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Lychees are delicious, high in vitamin C and potassium, but not low in sugar, so don’t eat too much at one time.
Lychees are more sweeter when chilled, but eating too much can lead to low blood sugar. Be careful don’t eat on an empty stomach and don’t overfeed your child. There is no problem in taking 10 or less at a time.
Eating lychee “gets angry” may be because sugar and pulp residues accumulate in the teeth, inducing more inflammatory reactions and increasing the occurrence of ulcers possible.
Eating less and gargling after eating may avoid some symptoms.
* This article is only for popular science, not as a basis for diagnosis and treatment, please follow the doctor’s advice for personal circumstances
How sweet are lychees?
“I eat 300 lychees every day, and I will never quit my job as a Lingnan native”. The lychee that made Su Dongpo willing to retreat from the world is indeed a rare fruit.
The pulp of lychee stores more than 70% moisture, making it a favorite in the summer.
The high temperature and humidity in the Lingnan region allows lychees to accumulate a large amount of sugar. Among the fruits in the summer season, few fruits can match the sugar content of lychees. In addition, the vitamin C of lychee up to 41mg/100g is also remarkable.
Not only the total sugar content is high, but fructose accounts for a higher proportion in the sugar composition of lychee. You know, fructose is 1.5 times sweeter than sucrose and twice as sweet as glucose, and the sweetness of fructose will be more pronounced at low temperatures, which is why iced lychees are sweeter. [2]
Image source: Reference [1]
If you want to eat sweeter lychees, you can refer to the fructose content and sugar-acid ratio, choose varieties with high fructose content and low sugar-acid ratio.
Why do people have low blood sugar?
Do you know “lychee disease”?
India is also rich in lychees, and in India’s largest lychee-producing area, every summer, some children experience sudden unexplained convulsions, confusion, loss of consciousness and even death. A small percentage of them also experienced vomiting. [3]
After years of investigation, doctors and researchers have found that the cause of this series of symptoms is actually eating a lot of lychees, leading to severe hypoglycemia .
In my country’s Guangxi, Guangdong and other lychee producing areas, there are also occasional reports of this kind, and I even received such a message in the background of the official account.
Why?
In fact, the mechanism of lychee disease is still not very clear at present, but it is believed that it is inseparable from the two “toxins”.
After entering the human body, toxins will inhibit certain metabolic enzymes, which will cause problems in the process of converting other energy substances into sugars, and even affect the oxidation of fatty acids.
After glycogen depletion in the human body, the brain will be deficient in energy substances, resulting in hypoglycemic encephalopathy.
What can
do?
On the one hand, the cause of “lychee disease” is unclear, and on the other hand, lychees are so delicious that people can’t bear to give them up. Are we going to stop eating lychees?
Lychees can still be eaten, but the following situations should be paid more attention.
1) Pay attention to the quantity of lychees
Even if the risk of “lychee disease” is not considered and only the sugar content is considered, it is not advisable to eat too much lychee. Excessive sugar intake will not only lead to excessive calorie intake , may also increase the risk of “breakouts”.
As for how many lychees to eat, It is not a problem to eat less than 10 per day.
2) Don’t eat lychees on an empty stomach
Some people say that knowing that lychees are high in sugar, I should eat more and not eat, right?
Never, Many “lychee diseases” occur without eating dinner. [3] Do not eat lychees on an empty stomach, and make sure to eat some carbohydrate-rich foods before and after eating lychees.
3) Be wary of underripe lychees
The two aforementioned toxins that can cause “litchi disease” are found in high levels in immature lychees.
4) Don’t let kids eat too much
Although adults can also get lychee disease, it is most common in children around the age of 5. Children’s metabolism, resistance (and self-control) are relatively weak, so don’t let them eat too many lychees at once.
5) First aid if necessary
Low blood sugar is actually very dangerous, causing symptoms such as dizziness, fatigue, sweating, paleness, palpitations, and possibly breathing difficulties and arrhythmias.
If the above symptoms occur after eating lychees, should immediately consume various carbohydrate-rich foods that are easy to digest, such as candy, porridge, rice, etc. even seek medical attention in time.
Note: Because the common sweet drinks are fructose syrup, the blood sugar response may not be very fast, and it is not suitable for first aid.
What’s the matter with eating lychees?
It is also often said that lychees and other fruits can get hot when eaten too much. Then we will analyze the symptoms of your “fire” in detail.
For example, some people think that having acne on the face is considered to be hot, but there are many factors for acne, such as your hair follicles and some bacteria on your skin. The sugar that is most related to diet and acne, then if there are some factors (such as eating three catties of lychees in one go) that will make your blood sugar rapidly rise, it will easily induce your acne.
In addition, the phenomenon of “mouth ulcers after eating too much fruit” seems to be relatively common. I personally think that it may be because the sugar in lychee and the residue of its own pulp accumulate in your teeth, which induces more inflammatory reactions and increases the possibility of ulcers.
You can give it a try. After eating lychees, rinse your mouth and brush your teeth in time, your symptoms may improve.
It may also be because there are wounds in the mouth, some organic acids in the fruit can irritate the wounds and enhance your “ulcer” experience.
In short, the term “getting angry” is unscientific. Eat less fruit with high sugar content and rinse your mouth after eating, to a large extent, you can avoid the related symptoms caused by eating fruit. .
Remind so many times “don’t eat too much”, and share a trick to eat two less lychees at a time:
Put the shelled lychees into the freezer, take out a few when you want to eat them, and wait for them to thaw slowly.
You can also throw frozen lychees into soda water as ice cubes, which is sweet and refreshing.
Do you have any tips for keeping yourself from eating too much fruit?
References:
[1] Li Shengfeng, Xu Yujuan, Zhang Yousheng, Wu Jijun, Tang Daobang, Wen Jing. Analysis of fruit quality, sugar composition and antioxidant activity of different litchi varieties [J]. Food Science, 2008( 03):145-148.
[2] Chen Jiezhen, Cai Changhe, Wu Jiefang, Fu Danwen, Yan Qian, Ou Liangxi. Changes of sugar and acid during fruit ripening of lychee resources [J]. Journal of Tropical Crops, 2018, 39(04):687-693.
[3] Shrivastava A, Kumar A, Thomas J D, et al. Association of acute toxic encephalopathy with litchi consumption in an outbreak in Muzaffarpur, India, 2014: a case-control study[J ]. Lancet Global Health, 2017, 5(4):e458.