Introduction to Common Chinese Medicinal Materials

Traditional Chinese medicine is accumulated slowly through the working people's long-term practical experience in fighting diseases. It uses common plants and animals as the basis, and is of great benefit in treating and preventing diseases. It is a purely natural Chinese herbal medicine. Long-term use will not have toxic side effects on the human body, and can fundamentally cure diseases. Here I will introduce to you several common Chinese herbal medicines in our daily life.

Panax notoginseng, also known as Tianqi, was called "invaluable" by Li Shizhen, a famous pharmacist in the Ming Dynasty. Panax notoginseng is a pearl among Chinese medicinal materials. It is recorded in the Qing Dynasty pharmaceutical work "Supplement to Compendium of Materia Medica": "Ginseng is the best for replenishing qi, and Panax notoginseng is the best for replenishing blood. They have the same taste and efficacy, so they are called ginseng and Panax notoginseng, which is the most precious of Chinese medicines." The world-famous Chinese patent medicines "Yunnan Baiyao" and "Pian Zai Huang" are made with Panax notoginseng as the main raw material. Panax notoginseng is a perennial herb of the Araliaceae family. It is named Panax notoginseng because it is dug three to seven years after sowing and each plant has three petioles, each petiole has seven leaves. Its stems, leaves and flowers can all be used as medicine.

Wolfberry (scientific name: Lycium chinense) is a multi-branched shrub of the Solanaceae family, 0.5-1 meter high, and can reach more than 2 meters when cultivated. Distributed both at home and abroad. The whole body of wolfberry is a treasure. Li Shizhen of the Ming Dynasty recorded in "Compendium of Materia Medica": "In spring, wolfberry leaves are picked, called Tianjingcao; in summer, flowers are picked, called Changshengcao; in autumn, fruits are picked, called wolfberry fruits; in winter, roots are picked, called Digupi". The young leaves of wolfberry are also called wolfberry heads and can be eaten or made into wolfberry tea. Modern research shows that wolfberry can lower blood sugar, resist fatty liver, and resist atherosclerosis. In addition, wolfberry can also be used in gardens as hedges, tree stump pots, and as a shrub for soil and water conservation.

Fennel is a commonly used seasoning and is a must-have when cooking fish, stewing meat, and making braised foods. Because they can remove the bad smell from meat and make it fragrant again, they are called "fennel". The seeds of fennel are a condiment, and its stems and leaves also have an aroma and are often used as fillings for foods such as buns and dumplings. The main ingredient they contain is fennel oil, which can stimulate the gastrointestinal nerves and blood vessels, promote the secretion of digestive juices, increase gastrointestinal motility, and eliminate accumulated gas, so it has the effect of strengthening the stomach and promoting qi. Sometimes gastrointestinal motility will decrease after excitement, which helps to relieve spasms and reduce pain.

Licorice is a tonic Chinese herb. The medicinal parts are the roots and rhizomes. The roots are cylindrical, 25 to 100 cm long and 0.6 to 3.5 cm in diameter. The skin has varying degrees of tightness and the surface is reddish brown or grayish brown. The rhizome is cylindrical, with bud scars on the surface and pith in the middle of the cross section. It has a slight odor and a sweet and special taste. Functions and indications: clearing away heat and detoxifying, removing phlegm and relieving cough, and relieving abdominal pain, etc. It likes a dry climate with plenty of sunshine, long days and low temperatures. Licorice grows mostly in arid and semi-arid desert steppes, desert edges and loess hilly areas.

In fact, many of our daily foods are herbs, which have the effect of preventing and treating diseases. If we have some symptoms in our body, we can use the several Chinese herbal medicines introduced above. We should pay attention to eating more of these things in our daily life and slowly regulate our body to recover. However, for some more serious diseases, you still need to go to a regular hospital for regular treatment. Never take medicine indiscriminately on your own, which will affect the treatment effect and delay the best treatment time.