There is a common fruit that has been recommended by many health scholars. It has a long history and can satisfy cravings, nourish, and even be on par with ginseng; It is a treasure all over its body. Its flesh can effectively nourish the spleen and stomach, its core can regulate qi and relieve pain, and its shell has a astringent effect. It is our common longan, also known as longan!
Li Shizhen once said, "Lychee is the most precious food, while longan is the most beneficial." During the Qing Dynasty, Wang Shixiong believed that it "greatly replenishes qi and blood, surpassing ginseng and astragalus."
The cultivation of longan has a long history. As early as Ban Gu's "Book of Han", it was recorded that the court gave longan, lychee, and other gifts as a reward to distant envoys who came to pay their respects.
Because longan is rich in nutrients and is a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine in clinical practice, it has a very good effect on tonifying qi and blood. Therefore, it is known as "North ginseng, South longan".
In Chapter 116 of Dream of the Red Chamber, it is mentioned that Jia Baoyu's soul left her body, returned to the Tai Xu illusion, and then returned to the human world from the Tai Xu illusion, feeling lost in thought. Mrs. Wang ordered someone to bring longan soup, and Baoyu took a few sips, gradually calming down. Later, he continued to take longan soup for several days and gradually recovered.
Benefiting Qi and Nourishing Blood Wins Old Hens
Fresh longan meat is extremely tender, juicy, sweet, and delicious, making it one of people's favorite fruits.
And dried longan is convenient for storage, making it a high-quality choice as a snack and cooking ingredient.
Although the two have different tastes, both dried and fresh fruits have no difference in efficacy.
1. Benefiting Qi and Nourishing Blood
Guiyuan has the effect of nourishing qi and blood, and is suitable for people with ischemic anemia, hemorrhagic anemia, and qi and blood loss.
Especially for people with symptoms of insufficient qi and blood such as sallow complexion, dry hair, brittle nails, aversion to cold, mental fatigue, and fatigue, consuming longan can improve discomfort.
2. Nourishing the mind and calming the mind
Among various types of insomnia, one is caused by excessive thinking and insufficient qi and blood, resulting in palpitations, palpitations, and forgetfulness and insomnia.
For this type of insomnia, it can be alleviated by consuming longan.
The "Compendium of Materia Medica Seeks Truth" records: "Longan has both sweetness and nourishment. It can not only nourish the spleen and consolidate qi, but also restore energy and maintain blood without wasting. As a result, the spirit will naturally grow and nourish, without any symptoms of palpitations or forgetfulness."
In addition, the famous modern physician Zhang Xichun also used longan to treat many students who were under great academic pressure, anxious, and had bleeding in their stools.
Therefore, if you encounter unhappy things, are under a lot of pressure and don't want to eat, or are a mother who has just given birth, eating some longan is a good choice.
3. Nourishing the spleen and strengthening the stomach
Longan has a sweet taste, a mild nature, and is non-toxic. It enters the heart, spleen, and stomach meridians.
Guiyuan has the function of tonifying the spleen and strengthening the stomach, helping the spleen and stomach produce more sufficient qi and blood.
The ancients praised it: lychee is the most expensive food, while longan is good for its benefits. Lychee has a hot nature, while longan has a peaceful nature.
Therefore, people with poor appetite can improve their appetite to some extent by consuming longan, which has a lung moistening and appetizing effect.
4. Improve memory
The "Shennong Bencao Jing" records that longan, also known as "yizhi", can indeed promote children's intellectual development through experiments.
Wang Mengying, a famous doctor in the Qing Dynasty, once described longan as a concentrated delicacy suitable for the elderly and weak, believing that it can improve people's memory and have good effects on nourishing nerves and brain tissue.
5. Resistance against aging
Modern research shows that longan contains proteins, fats, sugars, organic acids, crude fiber, and various vitamins and minerals.
Moreover, Guiyuanrou can inhibit lipid peroxidation and increase antioxidant enzyme activity, indicating that it has a certain anti-aging effect, which can assist in lowering blood lipids, increasing coronary artery blood flow, and enhancing body quality. picture
Don't throw away the shell and core of longan
In addition to the well-known longan meat, the longan shells and seeds we often discard are also traditional Chinese medicine.
1 longan shell
The shell of longan has a sweet taste and a warm nature, which belongs to the lung meridian. It can dispel wind, detoxify, restrain sores, and promote muscle growth. It has the function of dispersing wind and dispersing the exterior, cooling blood and clearing heat.
Boiling longan shells in water and washing them externally can be used to treat various skin diseases, such as urticaria, pruritus, summer dermatitis, etc. It has extraordinary efficacy in reducing rash and relieving itching.
In addition, as longan shells have the function of dispelling wind, detoxifying, and dispelling evil energy, taking a handful of longan shells, boiling them in cold water for 20 minutes, and drinking them until they are thick can prevent dizziness and wind.
2 longan nuclei
Guiyuan nucleus is a good remedy for stopping bleeding and relieving pain, and has a particularly good therapeutic effect on traumatic bleeding.
In the "Compendium of Materia Medica", it is recorded that "Zhang Jinzhai said," Longan nuclear kernel. If there are children and women in ordinary families, one should not be unprepared. If there are bruises or golden blade injuries on the face, apply it to relieve pain, stop bleeding, and produce muscle. After healing, there will be no scars. If the hair is injured on the temples, it can grow more hair after healing, not like other medicines, and it will not grow hair after healing. "
The meaning is that if you have children at home, you can always keep a few longan kernels. Once a child has a bruise or injury, using longan kernel powder can remove scars.
Method: Remove the black skin on the outer layer of the longan kernel, grind the longan kernel into fine powder, and evenly sprinkle it on the wound to stop bleeding and promote muscle growth; Longan kernel powder can also be wrapped in gauze, covered at the wound site, and then fixed with adhesive tape to prevent wound infection.
In addition, according to the Compendium of Materia Medica, 6 longan seeds and 14 pepper seeds were ground into fine powder, which can be used to treat armpit odor.
How to eat longan
There are many ways to eat longan, which can generally be eaten raw, steamed, or brewed with tea. Below, we will provide a detailed introduction:
1. Eat directly
Generally speaking, fresh longan can be eaten directly as a fruit, but consuming too much may cause indigestion and bloating, so it is important to control the amount consumed.
If it's dried longan, why not try the following method to nourish your heart and blood:
Take one dried longan, remove the pit from your mouth to extract the meat, then chew it carefully into a paste and swallow it with the body fluid in your mouth. Eat a total of nine longan like this.
Take it around 5am, in the morning, afternoon, and before going to bed, four times a day for a month.
According to the "Secret Record of Feng's Brocade Bag", this method is "the method of taking obstacles and filling them up. For those who suffer from fatigue, they should practice diligently for a month, and all will recover. This method is secret to the alchemist."
2 meals to eat
Longan Red Jujube Lotus Seed Soup
Ingredients: 8 longans, 10 red dates, 20 lotus seeds, 3 Tremella fuciformis, 15 grams of brown sugar, 1 liter of water.
Method: Soak white fungus in hair, remove yellow roots, and soak lotus seeds in hair. Wash longan meat, red dates, lotus seeds and white fungus with clear water, put them into a pot together, pour in 1 liter of clear water, boil base note, turn it to low heat, and continue to stew for 20 minutes. After cooking, add brown sugar while hot and stir well before consumption.
Effect: Tonifying the heart and spleen, treating spleen deficiency diarrhea and swelling, supplementing qi and blood, calming the mind, and treating insomnia, forgetfulness, and palpitations.
Dai Shen Gao
Method: Take 30g of cinnamon balls and 3g of white sugar, put them together in a bowl, and steam them in a cage.
Effect: Tonifying Qi and blood, comparable to ginseng and astragalus, hence it is called "Dai Shen Gao", suitable for the elderly, young, and physically weak.
Sweet egg custard with round meat
Method: 30g of longan meat, 10 red dates, remove the pits, add 20g of stir fried black sesame, boil together for 10 minutes, add 2 poached eggs, add an appropriate amount of brown or white sugar, and cook until the eggs are cooked.
Effect: Tonify the heart and nourish the kidneys. Suitable for people with heart and kidney deficiency, deficiency of essence and blood, palpitations, insomnia, and irritability.
Longan, Goji Berry, and Chicken Soup
Method: Take 20g longan, 500g black bone chicken, 15g goji berries, 10g jade bamboo, and an appropriate amount of refined salt. Wash, cut into pieces, blanch and blanch the black bone chicken, then remove it from the pot. Wash the longan, goji berries, and jade bamboo together and put them into the pot. Add an appropriate amount of water, boil over high heat, and then simmer on low heat for 40 minutes. Season with salt.
Effect: Tonify deficiency and maintain health, tonify qi and blood.
3. Soak and eat
Longan rock sugar tea
Method: Take 25 grams of cinnamon balls and 10 grams of rock sugar. Wash the longan meat, put it in a tea cup with rock sugar, boil water, cover it and let it sit for a while, then it can be consumed. Take one dose daily, drink it as needed, add hot water as needed, and finally eat longan meat.
Effect: It has the function of nourishing the heart and spleen, calming the mind, and enhancing intelligence. It can treat excessive thinking, lethargy, insomnia, and excessive dreaming.
Longan liquor
Method: Take 250g of cinnamon round meat and 500ml of Baijiu. Put the dried longan meat into a bottle, pour it into Baijiu, seal it, and drink it after a hundred days. Drink 15-30 milliliters each time, 1-2 times a day, for several consecutive days.
Effect: It has the effects of nourishing the heart, strengthening the spleen, and calming the mind, especially good at treating excessive thinking, deficiency of the heart and spleen, palpitations, and insomnia.
Suitable for people: Suitable for those who are constantly contemplating, suffer from heart and blood deficiency, restlessness, palpitations, insomnia, lack of food and fatigue, and have a haggard and yellowed face.
Attention: It is not suitable for those who are full of dampness, have phlegm and fire inside, and pregnant women. Those who are not suitable for drinking should take it with caution.
How can I eat longan without getting too hot?
① Properly used, for people who are prone to getting overheated, longans can be eaten less. Usually, eating five or six longans a day will not cause excessive heat.
② Paired with fire reducing ingredients such as chrysanthemums and ginseng. Boiling longan with herbs such as chrysanthemum and American ginseng that nourish yin and clear heat can not only replenish qi and blood, but also improve or avoid the occurrence of the above-mentioned symptoms of excessive heat.
③ Some people are not suitable for consumption.
The Two Taboos of Longan
From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, longan is warm and greasy, so it is not suitable for people with hot constitution, yin deficiency, excessive fire, and thick and greasy tongue coating. Patients with gastrointestinal, liver and gallbladder diseases, metabolic diseases, acute fever, and acute gastroenteritis should not consume longan.
Not suitable for hot constitution
Longan has a warm and nourishing nature, and eating too much can easily lead to fire, so it is not suitable for people with a hot constitution;
People with gastrointestinal food accumulation, indigestion, and nausea and vomiting should not eat it;
Longan is not suitable for people with diabetes because of its high sugar content.
Smoked longan should not be consumed excessively
Smoked longan increases dryness, which not only destroys the effect of nourishing the brain and calming the mind, but also makes it more prone to catching fire after eating. Therefore, it is recommended to consume fresh or sun dried longan.
Summer is a good season to eat longan, especially now. Many people are prone to symptoms such as cold hands and feet, pale complexion, etc. due to poor blood circulation in their limbs. Eating some longan at this time can effectively nourish qi and blood, promote blood circulation, and improve hand and foot coldness.
