When you are in the heart of the Taipei city, you will get to see many nicely decorated coffee shops and cake shops serving all sorts of desserts, chocolate, tea and coffee, all with the stimulating effects. When you travel a bit further, instead you will find many stores selling betel nuts, and then warning signs about the consequences after consuming betel nuts will appear at the main entrance of any hospital.
What is betel nuts (bin lang 檳榔)?
Betel nuts are the seeds of the fruit from the palm. They affect our central nervous system which have been said that they help to relax, stimulate appetite, relieve symptoms of mental illness etc. However, there is still no evidence to support such claims.
Health issues:
Many reports have been stating that chewing betel nuts instead cause oral cancer. Bureau of Health Promotion of Taiwan reported that 9 out of 10 people suffering from oral cancer chew betel nut, a very striking result. The Department of Health’s statistics of cancer rates in 2008 and the death rate in 2010 showed that oral cancer ranked fourth among the 10 leading causes of cancer mortality among men in Taiwan, and that about 6,000 people were diagnosed with oral cancer each year.
If you are really looking at pressure relief, I would suggest you to increase veggie intake and take 1-2 fruits daily due to their great amount of antioxidants and their slowly releasing glucose properties help to stablize your blood glucose to avoid mood fluctuation. Milk (preferrably skim milk) and banana contain tryptophan, (an important element to make serotonin in our blood) which helps to sleep better and relax!
Written by: Michelle Cheung, Dietitian
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