Inheriting the legacy of Qi Huang, a public account with quality and warmth.
Ai Yu Xiang Tang
Source / Kang Sheng Hao Fang
Everyone is familiar with the sweet and sour candied hawthorn, but did you know that hawthorn has other medicinal values besides its taste? Here, I will introduce it to you.
The hawthorn tree is a deciduous tree with ovate leaves that are deeply lobed. The flowers are white, and the fruit is spherical, deep red with small spots, sour in taste, edible, and can also be used medicinally.
It has excellent effects in lowering blood pressure and protecting blood vessels, making it a “blessing star” for people with high blood lipids.
1. A Blessing Star for Cardiovascular Disease Patients
First, people with cardiovascular diseases should drink more. Hawthorn can prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases, has the effects of dilating blood vessels, strengthening the heart, increasing coronary blood flow, improving cardiac vitality, preventing arteriosclerosis, anti-aging, and anti-cancer.
Ordinary people can also drink hawthorn water to stimulate appetite and aid digestion, especially effective for meat stagnation. Many digestive medicines include hawthorn. However, those with poor stomach function should drink less.
Hawthorn is a food ingredient with excellent health benefits. After consumption, it promotes digestion and can also prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
2. Effects of Hawthorn
1. Digestive Aid
Hawthorn has the effect of promoting digestion. The Da Shan Zha Wan (Big Hawthorn Pill) is a well-known representative. Those with poor gastrointestinal function and digestion can consume it.
2. Blood Pressure Lowering
Hawthorn is effective for borderline hypertension. Drinking water infused with fresh hawthorn or dried hawthorn daily is recommended.
3. Blood Lipid Lowering
Hawthorn can strengthen the spleen and stomach, aid digestion, and lower blood lipids. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) believes that the external factors causing hyperlipidemia and arteriosclerosis are due to excessive consumption of rich and fatty foods, while the internal factors are due to aging or congenital deficiencies leading to kidney yin-yang imbalance. It is suitable for high blood lipids with food stagnation.
4. Beauty and Skin Care
The vitamin C content in fresh hawthorn is very rich, ranking fourth among commonly eaten fruits, second only to prickly pear, fresh jujube, and kiwi, and is twice that of citrus. Vitamin C has antioxidant effects, inhibits the formation of pigment spots, and promotes their fading, thus having beauty and skin care effects.
5. Bone Strengthening
Among fruits, hawthorn has a calcium content only lower than that of kumquat and lemon. Eating some hawthorn can help avoid common physical discomforts caused by calcium deficiency, such as cramps and back pain.
3. Six Health Benefits of Hawthorn
1. Method for Avoiding Three Highs:
Patients with borderline hypertension can drink hawthorn-infused water daily with the doctor’s consent (both fresh and dried hawthorn are acceptable).
2. Heart Protection and Lipid Lowering Method:
Wash and slice 10 grams of Dan Shen (Salvia miltiorrhiza) and 15 grams of Hawthorn (Crataegus), add an appropriate amount of water to a pot, bring to a boil, then simmer for about 15 minutes, strain the soup, and take it in two to three doses throughout the day. The Dan Shen and Hawthorn tea has the effect of invigorating blood circulation and is particularly suitable for those with high blood lipids.
3. Method for Fading Chloasma:
Boil hawthorn and dried tangerine peel in water, strain, let cool, and mix with honey to drink continuously for over a month. Women with chloasma often have liver qi stagnation due to stress, leading to qi stagnation and blood deficiency.
4. Method for Reducing Beer Belly:
Combine 15 grams of Hawthorn, 20 goji berries, and 10 grams of Bai Zhu (Atractylodes macrocephala), add an appropriate amount of water, and boil for 20 minutes. This method is suitable for men with beer bellies and can help strengthen the spleen and eliminate dampness.
5. Appetite Stimulating and Digestive Method:
Slice 10 grams of Hawthorn and steep in boiling water for 5 minutes, add a little green tea, and drink while hot. This is suitable for those with gastrointestinal dysfunction due to overeating, and can help with upper abdominal bloating and food stagnation.
6. Menstrual Regulation Method for Women:
Boil 50 grams of fresh hawthorn flesh in water, strain, and add an appropriate amount of brown sugar to drink while hot. The hawthorn and brown sugar drink has the effect of invigorating blood and regulating menstruation, suitable for women with menstrual irregularities.
Warm Reminder: Hawthorn contains triterpenes and flavonoids, which have significant vasodilatory and blood pressure-lowering effects, enhance myocardial function, regulate heart rhythm, and adjust blood lipid and cholesterol levels.
4. Hawthorn + Dan Shen for Preventing Arteriosclerosis
Many middle-aged and elderly people suffer from arteriosclerosis or thick blood, which can lead to abnormal blood supply to the heart and brain. Some may say that taking enteric-coated aspirin can solve these problems.
Enteric-coated aspirin is indeed effective, but it has a significant impact on the stomach, so it must be taken under a doctor’s guidance, and one should not use it indiscriminately. The two herbs Dan Shen and Hawthorn can assist in promoting blood circulation, dilating blood vessels, and clearing blood waste.
5. Dan Shen is an Excellent Herb for Invigorating Blood and Resolving Stasis
Dan Shen is an excellent herb for invigorating blood and resolving stasis. TCM believes that middle-aged and elderly people are prone to qi deficiency and blood stasis, making them susceptible to cardiovascular diseases.
The Ben Cao Jing Shu states: “Dan Shen is bitter and can drain, warm and can disperse. Long-term use benefits qi and specializes in the blood aspect, its function is to invigorate blood and promote circulation.” This means that Dan Shen can be taken for a long time, and its bitter taste can drain. “Drain” means to facilitate downward movement of blood, but unlike other blood-invigorating herbs like Dang Gui (Angelica sinensis), which can lead to upward movement of blood to the brain and cause cerebral hemorrhage.
6. Dan Shen + Hawthorn: The Golden Ratio
Dan Shen not only invigorates blood and resolves stasis but also tonifies and supplements qi. The inclusion of hawthorn is due to its effects in preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases, lowering blood pressure, lowering blood lipids, and promoting digestion.
The combination of Dan Shen and Hawthorn is the “golden ratio” for preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases, lowering blood lipids, and preventing vascular hardening.
Usage: Grind 100 grams each of Dan Shen and Hawthorn into powder, and take 10 grams daily with warm water.
Note: Middle-aged and elderly individuals with thick blood can use the above method, and over time, it will yield excellent results.
This is for clinical reference only; non-professional doctors should not attempt acupuncture or medication.
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Ai Yu Xiang Tang
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