What are the benefits and effects of nutmeg? Read this article to understand
Nutmeg, also known as doukou, rouguo, yuguo, majian, etc., is the dried seed kernel of the plant nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) in the nutmeg family (Myristicaceae), genus Myristica. As a medicine it has the effects of warming the middle and moving qi, and astringing the intestines to stop diarrhea, and it has excellent therapeutic effects on conditions such as deficiency cold of the spleen and stomach, chronic diarrhea, abdominal distension and pain, poor appetite and vomiting. Now let us take a look at the benefits and effects of nutmeg!
The medicinal effects of nutmeg
[Nature and flavor] Pungent in taste, warm in nature.
[Meridian entry] Spleen, stomach, and large intestine meridians.
[Effects] Warms the middle and moves qi, astringes the intestines to stop diarrhea; mainly treats deficiency cold of the spleen and stomach, chronic diarrhea, abdominal distension and pain, poor appetite and vomiting.
Processing methods for nutmeg
1. Roasting in dough: Wash the nutmeg, take white flour, add water and knead it to wrap the nutmeg. Separately take clam powder or talc powder and place it in a pot to heat, pour in the wrapped nutmeg, stir-fry until the outer dough turns scorched yellow, then take it out, remove the dough shell, and slice while hot.
2. Steaming: Take clean nutmeg and soak for 1 hour, remove and place in a steamer, with one layer of bran and one layer of nutmeg alternating layer by layer, steam for about 2 hours, until the oil is absorbed into the bran, remove all the bran and promptly cut into thick slices, dry, or pound into pieces for use.
3. Stir-frying: Pour wheat flour into a pot, stir-fry over gentle heat until hot, pour in the nutmeg, stir-fry until slightly yellow, remove from the pot, sift out the flour, spread out, cool, and pound into pieces when making up a prescription. For every 100 kg of nutmeg, use 50 kg of wheat flour.
4. Earth processing: Take fine yellow earth, place it in a pot and heat until it bubbles, pour in the nutmeg, keep turning continuously, roast until the nutmeg is heated through and the oily substance seeps out (avoid burning it black), take it out, sift out the yellow earth clean, and pound into pieces when used.
5. Making frost: Take nutmeg and grind it into a paste. Wrap it in multiple layers of straw paper, press to remove the oil, repeating the pressing until the oil is completely removed.
The pharmacological effects of nutmeg
1. Sedative effect: The methylisoeugenol contained in nutmeg volatile oil has a central nervous system inhibitory effect. After iv administration of 50 mg/kg to rabbits, the righting reflex, pain reflex and auditory reflex all disappeared during sleep, with an average sleep time of 20 minutes 8 seconds, and it has a sleep-enhancing effect on pentobarbital.
2. Antibacterial effect: The MICs of methylisoeugenol against Staphylococcus aureus and Diplococcus pneumoniae are 0.4 mg/ml and 0.6 mg/ml respectively. Malabaricone B has a strong inhibitory effect on Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Streptococcus constellatus, with MICs of 1 microgram/ml for the first two and 2 micrograms/ml for the latter; the MIC of malabaricone C against Bacillus subtilis is 2 micrograms/ml.
3. Anesthetic effect: Methyleugenol and elemicin in nutmeg volatile oil have anesthetic effects after iv administration to mice, rabbits, cats and dogs.
4. Other effects: The volatile oil contained in nutmeg has an irritating effect on the gastrointestinal tract and also has a carminative effect; a small amount can promote the secretion of gastric juice and stimulate gastrointestinal peristalsis, while a large dose inhibits it. It also has the effect of lowering serum alanine aminotransferase in rats.
Medicinal accompanying prescriptions for nutmeg
1. To treat water-dampness swelling like a drum, with the patient unable to eat, the disease can be purged: Nutmeg, betel nut, and calomel 1 fen each, black morning glory 1 liang 5 qian (take the head powder). Grind the above into powder, make into pills with flour paste, the size of mung beans. Take 10 to 20 pills each time, taken with decocted Forsythia soup, after meals, 3 times a day.
2. To treat diarrhea due to spleen deficiency, with borborygmus and inability to eat: One nutmeg, scoop out a small hole, put 3 small pieces of frankincense inside, wrap in dough and roast until the dough is cooked, remove the dough, and grind into fine powder. Take 1 qian each time, taken with rice water; for children, half a qian.
3. To treat weakness of the spleen and kidney, unformed stools, and no desire for food: Nutmeg, psoralea, schisandra, and evodia each ground into powder. Ginger 4 liang, red dates 50 pieces. Use one bowl of water, boil the ginger and dates, remove the ginger, and when the water is dry, take the date flesh and make pills the size of tung seeds. Take 5 to 70 pills each time, on an empty stomach before meals.
4. To treat spleen diarrhea and qi dysentery: Two nutmegs, wrap in dough mixed with rice vinegar, place in ashes and roast until yellow and scorched, grind into powder together with the dough, then add 1 liang of stir-fried danguzi powder and mix together. Also scorch-fry old granary rice into powder; each time use 2 qian 7, decoct a drink and mix in 3 qian-spoonfuls of the previous two substances, once each at dawn and dusk.
5. To treat watery diarrhea without limit, with borborygmus and abdominal pain: Nutmeg (shelled, ground into powder) 1 liang, ginger juice 2 ge, white flour 2 liang. For the above three ingredients, mix the ginger juice with the flour to make cakes, wrap the nutmeg powder inside and roast until yellow and cooked, then grind into a fine powder. Take 2 qian-spoonfuls each time, taken mixed with rice water on an empty stomach, and take again at noon.
6. To treat cholera with unceasing vomiting: Nutmeg 1 liang (shelled), ginseng 1 liang (remove the reed head), magnolia bark 1 liang (remove the coarse bark, coat with ginger juice, roast until fragrant and cooked). Pound the above medicines and sift through a coarse sieve into powder. Take 3 qian each time, with one large cup of water, add half a fen of ginger and two pinches of millet, decoct until reduced to five fen, remove the dregs, and take warm regardless of the time.
7. To treat diarrhea: Nutmeg 5 qian, white talc 1 liang 2 qian 5 fen in spring and winter, 2 liang 5 qian in summer, 2 liang in autumn. Grind the above into a fine powder, mix with ginger juice, make a paste with medicated leaven, and make into pills to take.
8. To treat prolonged diarrhea and dysentery, with deficiency cold of the intestines and stomach, intestinal slippage, and undigested residue that does not collect: Nutmeg (roasted), lead carbonate (stir-fried), dragon bone (calcined), and alum (calcined) in equal parts. Grind into powder and make into paste pills. Depending on size, take with rice soup.
9. To treat deficiency and slippage of the spleen and stomach, with unceasing diarrhea and red and white dysentery that no medicine can cure: Nutmeg (cut into slices, stir-fried until yellow), poppy husk (pounded, mixed evenly with honey, stir-fried until black-yellow), licorice (cut into pieces, stir-fried until yellow-black), dried ginger (cut fine, stir-fried until yellow-black). Grind the above in equal parts into powder, take 5 qian each time.