Kudzu root for medicinal purposes

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, kudzu root has a sweet taste and a cooling nature. It is used to relieve muscle tension and reduce fever, promote sweating and clear rashes, generate fluids to quench thirst, and raise yang energy to stop diarrhea. It is often used to treat conditions such as fever caused by external factors.

Kudzu is a climbing plant belonging to the legume family, cultivated in many places for food and medicine. Most parts of the kudzu plant are used medicinally. However, the best part is the root (or tuber), harvested in winter and spring. The tubers are dug up, washed to remove soil and sand, the outer layer is removed, they are cut into pieces or slices, and then dried in the sun or in a dryer. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, this is called kudzu root.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, kudzu root has a sweet taste and a cooling nature. It is used to relieve muscle tension and reduce fever, promote sweating and clear rashes, generate fluids to quench thirst, and raise yang energy to stop diarrhea. It is often used to treat conditions such as fever due to external causes, neck and shoulder pain, headaches, measles, high fever with thirst, diabetes, diarrhea, dysentery, hypertension, myocardial ischemia, nosebleeds, vomiting blood, hemorrhoids with bleeding, tinnitus, and hearing loss.

Most parts of the kudzu plant are used for medicinal purposes.

Some medicinal remedies using kudzu root:

To treat fever, vomiting, and headache in young children: Crush 30g of Pueraria root and boil it with 2 large bowls of water until only 1 bowl remains. Strain the liquid (discard the residue) and use it to cook porridge with 50g of rice. Add a little fresh ginger and honey, and feed it to the child throughout the day. Use for 3-5 days.

To treat burning sensation in the chest and abdomen: Soak 15g of white rice in water overnight, drain the water, mix well with 120g of kudzu starch, and cook into a porridge to eat throughout the day. Use for 3-5 days.

To treat heatstroke, fever, headache, heartburn, and vomiting: Mix 12g of kudzu root powder with sugar and drink, or crush 20g of Pueraria root and 12g of broad beans, decoct in water and drink throughout the day.

Treatment for food poisoning: Crush fresh kudzu root and fresh lotus root, extract 500ml of juice from each, mix well, and drink gradually.

Alcohol poisoning (drinking too much alcohol damages the spleen and stomach, causing coughing or vomiting blood, fever, and reddish urine): 30g of kudzu flower, 4g of Coptis chinensis, 30g of talc (water-processed), 15g of licorice powder, grind into a fine powder, mix with water, form into pills, take 3g each time, wash down with cool water.

Traditional folk remedies using kudzu powder to treat illnesses:

Mix the powder with cooled boiled water, add sugar, and stir well. In the summer, after strenuous work or long journeys, drinking kudzu powder water helps quench thirst, reduce fatigue, and prevent sunstroke. Kudzu powder can be combined with centella asiatica (Gotu Kola) for added cooling and effectiveness in the following way: Take 20g of centella asiatica, wash it, crush it, add cooled boiled water, squeeze out the juice, then mix in 10g of kudzu powder, add sugar, and drink. Or cook it to eat. Mix kudzu powder with white sugar and water and cook it like a porridge. Kudzu powder is also used as a binder in the preparation of pills.

According to Health and Life