What are the effects and benefits of osmanthus? What dietary therapy recipes are there?

Osmanthus is one of China's traditional famous flowers, and it has long been known for its fragrance that carries for ten li. Especially during the Mid-Autumn Festival, when osmanthus fragrance fills the air, people raise a glass and admire the moon with family and friends. In fact, besides its ornamental value, osmanthus also has medicinal value and can be used in dietary therapy. So what are the effects and benefits of osmanthus? What dietary therapy recipes are there?

I. The effects of osmanthus

Osmanthus is also called silver osmanthus, jiulixiang, and so on. Generally, the flowers are picked when it blooms from September to October, dried in the shade, and then used as medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine considers it warm in nature and pungent in taste, with the effects of resolving phlegm and dissipating blood stasis. Clinically, it can be used to treat toothache, bad breath, intestinal wind and bloody dysentery, and other diseases.

II. The benefits of osmanthus

1. Dispelling cold and relieving pain: Osmanthus is warm in nature and has a warming effect, so it can be used to dispel cold and relieve pain symptoms. In daily life, it can be used for symptoms such as cold pain in the abdomen and dysmenorrhea, and it also has a certain relieving effect on toothache, rheumatic muscle and bone pain, and other aspects.

2. Resolving phlegm and relieving cough: Osmanthus has the effect of warming the lungs and resolving phlegm, and it has a certain relieving effect on symptoms such as cough and wheezing caused by tracheitis.

3. Soothing emotions: Osmanthus has a unique fragrance. The aromatic substances contained in the fragrance, such as γ-decalactone and α-ionone, can effectively soothe emotions. Smelling the fragrance of osmanthus can make one feel refreshed and clear-headed.

4. Beauty and skincare: Osmanthus has the effects of skincare and beauty enhancement. Regularly drinking osmanthus tea can effectively improve skin condition.

III. Osmanthus dietary therapy recipes

1. Solomon's seal and osmanthus tea

Ingredients: 15 grams of Solomon's seal, 5 grams of osmanthus, and a small amount of honey.

Method: Put the Solomon's seal and osmanthus into a pot, add clean water and bring to a boil, then switch to a gentle fire and simmer for about 20 minutes. After the water cools, add honey and drink.

2. Red date, glutinous rice, and osmanthus lotus root

Ingredients: 200g glutinous rice, 50g brown sugar, about 10 goji berries, about 20 lotus seeds, 5g dried osmanthus

Method:

Soak the glutinous rice overnight in advance. Remove the pits from the red dates and mash them into date paste, then mix with the soaked glutinous rice.

Cut off both ends of the lotus root, stuff the mixed glutinous rice into the holes of the lotus root, and press it firmly with chopsticks.

Add an appropriate amount of clean water to a pot, put in the brown sugar, lotus seeds, goji berries, and lotus root, and cook for about 40 minutes. Finally, add the osmanthus and cook for about 10 minutes.

IV. Precautions for consuming osmanthus

1. Osmanthus is warm in nature. If you have a constitution that tends toward heat, use osmanthus cautiously or in small amounts, so as to avoid aggravating internal heat.

2. When drinking osmanthus as tea, the amount used should not be too much. Generally, about 5-20 grams at a time is most suitable.

Osmanthus can be used in foods such as pastries, candies, preserved fruits, tea, and wine. There are many ways to eat it, and eating osmanthus often can delight the mood and cultivate the character.