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Lotus Leaf Winter Melon Three-Bean Soup

traditionally used to clear summer heat, support urination, relieve dampness, and improve appetite

In short: Lotus Leaf Winter Melon Three-Bean Soup is a soup that traditionally used to clear summer heat, support urination, relieve dampness, and improve appetite. It is most often made for digestive wellness, cooling & summer heat. Total time about 75 min. Key ingredients: lotus leaf, adzuki beans, mung beans, hyacinth beans / flat beans.

By · Published under our editorial policy · Research library

Prep
15 min
Cook
60 min
Total
75 min
Makes
1.2 L
Digestive WellnessCooling & Summer Heat
Lotus Leaf Winter Melon Three-Bean Soup

Why people make this soup

When summer heat is at its most relentless, people with weaker constitutions — the elderly, pregnant women, those carrying extra weight, or anyone managing thyroid or metabolic conditions — are more vulnerable to feeling overheated, fatigued, and bloated. Nourilo recommends this soup as a practical, family-friendly way to support the body during that time. The combination of lotus leaf, winter melon, and three varieties of bean is a classic in Cantonese food therapy, and the result is a light, slightly sweet broth that cools without being harsh on the digestion.

What studies say about the key ingredients

Traditional use is not the same as clinical proof. Here is the strongest human research we found for each ingredient, limitations included.

  • Adzuki beans · Randomized crossover trial, 10 participants · 2019
    Adzuki bean meals had a low glycemic index (21–51 range reported with lotus seed), whereas other starchy foods did not differ significantly from rice. Adzuki bean hydrolysis index was lower than other test foods.Limitation: Only ten healthy participants and acute single-meal responses, so effects in people with diabetes or with regular intake are unknown.PubMed 30875961 · 1 more adzuki beans study
  • Mung beans · Randomized crossover trial, 20 participants · 2019
    Breath hydrogen and methane were higher after wheat than after rice or mung bean noodles. Bloating scores after mung bean did not differ significantly from wheat, and mung bean produced gas levels similar to rice.Limitation: Small sample of 20 patients, with single meals tested rather than habitual intake, so longer-term effects of mung bean on symptoms are unknown.PubMed 31484315 · 1 more mung beans study

From the Nourilo Research Library. Findings come from specific doses, extracts and populations and may not apply to a home-cooked recipe.

Safety first — read before you cook

This is a traditional food, not a treatment. Please check with your doctor or pharmacist before making it a regular part of your diet if you:

  • are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are cooking for a young child;
  • take regular medicines — especially blood thinners, blood-pressure, diabetes or immune-suppressing drugs;
  • have a kidney, liver or heart condition, or a known food allergy.

Stop eating it and seek advice if you notice an allergic reaction or feel unwell. Safety notes reviewed 8 October 2026 · How we write safety notes

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