討厭吃香菜和芹菜?真的不是你的錯

In Taiwan, whether it's a small shop on a street corner or a food stall in a bustling night market, vendors almost always add a handful of cilantro to various delicacies such as meatballs, pig's blood cake, meat soup, fish ball soup, and stinky tofu. Sometimes, they even add celery beforehand when simmering the broth. HEHO has always been puzzled by this: why do vendors add these two ingredients to main dishes? Although HEHO himself doesn't dislike them, many people avoid these two vegetable ingredients like the plague. Therefore, it's common to hear customers at shops or stalls requesting, "Please don't add cilantro (celery)."

In life, most people have their favorite foods and inevitably some ingredients they dislike. For example, HEHO is quite averse to pork trotters and Dongpo pork, which many people find irresistible. From a dietary perspective, some people avoid pork and beef due to religious or religious reasons; others, due to allergies, consider foods like milk, eggs, and seafood off-limits and don't readily try them.

Interestingly, in Taiwan, people who dislike cilantro, celery, and even carrots are not a minority. According to informal statistics, the proportion of people who dislike cilantro varies considerably around the world: 171,000 people in Europe don't eat cilantro, this figure reaches 211,000 in East Asia, and 141,000 in Africa. In other words, in Taiwan, on average, one in five people avoids cilantro.

From a nutritional perspective, both cilantro and celery are rich in potassium ions, which are beneficial to human health. Cilantro, also known as coriander, is a temperate plant originating from Europe and belongs to the Apiaceae family. It promotes sweating, improves blood circulation, assists in detoxification, and regulates gastrointestinal function. For the kidneys, potassium ions are an important element in helping to excrete harmful substances from the body. Therefore, in addition to ensuring adequate water intake, adequate potassium intake is essential for the kidneys to perform their cleansing function effectively. Every 100 grams of cilantro contains 390 milligrams of potassium ions, demonstrating that consuming cilantro does indeed help protect the kidneys.

As for celery, it is often used as a cooking ingredient; it not only...Rich in calciumIn addition to potassium ions, moderate consumption of celery can help lower blood pressure, protect cardiovascular health, and strengthen bones. Children and adolescents in their growth and development stages, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women, can effectively supplement their bodies' potassium needs by eating more celery.Calcium and IronIn addition, celery contains a unique component called apigenin, which has the benefit of reducing inflammation in the body.

Many people may not know that disliking cilantro and celery is mostly not due to picky eating habits, but rather the influence of their distinctive smells. Another reason, beyond one's control, is related to genes. American geneticist Nicholas Eriksson conducted a study observing 14,604 people who disliked cilantro and 11,851 who liked it. Through statistical analysis, he concluded that people who disliked cilantro and celery all carried a gene called OR6A2. In other words, the aversion to cilantro and celery is closely related to genes.

In fact, besides cilantro and celery, some people's aversion to cauliflower, mustard greens, carrots, or tomatoes may be due to genetic factors that cause them to reject these nutrient-rich foods, in addition to the unique smell of these vegetables themselves.

It is worth mentioning that many international studies have confirmed the link between dietary preferences and genes. For example, a research team at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, found through testing that certain genes in the human body can make people less responsive to sweet foods such as milkshakes, thus making it easier to consume them excessively; and a team at the Wellcome Trust Institute for Metabolic Sciences at the University of Cambridge in the UK also found that people carrying the "melanocortin –4 receptor" (MCR4) gene mutation seem to prefer greasy foods and are more inclined to consume high-fat ingredients than others.