Yellow-flowered sorrel is excellent for treating sore throats.
According to traditional medicine, yellow-flowered sorrel has a sour taste and a cooling nature; it has the effects of relieving fever, acting as an antibiotic, reducing inflammation, soothing, lowering blood pressure, and aiding digestion. It is often used to treat sore throat, fever, cough, hepatitis, and urinary tract infections.
Yellow-flowered sorrel, also known as tac tuong thao, toan tuong thao, ba chia, tam diep toan, etc., is a perennial herbaceous plant that creeps along the ground. Its stem is slender, usually pale red, and slightly hairy. The leaves have long petioles bearing three thin, heart-shaped leaflets. The flowers grow in clusters of 2-3, sometimes 4, yellow flowers. The fruit is an elongated capsule that opens with 5 valves when ripe, scattering the seeds far away. The seeds are egg-shaped, dark brown, flattened, and have bumps. The plant grows wild everywhere, usually in cool, moist soil in gardens, on the edges of rice fields, and in wasteland. People commonly use the fresh plant as a vegetable and medicine; it is rarely dried.
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| Yellow-flowered sorrel. |
The prescription includes the use of yellow-flowered sorrel:
To treat sore throat and throat swelling: Chew and swallow slowly 50g of yellow-flowered sorrel and 2g of salt.
High fever, restlessness, thirst: Take a handful of yellow-flowered sorrel, crush it, add water, squeeze out the juice and drink it.
For coughs caused by heat: 40g of yellow-flowered sorrel, 40g of centella asiatica, 20g of Polygonum hydropiper leaves, 20g of Cynodon dactylon. Use all herbs fresh, wash thoroughly, crush, squeeze out the juice, add 1 teaspoon of sugar, boil again, and divide into 3 doses to drink throughout the day.
Treatment for whooping cough: Take 10g of yellow-flowered sorrel leaves, 12g of lemon root, 8g of chives leaves, 8g of Polygonum leaves, 5g of bitter gourd seeds, and 2g of calcined alum. Boil these ingredients to make a concentrated decoction, add sugar, and drink.
To support the treatment of hypertension: Boil 30g of yellow-flowered sorrel, 10g of Prunella vulgaris, and 15g of yellow chrysanthemum indicum in water and drink once a day.
To aid in the treatment of hepatitis and jaundice: Boil 30g of yellow-flowered sorrel in water and divide the resulting liquid into several doses to drink throughout the day. Alternatively: Cook 30g of sorrel with 30g of lean pork to make a soup, and consume both the broth and the solids.
Difficulty with bowel and bladder function: Take a handful (about 20g) each of yellow-flowered sorrel and plantain, wash them thoroughly, add a little sugar, crush them, and squeeze out a cup of juice to drink.
Injuries, falls, swelling, and pain: Take a large handful of yellow-flowered sorrel, heat it up, and then massage it onto the injured area.
Note:The stems and leaves of the sorrel plant contain oxalic acid and especially potassium oxalate in high concentrations, which can form oxalate stones in the bladder, leading to kidney stones. Therefore, people who already have kidney stones should not use it. Caution is advised for pregnant women.