Vermicelli

People around keep forwarding me messages talking about what to eat and what not to eat, when to eat and when to poo, which kind of food is wholesome and which kind not. Thanks for their mail but after reading all the messages, together with what we learn from the news, it seems to tell us that there's no safe food we can eat to keep us alive. In another word, we'd better eat nothing. That might be the best way to survive.

Another email about the horro of Chinese food, this time, bean starch vermicelli (粉絲). I can be described as a faithful 粉絲 (fan) to 粉絲 (vermicelli). My family knows about it and my friends too. Even my Korean friends know that I like to eat Korean sweet potato noodles (잡채), another way of saying vermicelli. (In Korea, they claim that their 粉絲 is made from 100% sweet potato.)

After reading the message below, will you still fancy eating vermicelli? Ay! What I can eat is aleady very limited. Adding 粉絲 to the not-to-eat list, what is left for my stomach to digest and my small intestine to absorb?

Would it be better not to know about such information? Now I understand why people say ignorance is happiness. (無知是最快樂的。) Guess 'See nothing and hear nothing' is the best policy to adopt if we'd like to live happily ever after. Agree?

您喜歡吃粉絲嗎?
 
北方人喜歡吃粉絲、粉條等粉製品是一種傳統習慣，工作緊張的上班一族或者懶於做飯的人甚至拿它們當主食：粉絲、麻辣燙、米線等等，吃起來上癮，如果你知道它裡面含什麼，可能就不會如此大快朵頤了。
 
河南省中醫院腦血管專科王育勤副教授這樣解釋，**粉絲類製品在加工製作過程中，需要在粉漿中加入 **0.5%**左右的明礬，目的是為了使粉絲成形，增加韌性。加入的明礬與粉漿凝聚，隨著粉絲的成形和乾燥，明礬的含量會有增無減。
 
明礬中含有氫氧化鋁，因此，**大量食用粉絲,等於同時大量攝入了鋁**。這尤其 **對老年人來說是一個非常危險的因素**。因為老年人大部分有腦動脈硬化，在此基礎上會造成慢性腦供血不足，進一步形成輕度認知功能障礙，嚴重的會導致老年癡呆症，從而導致出現記憶力減退、計算力差、反應遲鈍等症狀，而鋁是造成老年癡呆的一項重要危險因素。過多地食用鋁會在腦動脈硬化等其他病變的基礎上進一步造成腦細胞的變性、死亡，更加重腦萎縮的症狀，從而出現老年癡呆症。
 
眾所週知，**鋁對人體的毒害是多方面的**。早在**1989**年，世界衛生組織就正式將鋁定為食品污染物並要求嚴加控制。據世界衛生組織的研究表明，人體每千克體重每天允許攝入的鋁不能超過**1** 毫克。
 
又據測定，我們日常使用鋁制食具可以攝入約**4**毫克的鋁，經常食用含鉛食物則可攝入**10**毫克以上的鋁。從這一計算出發，你大致可以算出，一個人每天可食用粉絲的上限量是很小很小的。因此，像含鋁的食品如粉絲、粉條、米線、油條這樣的食品，不僅老年人一定要少吃，大家都要少吃為妙。
 
另外，還要注意在生活中也要要減少使用鋁鍋、鋁鏟、鋁飯盒之類的鋁製品.