In summer, cucumbers are commonly consumed, but many people have never seen the roots of the cucumber. It is a good medicine for clearing heat, detoxifying, and promoting diuresis.
Harvested from July to October, it can be cut into sections and dried or used fresh.
Main indications include damp-heat diarrhea, jaundice, diabetes, sores, and abscesses, as well as purulent deafness and otitis media.
Recommended formulas:
1. For treating pediatric diarrhea and damp-heat dysentery: Cucumber root, Liuhe grass (Tianmian), decocted in water and sweetened with white sugar for consumption. (Sichuan Traditional Chinese Medicine Records, 1960 edition)
Liuhe grass refers to Amaranthus viridis, which can clear heat, promote diuresis, kill parasites, and stop bleeding.
2. For treating jaundice hepatitis: Cucumber root, crushed to extract juice, taken warm at 10ml every morning. (Inner Mongolia Herbal Medicine)
3. For treating diabetes: Equal amounts of cucumber root and Huanglian (Coptis chinensis), crushed and mixed with honey to form pills the size of Wutong seeds (like soybeans), taken ten pills after meals, and can stop medication once the illness is resolved. (Longmen Grottoes Prescription)
Diabetes generally refers to a condition characterized by excessive thirst, hunger, urination, and weight loss, or sweet-smelling urine. The basic pathogenesis is the deficiency of yin fluids and excess dryness-heat.
Huanglian is a well-known herb for clearing heat, drying dampness, and purging fire and detoxifying, often used by doctors in the treatment of diabetes. Combined with the heat-clearing and detoxifying cucumber root, it is indeed a case of one plus one equals two.
4. For treating purulent deafness and otitis media: Use cucumber root, cut to the size of jujube pits, and dry in a cool place for several days until pus and blood are fully discharged, then recovery occurs. (Shengji Zonglu, Cucumber Root Formula)
Purulent deafness is one of the most common ear diseases, characterized not only by deafness but also by pus flowing from the ear canal.
Reminder: Everyone’s physical condition is different; the formulas provided in this article should be adjusted according to individual conditions, and it is recommended to seek guidance from a professional doctor. (Images sourced from the internet; please contact for removal if there is any infringement.)
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