Adzuki Bean

Adzuki bean is a Chinese medicine. It is the dried mature seeds of Vigna umbeuata Ohwi et Ohashi or Vigna angutaris Ohwi et Ohashi, a plant of the Leguminosae family. In autumn, when the fruit is ripe but not cracked, the whole plant is pulled out, sun-dried, the seeds are beaten, impurities are removed, and then sun-dried again.

Annual herb, erect or winding at the top, 20-70 cm high. Stipules lanceolate, peltate; leaflets 3, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, 4-6 cm long, 2-5.5 cm wide, acuminate at the apex, broadly cuneate or nearly truncate at the base, entire or sometimes lobed. Racemes terminal or axillary, with 2-3 flowers; flowers about 1 cm long; calyx bell-shaped, about 3-4 mm long, calyx teeth lanceolate; corolla yellow. Pods cylindrical, 6-10 cm long, about 5 mm in diameter, glabrous, with 6-10 seeds; seeds oblong, dark red, rarely brown or black, narrow, about 3 mm in diameter, with sunken hilum. Distributed in southern provinces; also found in Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines, and India. Cultivated or wild. Seeds are edible; used as medicine, with the effects of promoting blood circulation, strengthening the spleen and removing dampness, and promoting diuresis and reducing swelling.

Nutritional value of adzuki beans

Every 100 grams contains 20.7 grams of protein, 0.5 grams of fat, 58 grams of carbohydrates, 4.9 grams of crude fiber, 3.3 grams of ash, 67 milligrams of calcium, 305 milligrams of phosphorus, 5.2 milligrams of iron, 0.31 milligrams of thiamine, 0.11 milligrams of riboflavin, and 2.7 milligrams of niacin.

Contains α-, tail-globulin, fatty acids, niacin, carbohydrates, vitamins A1, B1, B2, phytosterols, triterpenoid saponins, etc.

The efficacy and function of red beans

Adzuki beans have the effects of diuresis, detumescence, detoxification and pus discharge. It can be used to treat edema, beriberi, jaundice, red urine, rheumatism, carbuncle, intestinal carbuncle and abdominal pain.

1. Red bean treats edema that makes it hard to sit or lie down, and swelling of the head, face and body: burn mulberry branches to ashes, pour juice, boil red beans, eat on an empty stomach until full, eat when hungry, and do not eat rice. ("Mei Shi Ji Yan Fang")

2. Red bean can treat poisoning caused by eating livestock meat: burn one liter of red bean, grind it into powder, and take three square inch spoonfuls. (Qianjin Fang)

3. Red bean for treating sudden ascites: a handful of Imperata root, three liters of red beans, boil until dry, remove the Imperata root and eat the beans, the water will be excreted with urine. ("Bu Que Elbow Recipe")

4. Red bean treats wind-induced itching and urticaria: Take red bean and schizonepeta spicate in equal parts, grind into powder, mix with egg white and apply on the affected area. (Compendium of Materia Medica)

5. Red beans can treat edema that starts from the feet. If it enters the stomach, it will kill people: boil one liter of red beans until it is very soft, take four or five liters of juice, and soak it below the knees in warm water. If it has already entered the stomach, only take the red beans and do not eat anything else. (Du Xing Fang)

6. Red bean can help women to increase their lactation: grind red bean with wine, take it warm, and apply the residue to the skin. (Supplement to Prescriptions for Women)

7. Red bean for beriberi: 50g of red bean, 1 gourd, 1 fen of ginger (crushed), 1 root of Phytolacca japonica (cut). Boil together with water until the beans are rotten and the soup is ready. Adjust the temperature to cold or warm, remove the gourd, chew the beans carefully, eat on an empty stomach, and sip the juice until it is gone. (Compendium of Materia Medica)

8. Red beans can promote lactation: boil red beans and drink the juice. (Prescriptions in the Childbirth Book)

9. Red bean is used to treat beriberi, shortness of breath, difficult urination and defecation, swelling of the whole body, bloating of the feet, and watery symptoms: half a liter of red bean, two liang of white bark of mulberry root (roasted and filed), one handful of stems and leaves of perilla (filed and roasted). Grind the above three ingredients except red bean into powder. For each serving, first boil one cup of beans with five cups of water, remove the beans, take two and a half cups of juice, add four qian of medicinal powder, one fen of ginger, smash it, and boil it until one and a half cups are left. Take it warm on an empty stomach, then choose any beans to eat, and repeat every day. (Red bean soup in "Shengji Zonglu")

10. Red bean can treat sudden bleeding on the tongue, like a hairpin hole: crush one liter of red bean, add three liters of water, mix and drink the juice. (Zhou Hou Fang)

11. Red bean treats cold with internal heat and blood stasis, and yellow body: 2 liang of ephedra (remove the nodes), 2 liang of lian qian, 1 liter of red bean, 40 almonds (peeled and tipped), 12 jujubes (split), 1 liter of raw catalpa bark (cut), 2 liang of ginger (cut), 2 liang of licorice (roasted). Add the above eight ingredients to 1 dou of water, boil the ephedra first and then boil it, remove the foam, add other medicines, boil and take 3 liters, remove the residue, divide into three doses while warm, and take it all in half a day. (Ephedra Lianqian Red Bean Soup in Treatise on Febrile Diseases)

12. Red bean treats heavy tongue in children: Mix red bean powder with vinegar and apply on the tongue. (Qianjin Fang)

13. Red bean for acute jaundice with golden color: 1 liang of red bean, 1 fen of clove, 1 fen of millet, 0.5 fen of melon pedicle, 1 qian of fumigation incense, 5 inches of green cloth (burned to ash), 1 qian of musk (finely ground). Pound the above medicines into powder and grind them all to make them uniform. Take it at any time, mix one qian with clear porridge; if you blow a little into your nose, it will cause yellow water to come out. (Red bean powder in Shenghui Fang)

14. Red bean treats hot and swollen cheeks: apply red bean powder mixed with honey, or add hibiscus leaf powder. (Compendium of Materia Medica)

15. Red bean for treating hemorrhoids and bloody stool: 1 liter of red bean, 5 liters of bitter wine, boil the beans, drain and put them into clear wine, wait until the wine is gone, grind. Take one inch of red bean with wine, three times a day. (Zuo Hou Fang)

16. Red bean is used to treat Tianhuo Dan in children. There is red in the flesh, which is as big as a hand. In severe cases, it is all over the body, and there is pain, itching or swelling: 2 liters of red bean. Grind it, mix it with egg white and apply it as a thin paste. It will be easy to dry. This recipe can be used for all Dan. (Qianjin Fang)

17. Red bean can treat bleeding caused by heat toxicity or caused by eating hot food: grind the red bean into powder, mix with water and take one inch of it. ("Mei Shi Ji Yan Fang")

18. Red bean is used to treat large and small intestinal carbuncle, which is caused by damp heat and qi stagnation. Red bean, coix seed, Stephania tetrandra, and licorice are decocted and taken as a decoction. (Red bean and coix seed soup in "Shortcut to Ulcers")

19. Red bean for treating carbuncle in its early stage: apply red bean powder and vinegar on the area, it will also eliminate the carbuncle. (Xiaopin Fang)

20. Imperata root and red bean porridge: Wash 200 grams of fresh Imperata root (50 grams of dried product), boil it in water for half an hour, remove the residue, add 200 grams of polished rice, cook it into porridge and drink it. It can treat edema, urinary problems and other symptoms.

21. Red bean porridge: 30-50 grams of red beans, boil until half cooked, add 100 grams of polished rice and cook porridge together. It is better to eat it lightly, and you can also add sugar to taste it. It has the effects of strengthening the spleen and stomach, clearing away heat and detoxifying, promoting diuresis, reducing swelling, and promoting lactation. It is suitable for edema, lower limb dampness, difficulty urinating, loose stools, obesity, and insufficient milk after childbirth.

Red bean and red poria cocos have strong power to clear away dampness and toxicity in the lower part of the body, and can be used for urinary difficulty caused by damp-heat accumulation, hematuria, lower limb edema, or diarrhea; red bean and smilax china can expel water and relieve swelling, and are often used for edema and fullness; red bean and angelica can penetrate dampness and clear heat, promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, so that the bleeding will stop when heat and dampness are removed, and can be used for bloody stools, abdominal pain, and hematuria caused by damp-heat; red bean and ephedra can both promote diuresis, but red bean can clear heat and dampness and reduce swelling, and can also detoxify, while ephedra can promote the flow of lung qi down to the bladder and promote diuresis, so the combination has the effects of promoting lung qi, removing dampness, and clearing heat; red bean and forsythia can both relieve the fire of the heart meridian, promote dampness and heat, and detoxify. , can be used to treat jaundice caused by internal accumulation of damp-heat, stranguria caused by downward movement of damp-heat, acute attack of gynecological pelvic inflammatory disease and postpartum fever; adzuki bean and egg white are mixed and applied to treat heat toxic carbuncle; adzuki bean and Imperata root can enhance diuresis and reduce swelling while also having a certain effect of cooling blood[5] and relieving stranguria, and can be used for edema, beriberi edema, urinary incontinence, stranguria and hematuria; adzuki bean and carp can be used to treat beriberi and abdominal edema; adzuki bean and melon pedicles have sour and bitter tastes and can induce emesis very quickly. In addition, adzuki bean can protect the stomach qi and make vomiting without hurting the body. It can be used for phlegm blocking the chest and food stagnation in the upper abdomen that cannot be relieved by purgation.

Medicinal value of adzuki beans

It is mild in nature and tastes sweet and sour.

① "Yangsheng Yaoji": "Tastes bitter and warm."

② "Bie Lu": "sweet and sour, flat, non-toxic."

③ "Qianjin·Food Therapy": "Sweet and salty, neutral, non-toxic."

④ "Food Nature Materia Medica": "slightly cold."

⑤ "Tangye Bencao": "Temperature, spicy, sweet and sour, non-toxic."

[return through meridians] enters the heart and small intestine meridians.

① "Leigong Paozhi Yaoxing Jie": "Enter the Heart Sutra."

② "New Compendium of Materia Medica": "Enters the spleen meridian."

③ "Depei Materia Medica": "Enter the Shaoyin and Taiyang meridians."

④ "New Compendium of Materia Medica": "It enters the heart and lung meridians."

Side effects and contraindications of red beans

side effect

No side effects.

Taboo group

Red beans can clear the urinary channels, so people who urinate frequently should avoid eating them; if you are bitten by a snake, you should not eat red beans within 100 days.

How to make delicious red beans

Lotus Seed Lily Red Bean Paste

Preparation method: 50g red beans, 30g white lotus seeds, 10g lily, some tangerine peel, lotus seed, lily and red bean paste

About 50 grams of rock sugar. Soak the washed red beans for two hours, boil water, add all the ingredients, and cook for two hours. Efficacy: Strengthen the spleen and kidney, consolidate the essence and replenish qi, strengthen the bones and muscles, and enhance physical strength.

Red Bean and Purple Rice Soup

Preparation method: Wash 20g of red beans and 20g of purple rice and soak them overnight, pour out the soaking water and add new water to cook, then cook over low heat until cooked through, add appropriate amount of honey when eating. Effects: diuresis and swelling, nourishing yin and kidney, promoting blood circulation and beauty.

Red and green lily soup

Preparation method: Soak 20g each of mung beans, red beans and lily for half an hour, boil over high heat and then simmer until the beans are cooked, add appropriate amount of salt or sugar, and it can be eaten salty or sweet. Effect: Clears heat, whitens the skin, and moisturizes the skin.

Longan, jujube and red bean soup

Ingredients: 30g dried longan, 50g jujube, 150g red bean, 1500g water. Ingredients for making red bean soup (17 photos) Method: 1. Wash the red beans with water and soak for 2 hours; 2. Shell the longan and keep the meat for later use; 3. Boil the soaked red beans, jujube and water; 4. Add the longan; 5. After boiling again, turn to low heat and simmer for 60 minutes.