Also known as: loofah net, loofah shell, melon and loofah tendon.

Sexual taste and tropism: sweet and flat; Enter lung, stomach and liver meridians.

Commonly used drugs for rheumatic joint pain

Luffa sponge has the effects of expelling wind and dredging collaterals, detoxicating and resolving phlegm, and is especially suitable for rheumatic joint pain. "Notes on Materia Medica" records that "Luffa enters the meridians to relieve depression and clear heat, and when heat is removed, the wind disappears, and the body fluid in the collaterals does not resolve phlegm but swells the poison, so the cloud detoxifies the ear." "Luchuan Materia Medica" also records that loofah sponge "cools blood and detoxifies, promotes diuresis and dehumidifies, eliminates lung heat, phlegm and cough, fever and delirium, restless heart heat and hand and foot convulsions." Modern pharmacological research shows that Luffa also has analgesic, sedative and anti-inflammatory effects.

Small file of loofah sponge

Loofah sponges are distributed all over the country, with the best quality produced in Cixi, Zhejiang, Nantong, Jiangsu and Suzhou. It belongs to the genus Panicum in Cucurbitaceae. The cone of towel gourd can be used as Chinese herbal medicine. Pine cones are vascular bundles in mature fruits. Generally, it is picked in summer and autumn when the fruit is ripe, the skin turns yellow and the inside is dry. Peel and pulp, dry in the sun, and then take out the seeds to eat raw or fry. Guangdong Guangdong towel gourd is called "towel gourd cloth" without peeling or removing seeds after picking. Modern research found that Luffa mainly contains mannan, galactan, xylan, cellulose and other components.

Efficacy indication

Expelling wind and dredging collaterals, detoxifying and resolving phlegm.

Indications: 1. Used for rheumatic joint pain, hand and foot contracture, and joint pain. 2. Used for chest pain. 3. Used for breast abscess and breast obstruction. 4. Used for coughing with excessive phlegm.

Identification of authenticity

Attention should be paid to sponge doping in loofah. Luffa sponge is usually a strip with a width of 1 ~ 1.5cm and a length of 3 ~ 6cm. It is white, hard and tough, and its cross section is reticulate. Sponge is an organic chemical synthetic product, soft in quality, similar in size, shape and color to loofah, which is not very nice. Oral dosage is 1o ~ 15g, and external dosage is appropriate. Herbal health-care freckle-removing tea: loofah 10g, white chrysanthemum 10g, rose 5g, jujube 5g and boiled water. Suitable for butterfly spots and chloasma.

2, regulate breast qi and blood

Shrimp soup: Cao Tong 6g, Luffa 10g, Astragalus 15g, decocted in water, filtered to retain juice, boiled shrimp with medicinal juice, seasoned with salt and ginger, and taken with the soup, once a day 1 time. Suitable for breast bodybuilding to make it plump. Especially suitable for middle-aged women.

3, clearing heat and diuresis

Luffa honey juice: Luffa 100g, decocted in water, filtered to keep juice, and then added with honey and vinegar 10g, taken twice in the morning and evening. Suitable for patients with urethritis. Loofah orange peel soup: loofah 30g, orange peel 6g, radish seed 15g, onion 3, decocted in water for tea. It is suitable for chest rib injury caused by gas injury.