What are the uses and benefits of cactus? A complete guide to home feng shui knowledge
Cactus is also known as xianbazhang, bawangshu, huoyan, huozhang, yufurong, and niusheshetou. Cactus can clear heat and detoxify, dissipate blood stasis and reduce swelling, strengthen the stomach and relieve pain, and suppress cough. Taken internally, it treats stomach and duodenal ulcers, acute dysentery, and cough; applied externally, it treats epidemic parotitis, mastitis, carbuncles, boils and toxic swellings, snake bites, and burns and scalds. However, the spines contain toxic sap, and after a person is pricked, it easily causes allergic symptoms such as skin redness, swelling, pain, and itching. When making dishes with cactus, it is usually de-spined and peeled, then boiled, sliced, oiled, and seasoned to make a cold dish; if making a stir-fried dish, there is no need to boil it, just cut and cook it directly. Every 100 grams of edible cactus contains about 220 micrograms of vitamin A, 16 milligrams of vitamin C, 1.6 grams of protein, and 2.7 milligrams of iron, and can produce 25-30 kilocalories of heat.
Uses of cactus:
Traditional Chinese medicine holds that cactus is bitter in taste and cold in nature, and has the effects of promoting qi and blood circulation, and clearing heat and detoxifying. Below are some single-ingredient and proven recipes using cactus.
1. Cactus for epidemic parotitis: Take an old cactus, remove the spines and peel, add a little table salt, pound into a paste, spread it on cotton cloth at a thickness of about 0.5 cm, and apply it to the parotid areas on both the affected and healthy sides. Generally, change the dressing once every 1-2 days. The treatment effect is better when used early.
2. Inflammatory external hemorrhoids: Take 500 g of fresh cactus, remove the roots and spines, shave off the outer skin by about 3 mm, cut into strips and chunks, put into an iron pot, add water and decoct, and when about 2000 ml of decoction is obtained, pour it into a basin and use it to steam the anal area while hot. After it cools slightly, sit in the basin and soak for 15 minutes, twice a day, for 3-7 consecutive days.
3. Paronychia: 50 g of fresh cactus, remove the spines and pound into a paste, add 2-3 g of table salt and 6-8 drops of Zheng Honghua You, mix well, and store in a container for later use; prepare it on the same day it is used. During treatment, take an appropriate amount of the compound cactus paste and apply it externally to the affected area, then bandage it with gauze, changing the dressing once each morning and evening, and in summer one additional change may be added. Four days make one course of treatment. One to two courses can cure it.
4. Palpitations and insomnia: Take 100 g of cactus, pound it into a mash and squeeze out the juice, and take it with white sugar dissolved in boiled water.
5. Lymphadenitis: Take one leaf of fresh cactus, remove the spines, wash and scrub it clean, chop and pound it into a paste, spread it evenly over the affected area, cover and bandage it fixed with gauze, and change it once a day, with 7 days as one course of treatment. Generally after 3-5 days the induration shrinks and the pain lessens, and after 6-7 days the induration disappears.
6. Carbuncles, sores, and boils: Take an appropriate amount each of fresh cactus and Houttuynia cordata, wash them clean, pound them together into a thin paste, apply it to the affected area, and bandage with gauze until healed.
7. Cactus for burns and scalds: Pound cactus to extract the juice and remove the residue, then apply it to the affected area with egg white or sesame oil. Or remove the outer skin and spines of the cactus, pound it into a paste, apply it to the affected area, cover and bandage with gauze, and change it once a day.
8. Local induration formed by intramuscular injection: Take an appropriate amount of fresh cactus, remove the spines and pound into a paste, apply it to the affected area, and bandage with gauze; generally it can heal in 2-5 days.
9. Cactus for snake and insect bites: Take an appropriate amount of fresh cactus, wash it clean, pound it into a thin paste, and apply it to the affected area.
10. Bone hyperplasia: Take an appropriate amount each of cactus and fresh Sophora flavescens, wash them clean, pound them together into a thin paste, apply it to the affected area, bandage with gauze, and wrap the outside with a plastic bag or cling film, changing the dressing once each morning and evening; generally it can be cured in 15 days.
11. Cactus for acute tonsillitis: 50 g of fresh cactus and 10 g of Forsythia suspensa, decoct in water and take, twice a day, and it can be cured after 3-5 consecutive days.
12. Eczema and impetigo: Take an appropriate amount of cactus stem, dry it and grind it into powder, and apply it externally to the affected area.
13. Cactus for mastitis: Pound cactus and squeeze out the juice, add an appropriate amount of flour, mix and apply to the affected area, twice a day.
14. Psoriasis: Take 50 g of fresh cactus, remove the spines and skin, then apply it to the affected area, bandage with gauze, once a day. Generally it is cured in 15 days.
15. Acute bacillary dysentery: Take 50-100 g of fresh cactus and decoct in water.
16. Cactus for bronchial asthma: Take cactus stem, remove the skin and spines, dip in an appropriate amount of honey and simmer for oral use, once a day, each dose being the size of 1/2 of your own palm; once symptoms disappear, the medication can be stopped.
17. Herpes zoster: An appropriate amount of cactus and some glutinous rice flour. Scrape off the spines on the outside of the cactus, mix with glutinous rice flour and pound into a paste, apply externally, twice a day, with 5 days as one course of treatment.
18. Infantile tinea capitis: Take cactus, remove the spines and pound into a paste, and apply externally to the local area.
19. Cactus for chilblains: Take 1 piece of fresh cactus, wash it clean, remove the spines, pound it into a paste, and stir it into a mash. Then apply the cactus paste to the affected part, with a thickness suitable for covering the skin, then bandage with gauze and a bandage, and remove the dressing after 5 days. Generally 1-2 applications can cure it (not suitable for applying the medicine if already ulcerated).
20. Simple obesity: Take a palm-sized piece of fresh cactus, remove the spines and skin, pound it, add 1 egg, stir well, heat 30 ml of honey in a pot, then mix and stir-fry for consumption, more than 3 times a week, which can effectively lower blood lipids and reduce weight.
Cactus is a green plant with very powerful functions, and it has many functions beneficial to humans. In addition to the above therapeutic effects, cactus also has the effect of absorbing electromagnetic radiation, and is also a natural air freshener, adsorbing dust and purifying the air.
Cactus is a green plant with very powerful functions, and it has many functions beneficial to humans. In addition to the above therapeutic effects, cactus also has the effect of absorbing electromagnetic radiation, and is also a natural air freshener, adsorbing dust and purifying the air.