What are the effects and functions of eating corn silk?

Corn is a common food in our daily diet. It is rich in a large number of nutrients, various minerals and trace elements. Regular consumption of corn is very beneficial to the human body. Not only does corn have nutritional value, but corn silk is also very important to the human body. Eating corn silk can effectively relieve kidney disease, form a protective film for the human liver and kidneys, and also achieve a diuretic effect.

The benefits of corn silk

1. Treatment of chronic nephritis

Take 50 grams of dried corn silk, add 600 ml of warm water, and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes over low heat to obtain about 300 to 400 ml of medicinal liquid. Filter and take orally once a day or in divided doses. 9 cases of chronic glomerulonephritis were treated. After more than 10 months of observation, 3 of them were cured, 2 improved, and the remaining 4 had no obvious effect. The effects of corn silk are mainly manifested in diuresis, improvement of kidney function, disappearance or reduction of edema, disappearance or reduction of urine protein, etc. In some cases, no toxic side effects were observed after taking the drug for 6 consecutive months.

2. To treat nephrotic syndrome, use 60 grams of dried corn silk each time, wash and boil it for oral administration. Twice daily, morning and evening. At the same time, take 1 gram of potassium chloride, 3 times a day. Twelve cases were clinically treated, of which 10 had severe systemic edema, or pleural effusion and ascites, and 2 had mild edema. After 3 months of treatment, 9 cases had completely subsided edema, and 2 had mostly subsided edema. In one case, edema completely disappeared 15 days after taking the medicine. Generally, diuresis will begin to occur 3 days after taking the medicine. At the same time, urine protein and non-protein nitrogen will decrease to varying degrees. In a few cases, plasma protein will increase. In some cases, phenol red test and blood pressure will return to normal.

3. Treatment of acute hemolytic anemia complicated by hemoglobinuria

In the treatment of 2 cases of this disease caused by poisoning from eating wild plant bird-attracting sticks, 1 to 2 liang of corn silk decoction was taken orally. The urine volume of the two cases increased 4 and 6 hours after taking it respectively, and the soy sauce-like hematuria was no longer visible to the naked eye. Later, jaundice decreased or disappeared. During the treatment, 5% glucose saline was intravenously infused, vitamin C and blood transfusion were given simultaneously. It has been observed that corn silk not only has diuretic effects, but may also have anti-hemolytic, anti-allergic and detoxification effects.

Pharmacological effects of corn silk

1. Diuretic effect

Oral administration of 5g/kg and 10g/kg of corn silk decoction significantly increased the urine volume of conscious rabbits in the first and second hours after administration, and the high-dose group had a stronger effect, which was weaker than furosemide but more lasting. After intravenous injection of 1.5 mg/kg of the water extract, rabbits showed the first diuretic effect 4 minutes later, and a stronger second diuretic effect 13 to 15 minutes later. After neutralization with sodium hydroxide and subsequent bladder membrane dialyzation, its diuretic effect remained unchanged, indicating that its diuretic component is not the inorganic salt it contains. This product has a diuretic effect when taken orally or injected subcutaneously. After administration, the chloride concentration in the blood increases first, and then the urine volume and the chloride content in the urine increase. Its diuretic mechanism is mainly extrarenal, and it has a synergistic effect when used in combination with caffeine. 8-10g of corn silk can be made into a decoction for oral administration. It has a mild diuretic effect on normal people, but weaker than Poria cocos and caffeine. There are also reports that clinical double-target controlled studies have shown that this product has no significant difference in 12h and 24h urine volume and urinary sodium excretion compared with the control group.

2. Antihypertensive effect

Corn silk water extract, ethanol water extract, ethanol extract and decoction, when injected intravenously into anesthetized dogs, cats and rabbits, have a hypotensive effect. The decoction was given to anesthetized dogs by intravenous injection (0.05-0.2g/kg) or eye irrigation (2g/kg), which reduced blood pressure by 30%-73% and 53%, respectively, and took 2-5h and 5-10h to recover. When corn silk boiling water dialysate (1.37-22 mg/kg) was intravenously injected into normal anesthetized dogs, it produced a dose-dependent hypotensive effect, which took effect within 15 minutes and lasted for 80 minutes, accompanied by a significant decrease in heart rate.

3. Choleretic effect

Corn silk can significantly increase bile secretion and promote bile excretion. It can reduce the organic matter and residue in bile, and reduce the viscosity, specific gravity and bilirubin content. After oral administration of corn silk preparations, people experience gallbladder reflex contraction and increased bile secretion 15-30 minutes after oral administration of corn silk preparations. This effect is slower than that of magnesium salts, but more lasting and is not accompanied by increased intestinal motility and loose stools.

4. Hypoglycemic effect

The fermented preparation of corn silk has a significant hypoglycemic effect on rabbits; oral administration of 7, 5g/kg, 15g/kg, and 30g/kg of the decoction for 7 consecutive days has a significant therapeutic effect on alloxan-induced diabetes in mice, and also has a significant hypoglycemic effect on hyperglycemia in mice caused by glucose and adrenaline.

5. Other functions

Oral administration of 15g/kg and 30g/kg corn silk aqueous solution for 7 days can significantly reduce the serum cholesterol content of hypercholesterolemia mice. Corn silk contains vitamin K, which has a therapeutic effect on coagulation dysfunction caused by vitamin K deficiency.