In life, many people have the habit of using lotus leaves to make tea, boil water to drink instead of filtered water every day, with the desire to improve health. So is this habit good?
Lotus leaves are one of the traditional Vietnamese medicines with high applicability, widely used in daily life. The majority of people often think that lotus leaves are good, but to truly understand the benefits of lotus leaves for health, not everyone knows.
Using the right herbs for the right disease and the right medicine is the most appropriate treatment regimen, shortening the treatment time. Therefore, we need to understand the information about lotus leaves to use them at the right time and for the right disease. Use lotus leaves effectively, avoid overusing or using them incorrectly because it can directly affect health.
Lotus leaves have a cooling effect.
1. Characteristics of lotus leaves
Lotus leaves are also known as Nelumbinis, scientific name Folium Nelumbinis.
Dried lotus leaves are round, wrinkled, and crumpled, with a diameter of 30 – 60cm. The upper surface of the leaves is ash green, slightly rough; the underside is brown green, smooth, and has intact edges. Lotus leaf veins have about 17 – 23 veins radiating like spokes of a wheel. The leaves have a fragrant smell.
Taste and properties: Bitter, slightly astringent, neutral. Meridians: Liver, spleen, stomach.
Effects: Clearing heat, relieving heat (treating diseases caused by hot weather), removing stasis (breaking stasis), stopping bleeding (stopping bleeding).
Treatment for cases of: Heatstroke, fever in the summer, nausea with diarrhea in the summer… treating bleeding when combined with some other heat-clearing herbs…
2. Uses of lotus leaves
Lotus leaves are fragrant, cool, and have a refreshing taste; drinking lotus leaf water creates a feeling of relaxation, eliminates “heat accumulation”, and eliminates toxins in the body. Lotus leaves are cheap, we can buy them anywhere and anytime.
Therefore, in today’s folk life, there is often a habit of using lotus leaves to make water to drink every day, for a long time with the desire to improve health.
However, in oriental medicine, lotus leaves are a medicine used to treat diseases. In other words, lotus leaves have medicinal properties, helping to relieve heat, cool blood, stop bleeding, clear heat, and laxative…
Lotus leaves are very good for people who are suffering from heatstroke, fever in the summer, heatstroke leading to both vomiting and diarrhea… In cases where you do not experience these symptoms and drink lotus leaf water, I am afraid that the medicinal effects of lotus leaves will not only not improve health, but also cause the body to lose balance, forming some new diseases.
Pregnant women should not drink lotus leaf water.
3. Who should not use lotus leaves?
Lotus leaves are contraindicated for women who are menstruating, pregnant and breastfeeding women. Because lotus leaves have the property of removing stasis, making the blood flow “smoothly”, if a woman who is menstruating uses lotus leaves, the medicinal properties of lotus leaves will cause irregular menstruation, heavy and persistent menstruation… leading to blood loss, anemia… making the body tired.
Pregnant and breastfeeding women should not use lotus leaves because it has a negative effect on the fetus or the baby’s health.
Using lotus leaves for people with cold constitution, fever due to cold, vomiting and diarrhea due to causes other than heatstroke… will not improve the condition, but prolong the illness, possibly making the condition worse.
In addition, special attention should be paid to patients with internal medical conditions such as kidney failure, liver failure, etc. Because lotus leaves are medicine, they have medicinal properties, which will more or less affect the body. Therefore, caution should be exercised when using them.
In short, using lotus leaves to make tea, boil water to drink instead of filtered water every day should be appropriate for the specific medical condition.
Lotus leaves in particular, and medicinal leaves in general, all have pharmacological properties, so when using them, they must be used by the right person, the right disease, and at the right time.
You should consult a traditional medicine doctor when using any herbs, including lotus leaves, to avoid unwanted effects caused by lotus leaves.
