Soups
Winter Melon Dampness-Clearing Soup
traditionally used to strengthen the spleen, resolve dampness, clear summer heat, and support urinary health
In short: Winter Melon Dampness-Clearing Soup is a soup that traditionally used to strengthen the spleen, resolve dampness, clear summer heat, and support urinary health. It is most often made for digestive wellness, cooling & summer heat, skin & natural beauty. Total time about 105 min. Key ingredients: adzuki beans, poria, winter melon.
Why people make this soup
Hong Kong summers are relentlessly humid. The combination of heat and moisture that hangs in the air from May onward is exactly the environment in which, according to Chinese medical tradition, the body accumulates what practitioners call “dampness” — a pattern associated with sluggishness, poor appetite, excessive sweating, skin breakouts, and a general feeling of heaviness. The traditional answer has always been a good dampness-clearing soup, and this one is among the most satisfying.
Nourilo came across polyporus mushroom (zhu ling) in a herb shop and was struck by its potency as a dampness-clearing ingredient — a step up in strength from the more common poria. Together with adzuki beans, cooked Job’s tears, and a generous portion of winter melon (skin and seeds included), this soup creates a clear, lightly flavoured broth that supports the digestive system, encourages gentle fluid elimination, and is associated in Chinese food therapy with cleaner skin and a more comfortable urinary system.
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
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 - 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
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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