The efficacy and function of loofah

When it comes to loofah, many people may not know much about it. In fact, loofah refers to the sponge of loofah, but it is often discarded by people in daily life. In fact, loofah not only tastes good, but also has many functions and effects. It is often used in medicine to treat various diseases. So, how can loofah be used for cooking and what are its specific effects and functions? The following is a detailed introduction for you.

What is a loofah

It refers to the pulp of the loofah, which is oblong in shape with a tough stalk at one end. The peel is grayish yellow with 10 longitudinal ridges and is crispy. The rest are similar to loofah. Can be used to wash dishes like a cloth. Wipe the table, etc.

The medicinal material is composed of interwoven filamentous vascular bundles, mostly in the shape of long prisms or long cylinders, slightly curved, 30 to 70 cm long and 7 to 10 cm in diameter. The surface is pale yellowish white. It is light, tough, elastic and cannot be broken. The cross section shows that the ovary has three chambers and appears hollow. Slight odor, light taste.

The medicinal value of loofah

Nature and flavor

Bitter taste; cool, sweet and neutral in nature. Enters the lung, stomach and liver meridians.

Function and indications

Muscle and bone pain, amenorrhea, testicular swelling and pain, blood in the stool, metrorrhagia, chest and flank pain, milk blockage, etc.

Function classification

Promote blood circulation and activate collaterals; detoxify and reduce swelling. Wind-removing medicine; meridian-opening medicine; heat-clearing medicine; blood-cooling and hemostatic medicine.

Compatibility Application

It is used to treat arthralgia, cramps, and numbness, with mulberry twigs, honeysuckle vines, coix seeds, and earthworms. It is used to treat bloating and pain caused by qi stagnation, with fructus aurantii, citrus peel, platycodon, and tangerine peel.

Dosage

For internal use: decoct in water, 5-15g; or grind into powder after burning, 1.5-3g each time. For external use: appropriate amount, grind into powder and apply on skin.

How to prepare loofah

1. Loofah: wash, dry and cut into sections.

2. Stir-fried loofah: Cut the loofah into small pieces, stir-fry with bran until it turns yellow, take it out and sieve out the bran.

3. Luffa charcoal: Take the luffa cut into small pieces, put it in the pot (fill it up), cover it with a pot of the same size, seal the joint of the two pots with yellow mud, and then calcine it with a low fire for about 4-5 hours (usually stick white paper on the bottom of the pot, and it is calcined when the paper turns brown), wait for it to cool and take it out.

What diseases can loofah treat

1. Treat chest and flank pain: stir-fry loofah, red peony root, white peony root, Corydalis yanhusuo 9g each, and green tangerine peel 6g. Decoction.

2. Treat chest pain and heartache: Luffa 15g, orange peel 3g, Salvia miltiorrhiza 10g, Allium macrostemon 12g. Decoction in water.

3. To treat cough with excessive phlegm, chest and flank pain: burn old loofah and grind it into powder. Mix with sugar, 2g each time, 2 to 3 times a day, with warm water.

4. Treatment of rheumatic joint pain: Luffa 15g, Honeysuckle 24g, Clematis 12g, Millettia reticulata 15g. Decoction in water.

5. To treat arm pain: 10cm of loofah, 6g of qinjiao, 3g of qianghuo, 4.5g of safflower, decocted in water and taken orally.

6. To treat hemiplegia after stroke: 10g each of loofah, Rhizoma Achyranthis Bidentatae, 30g each of mulberry branch and astragalus. Decoction in water.

7. To treat milk deficiency and obstruction: 30g loofah and 60g fig. Stewed pig's trotters or pork.

8. To treat intestinal gas pain around the navel and towards the heart: burn loofah and grind into powder. Take three grams each time, mixed with hot wine.

9. For the treatment of acute mastitis, boils and swelling: 9g each of loofah and peony bark, 15g each of honeysuckle and dandelion, and 12g of stir-fried aurantium. Decoction.

10. Treatment of eczema: 60g of loofah. Decoction in water and use to fumigate the affected area.