What Are the Benefits and Effects of Gastrodia? A Detailed Guide to Its Preparation Methods and Who Should Avoid It

Gastrodia is the rhizome of the orchid plant Gastrodia elata. It is rich in nutrients and is a rare and valuable medicinal plant. It is used to treat high blood pressure, headache and dizziness, facial paralysis, numbness of the limbs, and infantile convulsions. Its tuber is an excellent medicine for calming the liver and extinguishing wind. It has become a health-preserving choice for many people. How much do you know about the benefits and effects of Gastrodia? Who should not eat Gastrodia? How is Gastrodia eaten? Let me walk you through it.

I. Benefits and Effects of Gastrodia

1. Pain-relieving effect: Gastrodia injection made from Gastrodia has a clear analgesic effect on trigeminal neuralgia, vascular neuropathic headache, cerebrovascular disease headache, toxic polyneuritis, and other conditions. In recent years, clinical trials by some medical institutions involving more than 1,000 patients showed an effective rate of 90%.

2. Sedative effect: Some medical institutions used synthetic gastrodin (gastrodia glycoside) to treat patients with neurasthenia and neurasthenic syndrome, with effective rates of 89.44% and 86.87% respectively. It can also inhibit caffeine-induced central excitation and enhance the sleep-prolonging effect of pentobarbital sodium.

3. Anticonvulsant effect: Gastrodia has a certain therapeutic effect on facial nerve twitching, limb numbness, hemiplegia, and epilepsy. It also relieves smooth muscle spasms and alleviates angina pectoris and biliary colic.

4. Blood pressure-lowering effect: Gastrodia can treat high blood pressure. Taken over a long period, it can calm the liver and boost qi, strengthen the lower back and knees, and fortify the bones and muscles. It can also increase peripheral and coronary blood flow and has a protective effect on the heart.

5. Vision-improving and intelligence-enhancing effects: Gastrodia also has the effect of improving vision and significantly enhancing memory. Gastrodia has a clear protective and regulating effect on the human brain and nervous system, and can enhance the resolving power of the optic nerve. It is currently used as a brain health food or brain health medicine for high-altitude flight personnel. In Japan, Gastrodia injection is used to treat senile dementia, with an effective rate of 81%.

Gastrodia is moistening without being drying, mainly enters the liver meridian, and excels at calming the liver and extinguishing wind. For all conditions of internal stirring of liver wind and dizziness of the head and eyes, regardless of deficiency or excess, it is a key medicine.

1. Calming the liver and extinguishing wind: Gastrodia is moist and rich in fluid, can nourish blood and extinguish wind, and can treat headache and dizziness caused by blood deficiency with internal stirring of liver wind. It can also be used for infantile convulsions, epilepsy, and tetanus.

2. Dispelling wind and relieving pain: Used for dizziness caused by wind-phlegm, migraine and general headache, limb numbness, and hemiplegia.

Gastrodia is suitable for dizziness caused by internal wind. There are three types of headache caused by internal wind: first, the liver-yang ascending type, with symptoms of headache and dizziness appearing at the same time; second, phlegm turbidity obstructing the middle, with symptoms of frequently feeling heaviness on one side of the head; third, kidney deficiency patients, with symptoms of headache and dizziness accompanied by memory decline. Gastrodia is not suitable for headache and dizziness caused by the common cold.

Gastrodia has sedative, analgesic, and anticonvulsant effects; it can increase cerebral blood flow, reduce cerebrovascular resistance, mildly constrict cerebral blood vessels, and increase coronary blood flow; it can lower blood pressure, slow heart rate, and protect against myocardial ischemia; Gastrodia polysaccharides have immune activity.

II. Who should not eat Gastrodia?

1. Any patient or group with blood deficiency, insufficient yin fluid, or similar conditions is not suitable for taking Gastrodia.

2. Many people like to use a single Chinese medicinal herb on its own. In fact, when using Gastrodia, it needs to be combined with other medicinal materials to achieve the desired results. Using only Gastrodia without compatibility with other medicinal materials does not produce very good or ideal results.

3. When treating excess liver yang and dysfunction of the spleen and stomach in transporting and transforming water and dampness, the medication also needs to be modified according to the actual condition to achieve relatively good results.

4. Long cooking greatly reduces the effect of Gastrodia. Since the main components in Gastrodia easily volatilize when exposed to heat, it should not be kept in the pot and cooked for a long time.

5. If dizziness, vomiting, or similar conditions occur when using Gastrodia alone, use should be stopped immediately, and medical treatment at a hospital is necessary when appropriate.

III. How is Gastrodia eaten? What preparation methods are there?

1. Fresh Gastrodia steamed with pork

Ingredients: 100 grams fresh Gastrodia, 1000 grams lean pork.

Preparation method: Wash and slice the fresh Gastrodia. Cut the lean pork into 5—6 cm cubes, place in a large bowl, steam in a steamer for 1 hour, and then eat.

Effect: Has a relieving effect on Meniere's syndrome.

2. Gastrodia and pig brain congee

Materials: 10 grams Gastrodia, 1 pig brain, 250 grams japonica rice.

Cooking method: Wash the pig brain, place it together with the Gastrodia in a clay pot, then add the japonica rice, add clean water, and cook into congee, until the congee and brain are cooked.

Eating method and amount: Take 1 serving of warm congee each morning upon rising.

Function: Calms the liver and extinguishes wind, moves qi and invigorates blood.

Indications: Suitable for high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis, Meniere's disease, headache caused by head wind, and other conditions.

3. Gastrodia with carp

Materials: 25 grams Gastrodia, 1500 grams fresh carp, 10 grams Chuanxiong, 10 grams Poria, and appropriate amounts of seasonings.

Cooking method: Remove the scales, gills, and internal organs from the fish, wash clean, and place in a basin. Cut Chuanxiong and Poria into large slices, soak them in second-wash rice water, then place the Gastrodia into the rice water that has soaked the Chuanxiong and Poria and soak for 4—6 hours. Remove, place on rice and steam thoroughly, slice, and put into the fish belly. Place the fish in a basin, add scallion, ginger, and an appropriate amount of clean water, steam in a steamer for 30 minutes, and remove the ginger and scallion. Separately, add appropriate amounts of white sugar, salt, monosodium glutamate, pepper, and sesame oil to clean water, bring to a boil, thicken with water bean starch, and pour over the Gastrodia fish.

Eating method and amount: The cooked fish can be eaten with rice or eaten alone.

Function: Calms the liver and extinguishes wind, settles fright and relieves pain, moves qi and invigorates blood.

Indications: Suitable for deficiency-fire headache, dark vision and limb numbness, as well as neurasthenia, high blood pressure, dizziness, and other conditions.