Cao Guo is the mature fruit of the ginger family plant Cao Guo. Cao Guo is a perennial herb, growing in the forest under the ditch, mainly distributed in Guangxi and southern Yunnan. It is shaped like an olive, with thin skin, purple color, and large kernel resembling shrunk sand kernel. Cao Guo fruit is used in traditional Chinese medicine and has the functions of drying dampness, invigorating the spleen, removing phlegm, and treating symptoms such as abdominal distension, nausea and vomiting, and malaria caused by food stagnation.
Drying Dampness and Transforming Phlegm
Cao Guo is often used together with Nan Xing, Ban Xia, Fu Ling, etc., to dry dampness and transform phlegm. It can be used to treat conditions such as phlegm accumulation, headache, back pain, and aversion to food.
Preventing and Treating Epidemics
Cao Guo is often used together with Huang Qin, Zhi Mu, Bing Lang, etc., to prevent and treat epidemics. It can be used to treat conditions such as the early stage of epidemics with aversion to cold followed by fever, continuous fever without aversion to cold, and headache and body pain.
Treating Malaria and Dispelling Phlegm
Cao Guo is often used together with Chai Hu, Huang Qin, Ban Xia, etc., to treat malaria with fever but no aversion to cold, or fever with less aversion to cold, and rapid and frequent pulse.
Dispelling Cold and Relieving Pain
Cao Guo is often used together with Ding Xiang, Hou Po, Gao Liang Jiang, etc., to dispel cold and relieve pain. It can be used to treat conditions such as cold and dampness obstructing the middle Jiao, more cold and less heat, cold hands and feet, generalized edema, and cold pain in the abdomen.
Regulating Qi and Promoting Digestion
Cao Guo is often used together with Ji Nei Jin, Hou Po, Chen Pi, etc., to warm the middle Jiao, dispel cold, regulate Qi, and promote digestion. It can be used to treat conditions such as cold and dampness stagnation, distension in the epigastric region, nausea or vomiting, and sour and foul-smelling vomit.
Warming the Middle Jiao and Stopping Vomiting
Cao Guo is often used together with Chen Pi, Hou Po, Cang Zhu, etc., to warm the middle Jiao and stop vomiting. It can be used to treat conditions such as phlegm accumulation, swallowing and vomiting sour water, and nausea and vomiting.
What are the Nutritional Values of Cao Guo?
Cao Guo contains volatile oil, including α-phellandrene, β-phellandrene, 8-cineole, and linalool, as well as starch and various trace elements.
1.α-phellandrene and β-phellandrene have antitussive and expectorant effects.
2.β-phellandrene has strong anti-inflammatory effects and antifungal effects.
3.8-cineole has analgesic, antipyretic, and bronchodilator effects.
4.Linalool has antibacterial and antifungal effects.
Precautions for Eating Cao Guo
Recommended: Cao Guo has a warm nature and can warm the spleen, dry dampness, especially suitable for people with cold abdominal pain, indigestion, nausea, and vomiting.
Avoid: Cao Guo is pungent, warm, and drying, which can easily deplete qi and blood. Therefore, it is not suitable for people with deficiency of qi and blood, no cold and damp evil, and aversion to cold due to physical weakness.
Pregnancy: Eating Cao Guo during pregnancy can promote digestion and have a warming and invigorating effect on the middle Jiao. Stewing black chicken with Cao Guo can also relieve abdominal pain during pregnancy. However, Cao Guo is pungent and spicy, and excessive consumption can easily cause internal heat. Pregnant women should pay attention to moderate consumption.
Infants: Be cautious when giving Cao Guo to infants. Cao Guo has the effects of drying dampness, dispelling phlegm, invigorating the spleen, opening the appetite, promoting diuresis, and reducing swelling. Babies can consume a small amount, otherwise it may cause internal heat.
Methods of Eating Cao Guo
1. Treating malaria
Take 6g of Cao Guo kernel, Bing Lang, Chuan Shan Jia, and Chang Shan, 9g of Zhi Mu and Wu Mei, and 3g of Gan Cao. Decoct them and take orally.
2. Treating spleen and stomach deficiency cold, nausea and vomiting
Take 4.5g of Cao Guo kernel, 6g of cooked Fu Zi and fresh ginger, and 12g of jujube. Decoct them and take orally.
3. Treating indigestion, epigastric fullness
Take 10g of Cao Guo, 20g of hawthorn, and 15g of Chen Pi, chop them separately, put them in a gauze bag, tie the bag tightly, and soak it in 250ml of white wine for 10 days. It can warm the middle Jiao, invigorate the stomach, promote digestion, and is suitable for people with indigestion, epigastric fullness, and poor appetite.
