Nutritional value and efficacy of melon

Everyone knows that melon is a delicious fruit, but do you know the functions and effects of melon ? Let me introduce it to you.

Nutritional Value

1. Melon contains a lot of carbohydrates and citric acid, and is rich in water, which can relieve summer heat, promote the production of body fluids, quench thirst, and relieve restlessness;

2. The invertase in melon can convert insoluble protein into soluble protein, which can help kidney patients absorb nutrients;

3. Cucurbitacin B in melon stems can protect the liver and reduce chronic liver damage;

4. Modern research has found that melon seeds can kill roundworms and filarial worms;

5. Melon is rich in nutrients and can replenish the energy and nutrients needed by the human body.

When dining out, a fruit plate is served after the meal, which is usually a combination of watermelon, papaya, Hami melon, and sometimes wrinkled melon. But friends often say that they are afraid of having an itchy throat after eating Hami melon or wrinkled melon, so they dare not eat too much. Nowadays, the Xinjiang Hami melon, Lanzhou melon, American melon and wrinkled melon we eat are collectively called "melon" in ancient times. According to ancient medical books, melon is sweet and cold in nature. In addition, "Compendium of Materia Medica" points out that it can "quench thirst, eliminate irritability and heat, and promote urination." When it comes to the function of promoting diuresis, melon is not as good as watermelon, but the degree of coldness is comparable.

However, the degree of coldness of various melons varies. Hami melon and wrinkled melon are not that cold, but they are not suitable for people with cold cough (itchy throat and thin phlegm). However, because they can clear lung heat, they are most suitable for people with hot cough (sore throat, hoarse voice, yellow phlegm), which can relieve cough and promote lung qi.

effect

The roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, pedicles, peels and seeds of musk melon can all be used for medicinal purposes. You can refer to relevant information on traditional Chinese medicine. The whole plant can detoxify and reduce swelling, and treat hemorrhoids, hemorrhoidal fistulas, and internal heat stagnation.

The flesh is sweet, cold and non-toxic, and can clear away heat, promote diuresis and quench thirst. It can treat summer heat, fever, heatstroke, thirst, difficulty urinating, and sores in the mouth and nose.

The stem is used to treat nasal polyps and nasal congestion.

The leaves can treat tinea capitis and promote hair growth.

The flowers can treat heart pain and cough, and can be used externally to treat poisonous sores.

The skin is used to treat fever, thirst and toothache.

The pedicel (fruit stalk) is used to treat food poisoning, indigestion, phlegm and dampness, acute and chronic hepatitis, and cirrhosis.

The seeds can dissipate stagnation and eliminate blood stasis, clear the lungs and dissipate blood stasis, moisten the intestines, and discharge pus. It can treat abdominal stagnation, intestinal ulcers, cough with phlegm, and constipation.

The melon stem is recorded as a top-grade medicine in the Shennong's Herbal Classic. In addition, melon seeds were found in the autopsy of a female corpse from the Western Han Dynasty tomb in Mawangdui, Hunan. This shows that the cultivation of melon for food and medicinal purposes in my country is very old, with a history of more than 2,000 years.

According to modern research, melon stems contain bitter toxins, which have an emetic effect. Because they can stimulate the gastric mucosa and cause vomiting, taking an appropriate amount internally can be used as an emergency treatment for food poisoning, and they will not be absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract, so there is no harm such as collapse and poisoning. Traditional Chinese medicine originally used it as an emetic, which can induce vomiting of chest phlegm, food stagnation and food poisoning.

According to the book Food Chinese Medicine and Prescriptions written by Ye Juquan, a pharmacologist in my country, it can cure jaundice, non-jaundiced infectious hepatitis and liver cirrhosis. Use dried or roasted melon stems, grind into fine powder, take 0.1 gram, divide into six portions, first use two portions, inhale deeply through both nostrils, after about 40 minutes, clean the nasal cavity and inhale two more portions, and then inhale two more portions after another 40 minutes, and inhale 0.1 gram of medicine in three times. Do it again every seven days, and inhale 0.4 grams as one course of treatment. For ordinary hepatitis, the effect will be seen after two courses of treatment, and for liver cirrhosis, it takes about three to five courses of treatment.

After inhaling the drug, a large amount of yellow water often flows out of the nasal cavity. When inhaling the drug, the patient's head must be tilted forward to allow the yellow water to flow out smoothly. Do not swallow it to avoid diarrhea. Sometimes headaches, chills and fever and other cold-like symptoms occur, and liver and spleen pains are aggravated, but most of the symptoms disappear naturally in about a day. According to clinical trial reports, the effect is good.

For the treatment of chronic hypertrophic rhinitis, you can use melon seed powder and blow it into the affected area of ​​the nose, two to three times a day.

Related Introduction

Muskmelon belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family, an annual creeping herb native to tropical deserts in Africa. It was introduced to China along with watermelons during the Northern Wei Dynasty and began to be widely planted in the Ming Dynasty. It is now widely cultivated in various parts of my country. Eating the flesh raw can quench thirst and eliminate bad breath, but the melon stem is poisonous and eating too much raw will cause poisoning. According to relevant experts, all kinds of cantaloupe contain rich nutrients such as malic acid, glucose, amino acids, beetroot, vitamin C, etc., and have a good therapeutic effect on infectious high fever, thirst, etc.

【Relevant groups】

It is edible for the general public

1. It is especially suitable for people who feel hot and thirsty in summer, have mouth and nose sores, or suffer from heat stroke;

2. People with bleeding, weak body, weak spleen and stomach, abdominal distension and loose stools should avoid eating it.

【Food incompatibility】

Melon should not be eaten together with snails, crabs, and fried cakes.

【Production Guide】

For constipation: 500 grams of fresh melon, take once in the morning and once in the evening.

【Dietary therapeutic effects】

Melon is sweet, cold, non-toxic, and enters the heart and stomach meridians;

It is used for symptoms such as chest fullness and discomfort, loss of appetite, irritability, thirst, bladder heat and difficulty urinating caused by summer heat.

【Other related】

"Compendium of Materia Medica" states: "Eating too much melon will cause diarrhea, because it depletes Yang Qi."

Food taboos

Melons are available all year round and are a popular fruit. However, many people should not eat too much or eat with caution due to physical conditions or illness. "Mi Zhenren Food Taboo" says: Eating too much will cause jaundice, colds will make people weak and forgetful, and will weaken the effect of medicine or cause nausea. If people with beriberi eat it, the disease will never be cured.

"Compendium of Materia Medica for Food Therapy" says: Eating too much of it will cause itching and wetness under the genitals, sores, and colds caused by staying up late. People with paranoia should not eat it. Eating too much of it will make people feel weak and sluggish, and their hands and feet have powerless.

"Taicao Yanyi" says: There is no one who does not suffer from diarrhea if he eats too much, because it consumes the Yang Qi.

"Compendium of Materia Medica" says: Melons are the coldest in nature and they feel especially cold when eaten exposed to the sun.

"Ji Sheng Fu" says: "Melons are colder when exposed to the sun, and oil is colder when fried. This is the difference in the nature of the things." Because melons are cold in nature, people with vomiting blood, coughing up blood, duodenal and gastric ulcers, chronic enteritis, spleen and stomach deficiency, abdominal distension or abdominal pain due to cold accumulation, frequent urination, heart disease, etc. should use them with caution or avoid using them.

Normal and healthy people should not eat melon in large quantities frequently, because melon contains a lot of water. Eating too much will dilute the gastric juice in the stomach, causing indigestion or abdominal pain and diarrhea.

"Compendium of Materia Medica for Food Therapy" says: If you eat too much melon and have bloating, you can eat salt flowers and turn them into water to relieve the bloating.

★ Warning

This species is a poisonous plant included in the Chinese Plant Atlas Database. Its toxicity is that the melon pedicle is poisonous, and ingestion can cause poisoning, and in severe cases, death. If the melon pedicle is taken in excess, you will feel uncomfortable, nausea, severe vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, decreased blood pressure, cyanosis, weakened heart sounds, and rapid heart rate within 10-30 minutes. In severe cases, you will fall into a coma, convulse, and finally die from circulatory failure and respiratory paralysis.