and blood. Dr. Sun Andi, an immunologist at National Taiwan University, strongly advocates for eating red dates, astragalus, and goji berries regularly to enhance vitality and immunity.
3. Nourishing blood and calming the nerves: For women with manic-depressive symptoms, crying, and unease, combining red dates with licorice and wheat (Ganmai Dazao Tang) can nourish the blood, calm the nerves, and soothe the liver and resolve depression.

Goji berries have the effects of tonifying the kidneys and essence, nourishing the liver and improving eyesight, nourishing blood and calming the nerves, quenching thirst and lubricating the lungs, and relieving coughing. They can be used to treat conditions such as yin deficiency of the liver and kidneys, soreness and weakness of the waist and knees, dizziness, blurred vision with excessive