What are the benefits and effects of purslane? A detailed guide to how to eat it
Purslane is an annual herbaceous plant in the purslane family. Although purslane's medicinal value is extremely rich, it can be said to be little known, because purslane's growing environment has shaped people's view of it, leading them to think it is just a wild weed by the roadside, so they do not understand it well. So, what are the benefits and effects of purslane? How do you eat it?
Purslane is mainly used to treat:
1. Athlete's foot with swelling, abdominal distension and fullness, and scanty, difficult urination. Cook purslane with a small amount of japonica rice and soy sauce and eat it.
2. Postpartum spontaneous sweating. Grind purslane into juice and take three sheng. If there is no fresh purslane, boiling the juice from the dried kind also works.
3. Postpartum bloody dysentery, reluctance to urinate, and pain around the navel and abdomen. Mash raw purslane into three ge of juice, boil it, add one ge of honey, mix and take.
4. Swelling and pain of the anus. Take purslane leaves and wood sorrel in equal parts, decoct them into a decoction and fumigate and wash with it. Twice a day, effective.
5. Red and white dysentery. Mash purslane into three ge of juice, pour it into one or two lukewarm egg whites, and take it all at once while slightly warm. Generally two doses bring results.
6. White worms in the abdomen. Boil one bowl of water with purslane, and eat it with salt and vinegar on an empty stomach. Before long the white worms are expelled.
7. Swelling and pain of the teeth from wind. Take a handful of purslane, chew the juice and soak the affected area with it, and the swelling subsides.
8. Malignant sores inside and outside the ears. Take half a liang of Amur corktree bark and one liang of dried purslane, grind them together into a powder and apply.
9. Navel sores in children. Burn purslane, grind it into a powder and apply.
10. Boils and toxic swellings. Take two fen of purslane and three fen of slaked lime, grind them together into a powder, mix evenly with egg white and apply.
11. Chronic malignant sores of many years. Mash purslane and seal it over the area, or take the juice, boil it thick and apply.
The benefits of purslane
It has the effects of clearing heat and resolving toxicity, and removing dampness and stopping vaginal discharge. It is suitable for those with downward pouring of damp-heat, yellow, thick, foul-smelling vaginal discharge, short and yellow urination, thirst and a bitter taste in the mouth, a red tongue with yellow coating, and a slippery pulse. It can also be used for damp-heat diarrhea, dysentery and the like. It has an anthelmintic effect and is suitable for hookworm disease in children. This product has the effects of clearing heat and resolving toxicity, stopping diarrhea and dysentery, removing intestinal grime, and tonifying qi and the deficient, and is suitable for treating chronic dysentery.
The dietary therapeutic effects of purslane
1. Promoting urination and reducing swelling. Lowering blood pressure. Purslane contains a large amount of potassium salts and has a good effect on promoting urination and reducing swelling; potassium ions can also act directly on blood vessel walls, causing them to dilate and preventing the thickening of arterial walls, thereby lowering blood pressure.
2. Eliminating dust toxins. Preventing and treating ulcers. Purslane can eliminate dust toxins, prevent the degeneration and necrosis of phagocytes, and can also prevent inflammation of lymphatic vessels and stop fibrous changes, completely preventing the formation of silicotic nodules, and it also has a certain therapeutic effect on vitiligo; purslane also contains a relatively large amount of carotene, which can promote the healing of ulcers.
3. Killing bacteria and reducing inflammation. Purslane has a relatively strong inhibitory effect on Shigella dysenteriae, Salmonella typhi and Escherichia coli, and can be used as an adjunct treatment for various inflammations. It has long been known as a "natural antibiotic."
4. Preventing and treating heart disease. Purslane contains an abundant Y-3 fatty acid, which can inhibit the production of serum cholesterol and triglyceride acids in the human body, help vascular endothelial cells synthesize more prostacyclin, inhibit platelets from forming thromboxane A2, lower blood viscosity and promote blood vessel dilation. It can prevent platelet aggregation, coronary artery spasm and thrombosis, thereby playing a role in preventing and treating heart disease.
The pharmacological effects of purslane
1. Antibacterial effect. The ethanol extract has a high inhibitory effect on Escherichia coli, Proteus, Shigella dysenteriae, and Salmonella typhi and paratyphi. It also has varying degrees of inhibitory effect on Staphylococcus aureus, fungi such as Microsporum audouinii, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It has a mild inhibitory effect on Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
2. Effect on the uterus. Clinical and animal experiments show that purslane has a contracting effect on the uterus.
3. Effect on smooth muscle. Purslane preparations have a clear contracting effect on isolated rat ileum, and this effect is similar to the effect of prostaglandin E and neostigmine in exciting intestinal smooth muscle.
4. Other effects. The decoction has an inhibitory effect on isolated frog hearts and isolated guinea pig small intestine. When 20% decoction was injected intravenously into anesthetized dogs at 3 ml per dog, there was no obvious effect on blood pressure. Water-soluble and fat-soluble extracts can prolong the life of some alloxan-induced diabetic rats and rabbits, but do not affect blood glucose levels; the reason may be that they improve the disorder of lipid metabolism in the animals. Purslane has a significant contracting effect on blood vessels. It can also promote the growth of epithelial cells, which is beneficial for ulcer healing.
Contraindications of purslane
Purslane is almost entirely a treasure, and it has no obvious side effects. It is just that some groups of people are not very suited to eating it.
1. Behind purslane's remarkable effects, there are also some side effects hidden, and these side effects cannot be underestimated. Purslane can induce miscarriage in pregnant women, because purslane is a cold-natured medicine and has the effect of causing abortion. Therefore pregnant women must not use it.
2. If diarrhea is caused by the abdomen being chilled, then it is recommended not to eat purslane at this time. Do not eat it together with turtle shell, as there will be a conflicting effect. Many people pay special attention to this point when taking Chinese medicine.
3. When purslane is used in excess, it can cause numbness of the hands and feet and nausea. That is, when we use too much purslane, our hands and feet become less nimble.
4. People with weak constitution and weak spleen and stomach are advised to eat less, to avoid some adverse conditions. When we eat purslane, it is best to choose white sugar; warm-natured brown sugar is not suitable, as it hinders purslane's effects from being brought into play.
3. When purslane is used in excess, it can cause numbness of the hands and feet and nausea. That is, when we use too much purslane, our hands and feet become less nimble.
4. People with weak constitution and weak spleen and stomach are advised to eat less, to avoid some adverse conditions. When we eat purslane, it is best to choose white sugar; warm-natured brown sugar is not suitable, as it hinders purslane's effects from being brought into play.