In Rugao, Jiangsu Province, the famous hometown of longevity, there is a saying that "grits and porridge can make you live to more than 90 years if you drink them." According to the survey of Rugao Longevity Research Institute, 74% of local centenarians eat porridge twice a day, mainly corn porridge. The so-called "grits porridge" refers to corn gluten porridge. When the corn is ripe, it is grinded into small particles, which are about the size of sand in the hand, and can also be grinded into very fine flour. When eating, it boils down water, takes a spoon in one hand, and evenly sprinkles the corn grits into the pot in the other hand. "Rice bottoming" refers to mixing white rice into corn residue to make porridge.

How much is this porridge related to longevity? Corn is a coarse grain rich in multiple nutrients. It is a good supplement to the current diet dominated by refined rice and white flour. The German Nutrition and Health Care Association has conducted nutrition analysis on a variety of common staple foods, and found that corn has the highest nutritional value and health care function. The research found that the vitamin content in corn is very high, 5-10 times that of rice and wheat. At the same time, corn also contains riboflavin, vitamins and other nutrients, which can effectively prevent heart disease 、 cancer 。

Boiling corn residue into porridge also helps the body to replenish water. Physiological research shows that middle-aged and elderly people are most likely to suffer from chronic water shortage. This will not only reduce urine output, but also reduce skin function and sweat gland secretion, affect the excretion of metabolites in the body, and cause harmful substances to accumulate in the body,.

Before cooking porridge, you can soak the corn residue in water for a while in advance to make it easy to cook and save fire. If the digestion function is not good, you can also choose corn flour, just boil the water and cook it. "Rice bottoming" is actually a problem of matching coarse grain with fine grain. In addition to rice, you can also add some beans in porridge to make nutrition more comprehensive.

(From Hong Kong Business Daily)