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Efficacy and functions of licorice and purchase

Licorice is a perennial herb that grows in sunny dry calcareous grasslands and riverbank sandy lands. What are the functions of licorice? Let me tell you the answer below.

Effects of Qinggancao

1. It is used for heart qi deficiency, palpitations, knotted pulse, spleen and stomach qi deficiency, fatigue and fatigue, etc. The former is often combined with cassia twig, such as Guizhi Licorice Decoction and Zhigancao Decoction. The latter is often used together with Codonopsis pilosula and Atractylodes macrocephala, such as Sijunzi Decoction, Lizhong Wan, etc.

2. Used for carbuncles, sores, sore throat, etc. It can be used alone, internally or externally, or used in combination. For carbuncles and ulcers, it is often used together with honeysuckle and forsythia, which can effectively clear away heat and detoxify, such as Xian Fang Huo Ming Drink. For sore throat, it is often used together with Platycodon grandiflorum, such as platycodon decoction. If there is pesticide or food poisoning, it is often taken with mung beans or decoction with Feng Shui.

3. Used for asthma and cough. It can be used alone or in combination with other drugs. For example, Erchen Decoction is used to treat cough with damp phlegm; Linggan Wuwei Jiangxin Decoction is used to treat cough and asthma due to cold phlegm; Sangxing Decoction is used to treat cough due to dry phlegm; Platycodon Decoction is used to treat lung abscess and cough with fishy saliva and purulent phlegm caused by heat poison; Dry licorice and ginger soup. In addition, wind-heat cough, wind-cold cough, and hot phlegm cough are also often used together.

4. It is used for stomachache, abdominal pain and acute pain of gastrocnemius muscle. It is often used together with peony, which can significantly enhance the efficacy of treating acute pain, such as Shaoyao Licorice Decoction.

5. Used to reconcile the potency of certain drugs. For example, in Seasoning Chengqi Decoction, use this product to alleviate the purgative effect of rhubarb and Glauber's salt and their irritation to the gastrointestinal tract. In addition, this product is also commonly used in many prescriptions to reconcile various medicines.

In addition, it is used in modern times for gastric and duodenal ulcers, and is often used in the same way as cuttlefish bones and corrugated seeds. This product also has a diuretic effect, so hay tips are often used as an auxiliary medicine to treat hot stranguria and painful urination.

Function

Licorice is neutral in nature and sweet in taste, and belongs to the twelve meridians. It has pharmacological effects such as detoxification, expectoration, analgesia, antispasmodic and even anti-cancer effects. In traditional Chinese medicine, licorice nourishes the spleen and replenishes qi, nourishes cough and moisturizes the lungs, relieves pain and detoxification, and harmonizes hundreds of medicines. Clinical application can be divided into raw medicine and honey-cooked medicine. When used raw, it is mainly used to treat sore throat, painful ulcers, gastrointestinal ulcers, antidote to drug poisoning, food poisoning, etc.; when used raw, it is mainly used to treat decreased spleen and stomach function, loose stools, fatigue, fever, cough, palpitations, etc.

1. Anti-acid

Licorice has an adrenocortical hormone-like effect. It has an inhibitory effect on excessive gastric acid secretion caused by histamine; it also has anti-acid and relieve gastrointestinal smooth muscle spasm effects.

2. Antitussive

Licorice flavonoids, licorice extract and glycyrrhetinic acid all have obvious antitussive effects; the expectorant effect is also significant, and the intensity of its effect is glycyrrhizic acid> Licorice flavonoids>Licorice extract.

3. Anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic

Licorice also has anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effects, and can protect the inflamed throat and tracheal mucosa. Licorice extract and glycyrrhizic acid have detoxifying effects similar to glucuronic acid on certain poisons.

4. Balance hormones in women

Licorice is often used to treat symptoms associated with menopause, because licorice contains liquiritin, a hormone-like compound that helps To balance hormone levels in women's bodies.

5. Prevent and treat tumors

The secondary acid contained in licorice can block the effect of carcinogens on inducing tumor growth.

Shopping

It is better to have tight skin, reddish-brown color, firm texture, yellowish-white cross-section, and sufficient powderiness. The smell is slight and the taste is sweet and special. It is not suitable to buy if it is moldy or spoiled.

1. Licorice root is long cylindrical, 25 to 100 cm long, 0.6 to 3.5 cm in diameter, reddish-brown or gray-brown in surface, with varying degrees of tightness in the skin, and obvious longitudinal wrinkles, grooves, and lenticels. and sparse fine root marks. The texture is solid, the cross-section is slightly fibrous, cracked, yellow-white, powdery, with obvious cambium rings and radial texture. The rhizome is cylindrical, with bud marks on the surface and pith in the middle of the cross section. The smell is slight and the taste is sweet and special. When peeled, the surface is light yellow and is pink licorice.

2. The roots and rhizomes of Glycyrrhiza glabra are relatively solid in texture, with some branches and rough skin, and a gray-brown surface; the cross-section is fibrous and has fewer cracks.

3. The roots and rhizomes of Glycyrrhiza glabra are thick, some have branches, and the outer skin is rough, mostly gray-brown or grey-brown, hard in texture, rich in wood fiber, poor in powderiness, and with many and thick adventitious buds in the rhizome.

It tastes sweet or bitter.