Precious medicine from grapefruit
Grapefruit has a sour taste and a cooling nature, promoting relaxation and treating morning sickness, loss of appetite, and alcohol retention.
Grapefruit peel has a bitter and spicy taste, promotes bowel movement, eliminates phlegm, dissolves dampness, harmonizes blood, relieves pain, and reduces swelling (remove the white pith and roast until golden).
Vietnam has many valuable pomelo varieties: Doan Hung pomelo (Phu Tho), Dien pomelo, Phuc Trach pomelo, Nam Roi pomelo, Thanh Tra pomelo… the entire pomelo tree is beneficial for health. Here are some ways to use pomelo to prevent and treat diseases.
Make pectin water for drinking.
Choose large, clean, and beautiful grapefruit seeds. For daily use, take about 20 seeds. Put the seeds in a cup, pour boiling water over them, stir well for about 5 minutes, then let it settle and pour the water into a separate cup. Repeat the process of pouring water a second and third time until all the mucilage is gone from the grapefruit seeds. Collect the collected water for later use. If not consumed within 3 hours, refrigerate to form a jelly. This drink is refreshing in the summer, aids digestion, prevents constipation, reduces fat absorption that causes obesity, helps control blood sugar for people with diabetes, and is beneficial for those with bleeding disorders (hemorrhoids, post-surgery).
Grapefruit used in medicine
Grapefruit segments: Sweet and sour taste, cooling properties. Used to relieve hangovers and stop morning sickness.
Grapefruit peel: Bitter-sweet taste, warm nature. Reduces cough and phlegm, regulates qi and relieves pain. Pink grapefruit peel is more commonly used as medicine (diuretic and reduces swelling). Squeezing the essential oil treats hair loss and baldness.
Grapefruit seeds: Bitter taste, warm nature, treats indigestion.
Grapefruit blossoms: Their fragrant scent is used as a flavoring agent to aid digestion.
According to Tuệ Tĩnh, grapefruit has a sour taste and a cooling nature, which soothes the nerves and treats morning sickness, loss of appetite, and alcohol accumulation. Grapefruit peel has a bitter and spicy taste, promotes bowel movement, eliminates phlegm, dissolves dampness, harmonizes blood, relieves pain, and reduces swelling (remove the white pith and roast until golden).
- To treat stomach pain: make pectin water from grapefruit seeds as mentioned above and drink it.
- For stomach pain and indigestion: roast 4-12g of grapefruit peel until golden brown, then boil it in water and drink the decoction.
- For abdominal pain caused by cold and bloating: boil or roast young pomelo leaves and apply them to the navel.
- Hemorrhoids: Wash 20g of grapefruit root thoroughly and boil it in water to make a decoction for drinking daily.
- Painful prolapse of the scrotum: Take one unripe grapefruit, peel it, roast it until golden brown, bury it in the ground, then boil it in water and drink the decoction.
- Rheumatism: decoct mistletoe from the pomelo tree and drink the water.
- Pomelo leaves are used in steam inhalation to relieve cold symptoms.
In Vietnam
Use just enough white wine, peel the grapefruit segments, remove the seeds, and cut them into small pieces. Place them in a ceramic jar, pour in enough wine, seal the jar tightly, and let it soak overnight. The next day, put the grapefruit segments in a pot and simmer until thickened, then add honey and mix well. Once cooled, store in a ceramic jar for later use. Consume 3g three times a day. Its uses include clearing dampness, dissolving phlegm, treating coughs, and improving appetite. Chinese physicians praise its effectiveness in clearing lung heat and dissolving phlegm when using fresh grapefruit. If experiencing coughs with phlegm in people with poor digestion, cooking grapefruit soup with lean pork and a few slices of old ginger can aid digestion and provide the desired effect.
During Tet (Vietnamese New Year), every household prepares lavish feasts, often featuring rich and heavy foods. Therefore, it's essential to have plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, especially pomelo and its citrus relatives like oranges, tangerines, and kumquats. Remember to eat the whole pomelo, meaning peel and eat the segments, not just juice. Avoid using blenders (except in cases of toothlessness or inability to chew) as this will disrupt the harmonious structure and prevent malnutrition in children. For even better results, eating the spongy part of the pomelo also offers numerous health benefits. Some authors even suggest choosing pomelos with seeds, as the seeds, when soaked in water, can be used to make delicious and traditional dishes like white jelly.
Avoid eating grapefruit.
Conditions that are sensitive to sour foods, such as stomach acidity, heartburn caused by not eating on an empty stomach, and certain dental and oral diseases (causing soreness, enamel erosion, etc.).
According to Health & Life - NT
