What are the correct ways to take senna?

If senna is taken correctly, it can treat problems such as dry stools or constipation. However, because senna may have side effects, you should be careful not to take it for a long time, and the dosage each time should also be limited.

1. Senna leaves, bitter, cold, enter the large intestine meridian. Clear heat and promote bowel movements (Eleventh Five-Year Plan textbook). The earliest record of herbal medicine is in "New Reference to Medicinal Pieces": it can relieve heat, benefit the intestines and promote bowel movements. Senna leaves are considered a "laxative" in traditional Chinese medicine. Laxatives in traditional Chinese medicine not only help with bowel movements, but also relieve gastrointestinal heat. Senna leaves also have a diuretic effect. Such as rhubarb, Glauber's salt, aloe vera, etc., are all laxatives.

2. The main symptoms of senna leaves: dry and hard stools, or stools that are not dry but with burning sensation in the anus during defecation. If you have such symptoms, you can take senna leaves.

3. How to take senna: First, put the senna leaves into tea bags or gauze bags (if the cup comes with a filter, you don’t need tea bags or other packaging). Because senna leaves are mostly processed into broken leaves, it is convenient to take them after filtering; then, add boiling water, cover the cup, wait for 5-10 minutes, and you can drink it, or you can wait for the boiling water to become warm water or cold water. Anyway, don’t burn yourself.

4. Time and dosage of senna: 100-200ml of water each time, with a tea bag or half a spoonful (the size of a spoon in the soup when eating out) of senna. It can be taken 2-3 times. In fact, you should stop taking it as long as you have bowel movements or the anus is no longer burning.

5. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that any attacking and purgative drugs should not be taken for a long time and should be stopped when the disease is cured. This means that heat-clearing and laxative medicines such as senna leaves, honeysuckle, cassia seed, etc. should not be taken frequently, as they will damage the body's positive energy. At home, as long as you have no symptoms, you should not take it for a long time.

6. Senna leaves, honeysuckle, cassia seeds, lotus leaves, etc. cannot be taken for a long time (unlike tonic medicines such as yam and wolfberry). In particular, do not use these drugs to lose weight, because taking too much of these drugs will damage the body's positive energy, especially the spleen and stomach, such as diarrhea, unformed stools, loss of appetite, etc. It can also affect menstruation for women, so pregnant women should generally not use it.