Text/Xia Mo
Editor/Xia Mo
Preface
As a kind of cultural essence that has been passed down by our ancestors for thousands of years, traditional Chinese medicine is now more and more valued by the common people.
Traditional Chinese medicine has also infiltrated into everyone's daily life, and many people usually unconsciously make some health medicinal diets.
For example, every spring, there are many people who go in groups to pick mother-in-law, dry it and soak it in water to drink.
This drinking method does help to clear away heat and detoxify, moisten the intestines and laxative, and can also play a diuretic and drenching effect, which is very good for the human body.
And there are many people who have been drinking astragalus soaked water, but I don't know when, suddenly there is a saying that asterylus soaked in water will hurt the kidneys.
Therefore, many people simply quit directly, and worry every day whether the agalus water they drank before has caused harm to their bodies.
So, is there any scientific basis for this statement? Which Chinese herbal medicines can hurt the kidneys?
Can you drink astragalus soaked in water?
First of all, it can be clearly told that astragalus not only does not hurt the kidneys, but also plays a protective role in the kidneys.
may have one more reason with the popularity of people, when the application of a Chinese herbal medicine becomes more and more common, there will be rumors about it, but it is just a person with a heart to create panic to earn traffic.
If you don't exercise or sweat very easily when you are not in a very hot environment, then this is basically caused by weakness, and the source of this weakness is actually poor kidney function.
If the kidneys are not functioning well and the metabolic waste in the urine cannot be excreted from the body in time, the body will sweat to reduce the excretion load.
The flavonoid glycosides and flavonols in astragalus can play a benign role in the kidneys, and after conditioning the kidneys, the problem of sweating will naturally be cured.
In addition to being able to nourish qi and kidneys, astragalus has many other benefits.
In traditional Chinese medicine, there is a saying that the spleen is dominated by water valleys, and astragalus can increase the level of qi and blood in the body, increase the generation and operation of qi, improve the condition of qi deficiency, and improve the ability to digest, absorb and transport nutrients.
This is actually because the flavonoids in astragalus are at work.
These polysaccharides have immunomodulatory, antioxidant, anti-tumor, and anti-inflammatory effects, and can effectively regulate the immune system by enhancing the body's immunity, which is also known as tonifying the spleen and invigorating qi.
Astragalus can also beautify the skin, for women, astragalus soaking water is a drink that is very easy to improve skin aging, long-term drinking, the skin will be more delicate and ruddy, remove the yellow gas.
Patients with high blood pressure can also adhere to the Xi of drinking astragalus water, and the polysaccharides in it can help reduce thrombosis and effectively lower blood pressure.
Be careful with Chinese medicine containing this substance!
After talking about the benefits of astragalus, let's talk about what is the traditional Chinese medicine that really hurts the kidneys.
In 2005, Guan Mutong, Aoki Xiang, and Guangfangji were banned from being used in the practice of Chinese medicine by the National Pharmacopoeia.
The reason is that it contains a very kidney-damaging substance - aristolochic acid.
First of all, aristolochic acid itself is a nephrotoxic substance, which can directly cause damage to the kidneys.
If the intake of aristolochic acid is excessive, the epithelial cells of the renal tubules will be damaged, and the renal tubules will also have interstitial fibrosis, and the glomeruli may die or harden, resulting in lesions, resulting in various chronic kidney diseases, and in severe cases, kidney failure is not impossible.
In addition, aristolochic acid will be metabolized into hypoaristolochic acid after entering the human body, forming stable binders with proteins in the urine, and these binders will be deposited in the urine and turn into stones, causing urinary tract obstruction or urinary tract infection.
In addition, aristolochic acid can also irritate the stomach and cause gastrointestinal inflammation and ulcers, resulting in nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and a series of digestive problems, among which neurotoxins may also cause dizziness, fatigue, convulsions, and damage to the nervous system.
Moreover, as early as 2008, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) listed aristolochic acid as a first-class carcinogen, along with nitrosamines and benzopyrene!
For a long time, the incidence of liver cancer in China and Asia is much higher than that in Europe and the United States, and it is generally believed that there are more hepatitis B virus carriers.
However, a recent study in the journal Science Translational Medicine confirmed that the main culprit of liver cancer in Asians is likely to be the use of Chinese herbs containing aristolochic acid.
In 2017, medical scientists in Taiwan also conducted a sample survey and confirmed that aristolochic acid and its derivatives are the main factors causing liver cancer in Asia.
In addition to the above-mentioned banned traditional Chinese medicines, traditional Chinese medicines such as Tianxian vine, asaroxin and cinnabar also contain a small amount of aristolochic acid, which can cause various physical problems and pose a threat to life safety if taken improperly.
The correct way to consume astragalus
Usually, when you soak astragalus in water, it is enough to put about 5-10g at a time, and you can drink it after brewing it with boiling water for about 10-20 minutes, just like drinking tea. And astragalus can also be brewed repeatedly.
If it is decoction, then 30g at a time is enough, and you can also add 15g of wolfberry to decoction water together, which can have a good effect on the improvement of qi and blood.
As usual, astragalus can also be eaten with some other health products.
Take 20g of astragalus, 10g of hawthorn, rinse it with cold water first, and then brew it with about 400ml of boiling water for half an hour before drinking, but after brewing about twice, don't brew it repeatedly, at this time the nutrients are almost dissolved in water.
Soaking these two things together in water can enhance the effect of invigorating qi and invigorating blood, which is extremely friendly to patients with qi deficiency heart disease and three highs.
However, taking hawthorn on an empty stomach can cause stomach discomfort, so it is still necessary to drink it after eating to help digestion.
In addition to soaking in water, there are many ways to eat astragalus, let's take a look.
When cooking porridge, you can also put a handful of astragalus appropriately, or simply use codonopsis and astragalus to cook porridge.
Prepare 15g of astragalus, 10g of codonopsis decoction water to extract juice, and then add 100g of brown rice and 30g of jujube to cook porridge together, which not only tastes very good, but also warms up the body and nourishes the stomach.
When you usually eat roast meat, roast duck and roast chicken, you can also put a little astragalus, which not only tastes more fragrant, but also nourishes the body, so you might as well give it a try.
Like honeysuckle, wheat winter, gardenia are all medicinal materials that nourish the cold, and eating together with astragalus can achieve a good neutralizing effect and prevent eating too much from getting angry.
epilogue
Now that we have entered the cold winter, there is less exercise, and the movement of metabolism has slowed down, which is the time to strengthen the energy and replenish qi.
Since ancient times, there has been a saying that "astragalus is taken to replenish the body in winter".
After reading the article, I believe you must have a fuller understanding of astragalus.
Astragalus soaked in water to nourish qi and nourish the body, it is better to drink it now!