It has thousands of wonderful benefits on the tip of the tongue

The foot is the organ with the highest weight on the human body and is also called the "second heart" of the human body. "Soaking feet in hot water is better than taking tonics" is a famous saying in health science. If you add some peppercorns to the foot bath water, the effect will be even more interesting.

Sichuan pepper is usually used as a seasoning in daily life, but it can also be used as medicine. The peel of Zanthoxylum bungeanum can be used as seasoning, and aromatic oil can be extracted and used as medicine. The seeds are edible and can also be processed to make soap. Sichuan pepper can remove the fishy smell of various meats; promote saliva secretion and increase appetite; and dilate blood vessels, thereby lowering blood pressure. It can be eaten by the general public, but pregnant women and people with yin deficiency and excess fire should avoid eating it.

According to traditional Chinese medicine, Zanthoxylum bungeanum is warm in nature and has many functions, including warming the middle and dispelling cold, strengthening the stomach and removing dampness, relieving pain and killing insects, detoxifying and regulating qi, relieving itching and removing fishy smell. Soaking your feet in water with peppercorns and water with angelica or safflower have the same effect, both of which can invigorate blood circulation and unclog the meridians, keeping the blood flow throughout the body unobstructed.

The benefits of soaking feet in pepper water: Soaking feet in pepper water can prevent foot odor, foot sweat, and athlete's foot. The method is very simple. Grab a handful of peppercorns, wrap them in gauze, put them in a pot and boil water, then fumigate your feet first, and when the water temperature is suitable for feet, start soaking your feet. Soaking your feet in pepper water helps you sleep better than soaking your feet in hot water.

You don't need to replace the pepper bag with a new one every day. You can use it for about a week and then replace it after a week. Moreover, foot soaking has many benefits, especially for weak children and middle-aged and elderly people with high blood pressure. They can all be relieved as long as you stick to it.

Medicinal value of pepper

Although Sichuan pepper is familiar to us as a seasoning, its pharmacological value is even higher.

1. Soaking your feet in pepper water can reduce the occurrence of colds and stabilize blood pressure. It has the effects of enhancing immunity and lowering blood pressure.

2. The volatile oil of Zanthoxylum bungeanum contains geraniol, limonene, cumyl alcohol, etc. The fruit also contains sterols, unsaturated organic acids, etc. Volatile oils have analgesic, antibacterial and anti-tumor effects.

3. Sichuan pepper can also help with milk production. Add 2-5 cents of Sichuan peppercorns to 400-500 ml of water, soak and boil until concentrated into 250 ml. Then add 1-2 taels of brown sugar (white sugar is not as effective). Take it once while hot on the day of weaning, once a day, and you will be able to wean after about 1-3 doses. In most cases, milk production decreased significantly within 6 hours after taking the medicine, and breast swelling disappeared or the pain was relieved on the second day.

Precautions for soaking feet in pepper water

Although soaking your feet in pepper water is simple and convenient, there are still some aspects that you need to pay attention to.

1. It is not advisable to soak your feet in pepper water for a long time. When you feel the original symptoms have disappeared, you should stop for a few days and continue soaking your feet when the symptoms of deficiency reappear. Otherwise, the phenomena mentioned in ancient Chinese medical books such as "lack of energy" and "fire generated from water" may occur. The biggest reason is that pepper is hot in nature. If you use pepper water to soak your feet excessively, it will cause "lung fire" and then "strong fire consumes qi", resulting in qi deficiency. In addition, the occurrence of lung problems such as cough, runny nose, sputum, and easy cold also proves this point.

2. Sichuan pepper itself is not suitable for people with yin deficiency and excessive fire, but if you really need to use it, you must pay attention to replenishing yin in time during the foot soaking process, especially in winter. Soaking feet in water with Sichuan pepper has the functions of clearing water channels, dispelling cold, and helping food, and sweating occurs during this process, so it has a somewhat "dry" feeling like other yang-tonifying medicines. Especially for people with symptoms of yin deficiency, soaking feet in water with Sichuan pepper should be combined with yin-tonifying, otherwise it will aggravate the symptoms of yin deficiency.

If you exercise regularly and sweat a lot, you will often experience symptoms of yin deficiency if you do not pay attention to replenishing yin. In addition, soaking your feet in pepper water, you should replenish yin unconsciously, such as drinking water boiled with yam, lotus root, pear, or eating some fruit, etc., to replenish the body's water in time. Note: For many middle-aged and elderly people, drinking plain water alone may not be ideal for replenishing yin, especially for those with yin deficiency.

3. For some people, especially those with cold constitution, soaking their feet in pepper water works very well. However, they may experience disease-eliminating reactions when they first soak their feet in pepper water for a few times, and the symptoms are similar to those of a cold. This is a normal reaction, and it is a manifestation of the disease leaving the human body. Do not stop doing it. You should examine the reason or consult a professional. If it is a normal disease-eliminating reaction, it will usually be gone on the second or third day at most.

4. Because the absorption effect of medicinal foot bath is obvious, Dan Qijun believes that pepper water should not be used repeatedly too many times to prevent the corrupted pepper water from having adverse effects on the body. If you want to save it, it is recommended to use it two or three times at most. You can fumigate your feet with hot water now, and then soak your feet when the water temperature is suitable.

5. The foot soaking time should not be too long. Generally, it is appropriate to just sweat, and it is best not to sweat profusely. For those who have just started soaking their feet or those with a cold constitution, they may not sweat for a period of time at the beginning. This is a manifestation of a lot of coldness in the body. You can increase the dosage and frequency appropriately until you sweat.

6. The water temperature cannot be too low. It may feel a little hot. Keep the temperature constant and add hot water when the water cools down.

7. The best time for foot soaking, if it is for health care, is usually around 9 pm. If it is for medical treatment, some people recommend doing it in the morning. But this can be adjusted by yourself, and your sleep quality will be better after soaking your feet at night.

8. It is best to soak your hands while soaking your feet, as you can also massage your feet at the same time, killing two birds with one stone.

Taboos of Sichuan pepper

Sichuan pepper is suitable for people with cold stomach and abdomen and loss of appetite. If you vomit clear water, you can also eat Sichuan pepper to relieve the symptoms. It is suitable for those who want to wean their babies because it can help them to wean their babies. Please refer to the recipe above. It is also suitable for middle-aged and elderly people, women with cold amenorrhea and cold dysmenorrhea, people with rheumatoid arthritis due to wind and cold, people with abdominal pain due to ascariasis, insufficient kidney yang, and frequent urination.

The first group of people who are not suitable for eating peppercorns are pregnant women. The so-called spicy and irritating foods such as peppercorns and chili peppers should not be eaten during pregnancy in order to prevent miscarriage induced by these spicy and irritating foods. The content of Sichuan pepper used as a condiment in dishes is actually not much, so many people will not have a particularly obvious reaction after eating it, but it is safer to avoid hot, spicy, raw, cold and other potentially irritating foods as much as possible.

Sichuan pepper is hot in nature, so people with excessive internal heat should remember not to eat spicy foods such as Sichuan pepper.