Water spinach and pennywort are two types of plants that not only help cool the body in the summer but also have the effect of treating digestive disorders and detoxifying.
On May 17, Dr. Huynh Tan Vu, Faculty of Traditional Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City, said that pennywort is a common plant, processed into juice and soup to help cool down in hot weather. In addition, pennywort is a medicinal herb that has the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying.
According to ancient medical books such as Compendium of Materia Medica, Pharmacopoeia of Medicinal Properties, and Nam Duoc Than Hieu, gotu kola has a bitter taste, cold properties, and the ability to clear heat and detoxify. Many modern pharmacological studies have shown that gotu kola contains glucorite, saponins, and some substances that have a calming and sedative effect through a mechanism that directly affects the central nervous system.
This vegetable also has the effect of treating skin and mucous membrane wounds, because the saponins contained in the extract stimulate the growth of skin cells, increase the blood vessel network of connective tissue, help tissues regenerate quickly, and heal wounds quickly.
Gotu kola. Photo: Bui Thuy
Some medicinal uses of pennywort are as follows:
Wash 30-100g fresh pennywort, crush and squeeze out the juice to drink daily or use a blender to crush, mix with sugar, has the effect of cooling, treating prickly heat, itching, cooling the liver, diuretic.
30g crushed pennywort applied to navel to treat constipation.
Crush fresh pennywort and squeeze to get the juice to drink (can add a little rock sugar), detoxifies food and drug poisoning.
Grind dried pennywort into powder and drink two level teaspoons every day to reduce abdominal pain and back pain during menstruation.
Gotu kola, xạ can, chives, boil in water to drink, treat cough caused by wind-heat (clear lung heat). However, this type of plant is cold in nature, so people with cold deficiency should not use it regularly.
Spinach
According to traditional medicine, water spinach has a sweet taste, slightly cold properties, and the ability to clear heat, clear urine, and detoxify toxins that enter the body such as poisonous mushrooms and poisonous cassava.
You can boil water spinach with a little salt, use with dipping sauces (fish sauce, soy sauce), to help cool down the summer. Boiled water with lemon juice is very good for pregnant women with iron deficiency.
Water spinach cools down the summer heat. Photo: Cam Anh
Wash a handful of water spinach, crush, squeeze to get the juice to drink; or 100g of water spinach cut into pieces, 50g of rice bran, mix and crush, add water to dilute to drink, to treat drunkenness, cassava poisoning.
In addition, a folk experience recorded in many medical books is to pound fresh water spinach to extract the juice and drink it immediately, which helps to detoxify food poisoning. However, Dr. Vu said that this method should only be used for immediate first aid to limit toxicity, after which the patient should be taken to the hospital.
Because it is rich in fiber, water spinach supports digestion and has a laxative effect, good for people with indigestion or constipation.
The doctor noted that a large intestinal fluke parasite called fasciolopsis buski - commonly found on water spinach - can easily enter the body when eaten raw or undercooked. This parasite anchors itself to the intestinal wall and causes indigestion, allergies, and abdominal pain. After a while, the eggs will hatch into worms, penetrate the organs, and cause disease.
Therefore, before eating water spinach, you should wash each shoot, soak it in diluted salt water, and cook it.
Thuy Quynh
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