Loofah, also known as vegetable gourd or luffa, is an annual climbing vine in the Cucurbitaceae family. Loofah not only has high medicinal value, but also has great nutritional value. It is often used to make various delicious dishes. But can loofah be eaten raw? What are the benefits of loofah?
Benefits of Loofah
1. Anti-scurvy
Loofah is rich in vitamin C, with 8 milligrams per 100 grams, which can be used to prevent scurvy and various vitamin C deficiency diseases.
2. Brain and heart health
Loofah is rich in B vitamins, which have a brain-boosting effect. It also contains saponins, which have certain cardiac effects.
3. Beauty
The juice of loofah stems has a special function of maintaining skin elasticity and can be used for beauty and wrinkle removal.
4. Antiviral and anti-allergic
Loofah extract has a significant preventive effect on Japanese encephalitis virus. A substance called xigengenol, with strong anti-allergic effects, was also extracted from loofah tissue culture medium.
5. Promotes blood circulation and removes blood stasis
Loofah has the effect of relieving cough and resolving phlegm, cooling the blood, and detoxifying. It can be used externally to stop bleeding, reduce inflammation, and is helpful for regulating menstrual periods in women.
6. Clears heat and detoxifies, relieves cough and resolves phlegm
Loofah vine has a bitter and cool taste, which can promote blood circulation, relieve cough, and resolve phlegm. Loofah peel has a sweet and neutral taste, which has the effect of clearing heat, detoxifying, diuresis, and reducing swelling.
7. Relieves prickly heat
After children have prickly heat rashes, loofah juice can be used as an oral medicine, and loofah flesh can be rubbed all over the body to moisturize the skin and reduce dampness and prickly heat.
8. Promotes lactation
For lactating mothers with insufficient breast milk, loofah skin and tongcao can be boiled in water and taken orally. If loofah is not available, loofah seeds can be purchased from a traditional Chinese medicine store and boiled with tongcao for consumption.
If the above soup does not have the desired effect, you can use 2g astragalus, 3g Chinese angelica, 1g Dahurian angelica, 2g pangolin, and loofah seeds to stew pig's trotters. Drinking the soup and eating the meat is very effective.
Loofah should not be eaten with "it"
Loofah should not be eaten with loach, as consuming them together is not conducive to the body's absorption of these two foods.
Loofah should also not be eaten with aloe vera, as consuming them together can cause diarrhea and is extremely harmful to health.
Can Loofah be Eaten Raw
Loofah can be eaten raw, and it is a very tasty cold dish.
Recipe for cold loofah dish
Recipe: Peel and slice a fresh and tender loofah, add a small amount of salt, white vinegar, powdered brown sugar, chili oil, olive oil or sesame oil, and mix well.
Benefits: It moisturizes the skin and prevents the formation of wrinkles.
