Yam belongs to a kind of potato food and is a common ingredient in daily life.
Plucked yam, pork chop yam soup, yam fried pork slices, blueberry yam …… can be made into a lot of food according to different taste preferences, whether it is steamed, stir-fried, plucked or made into soup, super versatile.
However, although the yam is delicious, there is one thing that makes many people suffer: every time after handling the yam, the hand will be itchy and scratchy! Serious cases will also appear small red spots, and even swollen.
Why is that? What’s the best way to avoid it? In this article we’ll talk about it so that we can all handle yams in the future without fear.
01
What ingredients cause itchy hands?
Allantoin! Maybe the saponin substances have to take the blame too!
People who have handled yams have the impression that after cutting the yam will ooze out a kind of sticky liquid, which is the yam mucus, which has the role of antioxidant, immune enhancement, blood lipid lowering, etc..
The main components of yam mucus are water, polysaccharides and proteins, and the water content is very high, with 70.3% and 89.6% of the water content in the iron yam and the common yam, respectively; the polysaccharides are mainly mannose and glucose. In addition, the yam mucus includes small amounts of allantoin, amino acids, lipids, diosgenin elements, catecholamines, and sanguinarine hydrochloride.
Some people believe that the mucus contains saponins (also known as “saponin”) is the cause of itchy hands, but there is no scientific research literature clearly confirms that the saponins in the yam is the cause of skin irritation and itching of the “real culprit”.
However, there are studies that have looked at the effects of allantoin in yam mucus on the skin.
Researchers divided mice into two groups, shaved their necks and backs, injected allantoin into the necks of mice in the experimental group and saline into the necks of mice in the control group, and observed the number of times the two groups of mice were scratched over the course of an hour. It was found that the mice in the experimental group scratched their necks significantly more often than the control group. This indicates that allantoin causes skin irritation in mice. Therefore, the “real culprit” of the itchy hands caused by yam mucus may be allantoin, but we cannot exclude the possibility that saponins may have similar effects.
02
Cooking before handling keeps itchy hands away
Soap and water is the best way to get rid of itchy hands.
The whole point of figuring out why your hands itch is to be able to combine good taste with no pain or itch! Allantoin is afraid of heat, it breaks down when exposed to heat, and it’s also afraid of alkaline liquids. So, when dealing with yams in the future, you only need to do the following 4 points, you can say goodbye to itchy hands:
① Wear gloves to deal with yam: bring disposable gloves and then peel the yam, gloves have a protective effect, can avoid direct skin contact with the yam mucus.
② first steamed, and then peeled: If you feel uncomfortable wearing gloves to work, then the first yam steamed and then peeled. The yam will be washed, with the skin cut section directly on the pot steamed, generally 15 to 20 minutes after the water boiled can be steamed. In the process of steaming, the allergenic substances in the yam will be heat decomposition, and then casually how to deal with, the hands will not itch it!
③ If the hand accidentally touches the yam mucus has begun to itch, hurry to wash your hands with soap, baking soda water and hot water is also OK, can relieve the symptoms of itching.
④ If washing is not enough to relieve the symptoms of itching, you can bake your hands appropriately close to a heat source, such as using a hair dryer’s hot air block to blow a blow, but be sure to pay attention to the temperature to avoid burns.
03
Iron yam is best suited as a staple food
A study comparing the herb yam, the iron stick yam, and the Chinese yam showed that of the three, the iron stick yam had the highest polysaccharide content, which can be used as an organism’s store of energy.
According to the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents, the intake of yams is 50~100g/d, which is about 4~6 finger-sized yams if you are eating yams.
To summarize:
The main reason why yams make one’s hands itch may be related to allantoin and saponin in their mucus.
When handling yams, you can avoid direct contact with the mucus of raw yams by wearing gloves to isolate them or by heating the yams before handling them with further contact. Once the skin has begun to itch, soapy water, bicarbonate of soda and non-scalding hot water can alleviate symptoms.
If you eat yam at the same meal, be sure to reduce the amount of rice intake accordingly, otherwise the long-term will become fat oh.