The Benefits, Side Effects, and Correct Ways to Take Sour Jujube Seed
Sour jujube seed, many people know about it, right? It is what people commonly call northern sour jujube pit. It has many benefits, and people rely on it quite a bit, but even if you like it very much, do not overlook the side effects of sour jujube seed. Want to know the side effects and benefits of sour jujube seed and how to eat sour jujube seed? Then let us take a look together.
Sour jujube seed, also known as jujube seed, sour jujube pit, or mountain jujube seed. It is made from the ripe fruit of the sour jujube tree (Ziziphus jujuba var. spinosa) of the Rhamnaceae family by removing the flesh and shell and collecting the seeds, then drying them in the sun. It grows on sunny hillsides and roadsides, and is mainly produced in Henan, Hebei, Shaanxi, Liaoning, Shanxi, Shandong, Yunnan, and other places. The fruit is harvested in autumn when ripe; the flesh and hard pit are removed, the seeds are taken, and they are used raw or lightly stir-fried.
Side effects of sour jujube seed
1. Adverse reactions
Numbness of the lips, a feeling of throat blockage, stiff tongue, drooling, numbness of the limbs, and arrhythmia.
2. Toxicity of sour jujube seed
Sour jujube seed at 150 grams/kg given to mice by gavage produced no toxic symptoms. Chronic toxicity experiments in rats proved that its toxicity is extremely low. The median lethal dose by intraperitoneal injection in mice is 14.33±2.015 grams/kg. However, extremely large doses may also show toxic effects.
As a traditional Chinese medicine, the side effects of sour jujube seed are relatively minor, so everyone can consume it with confidence. However, when using sour jujube seed, we need to pay attention to many issues. Understanding the indications and contraindications of sour jujube seed, and also understanding how to use sour jujube seed, can ensure its therapeutic effect.
Sour jujube seed nourishes the liver, calms the heart, soothes the spirit, and astringes sweat. It has sedative, hypnotic, analgesic, and anticonvulsant effects; it also has a certain blood pressure-lowering effect.
It has an excitatory effect on the uterus. It is used for yin-blood deficiency, palpitations, insomnia, and forgetfulness; and for weakness with excessive sweating.
The sour jujube fruit is sour and neutral, while the seed is also sweet. It specifically tonifies the liver and gallbladder, and also revives the spleen. When cooked, it becomes aromatic, and its fragrance enters the spleen, so it can return to the spleen.
It can tonify gallbladder qi, so it can warm the gallbladder. The qi of mother and child are interconnected, so it also treats deficient restlessness and irritability with inability to sleep. Its treatment of cold and heat in the heart and abdomen, pathogenic binding and qi accumulation, and soreness and pain in the limbs with damp painful obstruction are all diseases of spleen deficiency affected by pathogens, because the spleen governs the four limbs.
The gallbladder is the head of the organs, and the eleven organs all depend on the gallbladder. The essential qi of the five zang organs all receives from the spleen, so taking it for a long time can calm the five zang organs.
If sleep is poor, using a little sour jujube seed decoction is fine. But mainly you still need to see a doctor to confirm whether it matches the condition. There are many causes of poor sleep, and one formula cannot treat every kind of illness.
Note: do not think for 1 hour before bed; let the brain rest. Supplementing nutrition helps the body's functions recover and is good for sleep.
Every medicine in the composition of sour jujube seed decoction is very commonly used, and no bad effects have been found, so it can be used with confidence.
Sour jujube seed has a very good effect in treating insomnia, and the side effects of sour jujube seed are generally not obvious, so sour jujube seed is also the choice of many people. But to treat insomnia, patients had best start from daily life, develop good living habits, and also adjust their mindset, so as to effectively relieve insomnia.
Pharmacological effects of sour jujube seed
Sour jujube seed is the seed of the sour jujube, and after processing it can be used as medicine. It contains alkaloids, multiple amino acids, metal elements, and other components, and can calm the heart and soothe the spirit, tonify the middle and nourish the liver, and astringe sweat. It has a relatively good therapeutic effect on deficient restlessness with insomnia, fright palpitations, and spontaneous sweating due to body weakness. Sour jujube seed often works when combined with reishi mushroom, having effects such as calming the spirit and aiding sleep, and can treat severe insomnia.
1. Sedative and hypnotic effects
Sour jujube seed decoction given to rats orally or by intraperitoneal injection showed sedation and drowsiness. Whether day or night, sour jujube seed could show the above effects. The sedation index when taken orally by mice was 1.95, showing a synergistic effect with barbiturates. After sour jujube seed was used continuously for 6 days, animal sleep became lighter and its duration shortened, that is, tolerance developed, but it disappeared after 1 week of withdrawal.
2. Tranquilizing effect
In recent years, some people have compared sour jujube seed with tranquilizers and found many similarities. After sour jujube seed decoction was injected intraperitoneally into rats, all animals showed quietness and drowsiness. But external stimuli could wake them. When the dose was increased to a toxic dose, mice still did not show loss of righting reflex or anesthesia. After gavage in mice, the decoction could inhibit conditioned reflexes but not unconditioned reflexes. Sour jujube seed also had a significant antagonistic effect on the mania produced in cats by subcutaneous injection of morphine hydrochloride.
3. Analgesic and cooling effects
The mouse hot plate method proved that intraperitoneal injection of sour jujube seed decoction had a clear analgesic effect, significantly prolonging the latency of the pain response in mice, and the effect could last as long as 3 hours. Oral or intraperitoneal injection of the decoction had a cooling effect on normal rats.
Dietary therapeutic benefits of sour jujube seed
Boiled in water with reishi mushroom, it has sedative, hypnotic, analgesic, and anticonvulsant effects; it also has a certain blood pressure-lowering effect; and it has an excitatory effect on the uterus.
Uses
Used for yin-blood deficiency, palpitations, insomnia, and forgetfulness; and for weakness with excessive sweating.
Usage
10-15g per day. Decoct in water, cook as porridge; grind into powder and take 3-5g each time.