The efficacy and function of Artemisia selengensis

Mugwort is a relatively common plant in our daily life. Around the Dragon Boat Festival, it grows most vigorously. There is also a folk saying that washing your face with mugwort on Dragon Boat Festival can get rid of disasters and diseases. In addition, mugwort can also be used for moxibustion. For some elderly people who often suffer from leg pain, soaking their feet in mugwort can also drive away the cold. So what are the effects and functions of mugwort?

In ancient times, when the winter wind suddenly blew, people living in caves could only make fire by using flint to make fire. Some people who suffered from joint pain, back pain and leg pain found that their symptoms were relieved or even cured when they kept warm. People began to consciously use wooden sticks and grass stems to smoke the affected areas. After continuous attempts, they found that mugwort had the best effect. Thus began the history of traditional Chinese medicine moxibustion treatment.

Mugwort is mainly distributed in eastern Asia, such as the Korean Peninsula, Japan, and Mongolia. It is distributed in Northeast, North, East, South, Southwest my country, Shaanxi and Gansu. It has strong adaptability and commonly grows in roadside wilderness and grasslands. It can grow anywhere with good drainage and sunshine, but it grows better in moist and fertile soil.

Nutritional value of wormwood

Modern pharmacology has discovered that mugwort contains a lot of volatile oil, including 1.8-cineole (accounting for more than 50%), and others include α-thujone, sesquiterpene alcohols and their esters. The air-dried leaves contain 10.13% minerals, 2.59% fat, 25.85% protein, and vitamins A, B1, B2, C, etc. When using moxa leaves for moxibustion, generally speaking, the older the leaves, the better. Hence, there is a saying that “a seven-year illness requires three years of treatment with moxa” (Mencius).

Mugwort is bitter, pungent and warm in nature, and enters the spleen, liver and kidneys. "Compendium of Materia Medica" records: Mugwort leaves are used as medicine, which are warm in nature, bitter in taste, non-toxic, purely yang in nature, and can pass through the twelve meridians. It has the effects of restoring yang, regulating qi and blood, expelling dampness and cold, stopping bleeding and stabilizing the fetus, and is also commonly used in acupuncture. Therefore, it is also called "medicinal herb". Most of the "herbal baths" that are popular in Taiwan use mugwort.

The efficacy and function of wormwood

It is bitter, dry, pungent and dispersing, and can regulate qi and blood, warm the meridians, expel cold and dampness, and relieve cold pain. It is an important gynecological medicine. It is used to treat cold pain in the abdomen, irregular menstruation, uterine cold and infertility, such as Ai Fu Nuan Gong Pills. Stir-fried charcoal can stop bleeding and can be used to treat excessive menstruation due to deficiency and cold, metrorrhagia, leukorrhea, and fetal bleeding during pregnancy, such as Jiao Ai Decoction. This product can be pounded into moxa sticks and moxa cones. External moxibustion can dispel cold, relieve pain, and warm Qi and blood. The decoction can be used for external washing to treat eczema, scabies, and eczema, and to relieve itching.

Mugwort has been used to prevent plague for thousands of years. Chinese herbal medicine can be obtained locally, and modern medical pharmacological research has shown that mugwort is a broad-spectrum antibacterial and antiviral drug. It has inhibitory and killing effects on many viruses and bacteria, and has a certain preventive and therapeutic effect on respiratory diseases. The method of fumigation with mugwort leaves for epidemic prevention is a simple and easy method of epidemic prevention.

Mugwort is closely related to the lives of the Chinese people. During the Dragon Boat Festival, people always place mugwort at home to "ward off evil spirits". After the stems have dried up, the plant is soaked in water and fumigated to achieve the purpose of disinfection and itching relief. Postpartum women often use mugwort water for bathing or fumigation. Traditional medicinal theory believes that mugwort has the effects of regulating qi and blood, expelling cold and dampness, warming the meridians, stopping bleeding, and calming the fetus. Modern experimental research has shown that mugwort has antibacterial and antiviral effects; antiasthmatic, antitussive and expectorant effects; hemostatic and anticoagulant effects; sedative and anti-allergic effects; liver protecting and choleretic effects, etc.

How to eat wormwood

How much do you remember about the effects and functions of mugwort? Let’s take a look at the ways to eat mugwort. There are many ways to eat mugwort in our daily life. According to the different living habits in each place, the eating methods also vary accordingly. For example, we often see various delicacies such as mugwort green balls, mugwort Weifeng, mugwort honey bean bread, mugwort cakes, etc. You can choose different ways of eating according to your preferences.

In addition to being edible, mugwort can also be used for foot soaking. Soaking feet with mugwort is very beneficial to physical health. It can relieve fatigue, treat insomnia, reduce stress and many other functions. From the above we can conclude that mugwort has many effects and functions.

Therefore, it is recommended that for the sake of your own health, you can often use mugwort to cook various dishes or soak your feet in mugwort, which will be of great help to your health.