Since ancient times, Astragalus has always been a good medicine, and Li Shizhen, a famous Chinese doctor, has a deep understanding of its efficacy.
When Li Shizhen was in his twenties, he accidentally caught a bad cold because of long-term hard work at his desk. He not only coughs all day, but also often has symptoms of shortness of breath. At first, he thought he was young and healthy, and didn't take this cold seriously at all. However, with the passage of time, his condition gradually deteriorated. Even if you take drugs such as Bupleurum, Ophiopogon japonicus, Schizonepeta and bamboo juice, it doesn't work at all. In just 1 month, he was tortured to death.
Li Shizhen's father, Li Yanwen, is a famous local doctor. Seeing his son's illness getting worse every day, he racked his brains. Finally, he decided to fry one or two astragalus and half a liter of water into soup for his son to drink. At this time, a surprise appeared, and Li Shizhen's symptoms began to improve, not only with less phlegm, but also with less cough. So Li Shizhen continued to take this medicine, and miraculously recovered after a few days. The whole family was overjoyed at the news, and Li Shizhen himself was deeply moved.
Later, Li Shizhen, who was very excited, wrote the following words in his Compendium of Materia Medica: "(Astragalus membranaceus) has many functions, especially in enriching blood." In this way, the effect of supplementing qi and enriching blood of Astragalus membranaceus is well known, and it is often used as the first choice of dietotherapy to treat symptoms such as qi deficiency, weakness of middle qi, eating less qi deficiency, superficial deficiency and chlorosis.
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that Astragalus membranaceus is sweet and slightly warm, and it enters the lung, spleen, liver and kidney meridians, and has the functions of invigorating qi, consolidating exterior, astringing sweat, promoting granulation, inducing diuresis and reducing swelling. According to the medical ancient book "Materia Medica Justice", "Astragalus is beneficial to the middle earth and warms the spleen and stomach, which is most suitable for those with weak middle qi, weak spleen and stomach, and stagnation of clear qi." The meaning of this passage is that Astragalus membranaceus can replenish qi and blood, nourish the spleen and stomach, and is especially suitable for people with special constitutions such as weakness of middle qi, disharmony between spleen and stomach, and subsidence of clearing qi.
Modern medical research has proved that Astragalus has the functions of reducing blood viscosity, reducing thrombosis, lowering blood pressure, protecting the heart, bidirectionally regulating blood sugar, resisting free radical damage, anti-aging, antioxidation, anti-tumor and enhancing immunity, and can be used to treat diseases such as heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. In addition, Astragalus can dilate blood vessels and improve blood circulation and nutritional status of skin. It can also effectively eliminate proteinuria in patients with nephritis, protect the liver and prevent the decrease of hepatic glycogen.
Since astragalus has such a good effect of invigorating qi and consolidating exterior, how can it be used in diet? Here are several kinds of medicinal diets with astragalus as the main ingredient for people with special physique.
The practice of ginseng, astragalus and lotus seed porridge is very simple. Prepare 60 grams of japonica rice, 5 grams of ginseng, 30 grams of astragalus, 50 grams of fresh dates, and 0/5 grams of lotus seeds/kloc. Put Ginseng Radix Astragali into a pot, and add appropriate amount of water to decoct into juice; Wash red dates and lotus seeds. Pour ginseng and astragalus juice into a pot, add appropriate amount of water, add red dates, lotus seeds and japonica rice, and cook together to make porridge. The porridge has the effects of regulating qi, promoting blood circulation, warming middle warmer and regulating menstruation.
Beef soup with black beans, astragalus and red dates. This soup is simple to make. Prepare 200 grams of beef (fat and thin), 30 grams of black beans, 30 grams of astragalus, 50 grams of dried dates, and a proper amount of salt. Wash black beans, astragalus and red dates first, then wash beef and cut into pieces; Put all the ingredients together in a pot, add a proper amount of water, first boil over high fire, then cook over low fire for 3 hours, and finally season with salt. This soup has the effects of invigorating spleen and stomach, benefiting qi and consolidating exterior.
The specific method of Huangqi carp soup is: prepare 500 grams of carp, 50 grams of Huangqi, 30 grams of glutinous rice, appropriate amount of ginger and salt; Cleaning Astragalus membranaceus and glutinous rice, removing scales and thorns from carp, cleaning, and putting rice into fish belly; Take the oil pan, fry the carp with ginger until it is slightly yellow, and pick it up for later use; Put carp and astragalus together in the pot, add appropriate amount of water, first boil it with high fire, then cook it with low fire for 3 hours, and season it with salt. This soup can play the role of invigorating spleen and qi, clearing away heat and promoting diuresis.
The method of this soup is as follows: prepare black-bone chicken 1 piece, 3 pieces of angelica, 3 pieces of astragalus 15, 3 pieces of ginger and a proper amount of salt; Cut the black-bone chicken into large pieces and clean it; Put the blanched black-bone chicken in a casserole, add appropriate amount of water, add angelica, astragalus and ginger slices, boil with strong fire, and stew with low fire for 3 hours; Add some salt to taste after cooking. This is a dietotherapy holy product for invigorating qi, which can not only achieve the effect of tonifying both qi and blood, but also replenish qi and consolidate exterior.
Warmly remind Astragalus that blindly taking medicine has advantages and disadvantages. When people with special physique eat it, they must pay attention to its contraindications, otherwise they will not only fail to achieve the effect of invigorating qi and consolidating exterior, but also accidentally injure their own bodies. Radix Astragali can be divided into raw Radix Astragali and moxibustion Radix Astragali. Generally speaking, moxibustion with Astragalus membranaceus is mostly used to tonify the middle energizer and replenish qi, while raw Astragalus membranaceus is applied to those who need diuresis, detoxification and granulation. In addition, the dosage of astragalus should not be too large, generally 30~60 grams is appropriate, otherwise, there will be symptoms of chest tightness.