Soups
Fresh Lotus Leaf & Aged Yellow Cucumber Soup
Clears summer heat and supports healthy fluid balance
In short: Fresh Lotus Leaf & Aged Yellow Cucumber Soup is a soup that Clears summer heat and supports healthy fluid balance. It is most often made for respiratory & lung wellness, cooling & summer heat, skin & natural beauty. Total time about 105 min. Key ingredients: lotus leaf, mung beans, job's tears (coix).
Why people make this soup
In the traditional Chinese calendar, the solar term known as “Minor Heat” (Xiao Shu) marks the point when summer heat begins climbing seriously — hot, humid, and often stormy. This is precisely when home cooks in southern China reach for ingredients that help the body manage heat and humidity from the inside. This soup pairs the famously cooling fresh lotus leaf with the gentle hydrating effect of aged yellow cucumber, backed up by mung beans and pearl barley to support the digestive system. It is a refreshing pot that requires no special skill and suits the whole family.
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.
- Mung beans
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 - Job's tears (coix)
Myeloperoxidase activity rose significantly in the placebo group after 8 weeks but showed no significant change in the adlay tea group. Vascular endothelial function improved in the adlay group, especially in those over 40.Limitation: Participants were healthy adults and the outcomes were surrogate markers, so the results say little about clinical disease outcomes. Tea is a polyphenol-rich extract, not whole grain.PubMed 38945894 · 2 more job's tears (coix) studies - Red dates
Jujube was associated with significantly lower BMI and triglycerides, and lower fasting blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes. LDL and total cholesterol fell only in some subgroups. HDL, AST and ALT did not change significantly.Limitation: The authors state the overall quality of the evidence is limited, and results varied significantly by dose, treatment duration and disease type.PubMed 40399274 · 3 more red dates studies
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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