In ancient times, medical conditions were very poor, and many minor diseases, such as colds and fevers, could kill people. Encountering some serious bacterial infection diseases, how did the ancients treat them?
During the Xining dynasty of the Song Dynasty, there was a family of Zhang in Baimatan Dongzhai in Yuanzhou (present-day Zhijiang Dong Autonomous County, Hunan Province), and the Zhang family was famous for raising livestock in the local area. The local climate is hot and humid, and livestock are prone to plague, only the Zhang family livestock are always safe and sound.
In the summer of 6 years in Xining, due to several days of torrential rains, the flood of the Zhijiang River soared, resulting in the displacement of residents along the river and their homelessness.
As the saying goes: after a great catastrophe, there will be a great plague! After the flood receded, an epidemic began to circulate, and both humans and animals began to have diarrhea (such as bacterial dysentery), and various methods were exhausted, and the epidemic could not be controlled, and the victims were all panicked.
At this time, the youngest son of the Zhang family took out the herbs for his livestock to fight the epidemic and told everyone to use this grass to cook soup or wash raw food, which could cure the disease. Although everyone will believe it, but still try to do it, the Dong people who eat this grass are indeed well, the news spread throughout the villages in Yuanzhou, the infected people have eaten, all of them have tried and failed. This grass is houttuynia!
Since then, the local residents have a unique feeling for houttuynia cordata, and there are more and more ways to eat it, more and more exquisite, and gradually become a traditional cuisine.
In the past, some bacterial infectious diseases had a high mortality rate, such as pulmonary carbuncle (lobar pneumonia, etc.), intestinal carbuncle (appendicitis) and so on. Houttuynia cordata has a detoxifying (antibacterial) effect and has been found to be useful in treating these diseases, known as a pulmonary carbuncle medicine.
The main antibacterial components of houttuynia cordata are houttuynin, methyl n-nonanone, laurene, lauraldehyde, decanal, decanoic acid and so on. In recent years, houttuynia cordata has been widely used in medical clinics, mainly used for lobular pneumonia, acute bronchitis and enteritis, acute bacterial dysentery, upper respiratory tract infection, influenza, acute jaundice hepatitis, urinary tract infection, edema, gonorrhea, cervical erosion, vaginal discharge, mumps, hemorrhoids and blood in the stool, eczema, baldness, scabies and other diseases have curative effect. In addition, Houttuynia cordata can improve the body's immunity, and it also has a good effect in preventing cancer and anti-tumor.
Chinese medicine believes that houttuynia cordata has a spicy taste, cold sex, can clear heat and detoxification, eliminate carbuncle and drain pus, and diuresis. In ancient times, it was mainly used for pulmonary carbuncle vomiting pus, sputum fever and wheezing cough, hot diarrhea and carbuncle sore poisoning. "Yunnan Materia Medica": cure pulmonary carbuncle cough with pus and blood, phlegm has a fishy odor, large intestine heat poison, treatment of hemorrhoids. "Compendium of Materia Medica": heat dissipation poison carbuncle swelling, sore hemorrhoid prolapse, broken shop disease, antidote toxin. There are also many records of houttuynia in other ancient texts.
In addition to medicinal uses, medicinal dietary treatment is very common. The most common are a variety of cold dishes, such as green pepper cold mixed houttuynia cordata, yellow cauliflower cold mixed houttuynia cordata; can also be steamed, fried, burned, stewed and other methods, such as houttuynia steamed chicken, houttuynia fried bacon, houttuynia cordata roasted pig lung, houttuynia stewed autumn pear, houttuynia cordata fried pork liver, houttuynia cordata stewed old hen, houttuynia cordata lotus seed porridge, houttuynia scrambled eggs, houttuynia cordata pig lung soup, etc. In short, houttuynia is good for food and medicine.
Houttuynia cordata, named after the fishy smell in fresh stems and leaves. In fact, after the fishy grass is dried, not only does it not have a fishy smell, but it has a slight aroma. Frying water with it will have a bit of cinnamon flavor, the color is like light black tea, and the taste is also a little similar. Therefore, houttuynia cordata is also commonly used as a tea drink, or applied in the form of functional health foods such as wine and beverages.
Notes:
1. When many people eat it, only use white roots. In fact, the young stems and leaves of Houttuynia cordata can also be eaten, and there are many ingredients that are not in the roots, and the effect of treating cough and phlegm is better.
2. The decoction time of medicinal houttuynia cordata should not be too long, otherwise the active ingredients are easy to volatilize and lose.
3. Houttuynia cordata cold, yang deficiency and cold deficiency physique should be used with caution or less use, and those with negative external defects should not take it.
4. Houttuynia cordata contains trace amounts of aristolochic acid lactam. Although very toxic, it is not recommended for long-term or large consumption.