Nutritional Value of Mugwort

We usually call Artemisia argyi mugwort, and some people also call it ice platform or fragrant mugwort. In daily life, we can often see Ai Song, because Ai Song is so useful to us. Ai Song has the effect of disinfection. We can use Ai Song as medicine, or use Ai Song to soak our feet. Ai Song can also have a therapeutic effect in health care.

Since Aisong has so many benefits, we should understand Aisong more seriously and apply its advantages and functions to our lives to help us maintain our health. According to different physiques and different living habits, we should be good at using Aisong. For example, friends with cold body can try soaking their feet in Aisong.

The effect of mugwort is particularly obvious for women. Female friends can use mugwort during menstruation to regulate menstruation and stop bleeding. Pregnant women should also have more contact with mugwort because it has the magical effect of stabilizing the fetus. Therefore, mugwort is definitely the best choice for female friends to maintain their health.

In addition to "white wormwood" and "white mugwort", "Compendium of Materia Medica" also records "Qi mugwort" (produced in Qizhou, now Xinzhou Town, Qichun County, Hubei Province), which can be used as medicine. This is a cultivated variety of mugwort cv. qiai, which is different from the original species (wild species) in that the cultivated plant is tall, 150-250 cm high, with a strong aroma; the leaves are thick and papery, with dense and thick hairs, the middle leaves are pinnately lobed, and the upper leaves are usually undivided, elliptical or oblong, up to 7-8 cm long and 1.5 cm wide, and the leaves are often rubbed into a cotton-like state; it is used as medicine, warm, bitter, pungent, and slightly sweet.

The whole plant is used as medicine, which has the effects of warming the meridians, removing dampness, dispelling cold, stopping bleeding, relieving inflammation, relieving asthma, relieving cough, stabilizing pregnancy and anti-allergic. Medical books of all dynasties record it as an "essential medicine for stopping bleeding" and it is also one of the commonly used medicines in gynecology. It is especially good for treating gynecological diseases of deficiency and cold, and chronic bronchitis and asthma in the elderly. Boiled water for bathing can prevent and treat maternal and infant infections during the postpartum period, or it can be made into medicinal pillows and medicated vests to prevent and treat chronic bronchitis or asthma in the elderly and stomach pain due to deficiency and cold. Mugwort leaves are dried and crushed to get "moptysis wool", which can be made into moxa sticks for moxibustion, and can also be used as the raw material for "ink paste". In addition, the whole plant can be used as an insecticide or fumigation smoke for room disinfection and insecticide. The young shoots and seedlings are used as vegetables.

Mugwort is bitter, pungent and warm in nature, and enters the spleen, liver and kidneys. "Compendium of Materia Medica" records: Mugwort leaves are used as medicine, which are warm in nature, bitter in taste, non-toxic, purely yang in nature, and can pass through the twelve meridians. It has the effects of restoring yang, regulating qi and blood, expelling dampness and cold, stopping bleeding and stabilizing the fetus, and is also commonly used in acupuncture. Therefore, it is also called "medicinal herb". Most of the "herbal baths" that are popular in Taiwan use mugwort. Regarding the properties of mugwort, "Compendium of Materia Medica" records: "Mugwort can cure all diseases." "Compendium of Materia Medica Congxin" says: "Mugwort is bitter and pungent, warm when raw, hot when cooked, and has a purely yang nature. It can restore the lost yang, connect the twelve meridians, run through the three yin meridians, regulate qi and blood, expel cold and dampness, and warm the uterus... Using it for moxibustion can penetrate all meridians and cure all diseases." This shows that using mugwort as a moxibustion material has the effects of dredging blood vessels, eliminating yin and cold, reducing swelling and dispersing nodules, and restoring yang and rescuing from adverse conditions. Modern pharmacology has discovered that mugwort contains a lot of volatile oil, including 1.8-cineole (accounting for more than 50%), and others include α-thujone, sesquiterpene alcohols and their esters. The air-dried leaves contain 10.13% minerals, 2.59% fat, 25.85% protein, and vitamins A, B1, B2, C, etc. When using moxa leaves for moxibustion, generally speaking, the older the leaves, the better. Hence, there is a saying that “a seven-year illness requires three years of treatment with moxa” (Mencius).

Mugwort has the effects of regulating menstruation and stopping bleeding, stabilizing pregnancy and stopping metrorrhagia, and dispelling cold and dampness. It can treat irregular menstruation, menstrual pain, abdominal pain, miscarriage, uterine bleeding, and can cure rheumatoid arthritis, headache, and menstrual wind. Because it can cut ice into round shapes and cure all kinds of diseases, it is the most commonly used medicine by doctors. Modern experimental research has shown that mugwort has antibacterial and antiviral effects; antiasthmatic, antitussive and expectorant effects; hemostatic and anticoagulant effects; sedative and anti-allergic effects; liver protecting and choleretic effects, etc. Mugwort can be used to make recipes such as "mugwort tea", "mugwort soup", and "mugwort porridge" to enhance the body's resistance to disease. Mugwort has a special fragrance, which has the effect of repelling mosquitoes. Therefore, the ancients often hung mugwort in front of their doors, one to ward off evil spirits, and the other to drive away mosquitoes.

The above introduces what Artemisia argyi is. We know that in daily life we ​​often call Artemisia argyi mugwort. Artemisia argyi has the effect of disinfection, and it can relieve our itching. Most female friends use Artemisia argyi for health preservation, because Artemisia argyi can regulate menstruation and stop bleeding. Pregnant women can use Artemisia argyi to stabilize the fetus.

Above we introduced what Aisong is and we learned about the magical effects of Aisong. In addition to disinfection and deworming, Aisong can also improve our immunity and resistance. Aisong is widely used as a medicine, and Aisong also has therapeutic effects. We can also use Aisong to soak our feet.