Can I eat Atractylodes macrocephala during menstruation?

Most female friends become very sensitive during menstruation. Their immune function decreases significantly during menstruation, and their digestive ability also decreases at this time. Faced with such a situation, we must do a good job of dietary care for female friends during menstruation, otherwise some bad symptoms will easily appear. So, can female friends eat Atractylodes macrocephala during menstruation? Let’s take a look at the introduction below.

The question of whether we can eat Atractylodes macrocephala during menstruation is something we need to discuss, because we cannot blindly answer the question of whether we can or cannot eat Atractylodes macrocephala during menstruation. We need to understand what Atractylodes macrocephala is and what effects and functions it has.

Atractylodes(zhú), scientific name Atractylodes macrocephala. Also known as Fuji, Yushu, Dongbaizhu, Xishu, Yangfu, Wushu, Pianshu, Atractylodes, etc., it is a perennial herb belonging to the Asteraceae family and the Atractylodes genus. It likes cool climate and its rhizomes are used as medicine, which has many medicinal functions. It is mainly distributed in mountainous wetlands in Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and other places. Atractylodes macrocephala has the effects of strengthening the spleen and replenishing qi, drying dampness and promoting diuresis, stopping sweating, and calming the fetus. It is used for spleen deficiency, poor appetite, abdominal distension and diarrhea, phlegm and fluid, dizziness and palpitations, edema, spontaneous sweating, and fetal movement disorder. "Medical Origin" records: "It removes dampness and replenishes dryness, harmonizes the middle and replenishes qi, warms the middle, removes dampness from the spleen and stomach, removes stomach heat, strengthens the spleen and stomach, promotes diet, and stabilizes pregnancy."

This species also has many commercial names, such as the shape of the rhizome of the raw drug, or crane-shaped art, golden thread art, or white artemisia leg, named according to the place of origin, such as Huishu, and named according to the season when the rhizome is unearthed, such as winter artemisia. The quality of Yu Shu (Yuqian, Zhejiang) is the best. The medicinal functions are the same as Atractylodes lancea.

Diuretic effect

It has a significant and lasting diuretic effect and is effective on various animals such as rats, rabbits, and dogs. When 0.05-0.25g/kg of the decoction was injected intravenously into unanesthetized dogs, the urine volume increased by more than 9 times, and was still higher than normal 5 hours after administration; when 1-3g/kg was administered by gavage, the urine volume increased by 2-6 times compared with before administration, and in most cases it was still more than normal 6-7 hours after administration. The decoction and fluid extract of Atractylodes macrocephala were injected intravenously at 1.0g/kg into rats, and by gavage or intraperitoneal injection at 1.0g/kg into rabbits, all of which produced obvious and lasting diuretic effects. Atractylodes not only increases the excretion of water, but also promotes the excretion of electrolytes, especially sodium, and the excretion of sodium is better than the excretion of water. It also does not affect the antidiuretic effect of the posterior pituitary hormone. Therefore, Atractylodes macrocephala increases water excretion not mainly by affecting the active reabsorption of water, but rather is secondary to the reduction in electrolyte reabsorption. It has a mercury-salt-like effect in excreting chlorine and sodium; it also has the acetazolamide-like characteristics of increasing the carbon dioxide capacity and pH value in urine, increasing potassium excretion, and reducing ammonium excretion. There are a few trials on its diuretic effect in humans, but no conclusive confirmation is available.

Hypoglycemic effect

When rabbits were given the decoction or extract by gavage, their blood sugar level was slightly lowered. Intragastric administration of the decoction to rats accelerated the assimilation of glucose in the body and thus lowered blood sugar. Oral administration of the decoction to mice has the effect of protecting the liver and preventing the reduction of glycogen caused by carbon tetrachloride.

Strengthening effect

Oral administration of 1 mol or 6 g/kg of Atractylodes macrocephala decoction can promote weight gain and enhance swimming endurance in mice. Atractylodes macrocephala can enhance the phagocytic function of the reticuloendothelial system, activate the reticuloendothelial system of mice, promote the phagocytic function of peritoneal macrophages in mice, and significantly increase the phagocytic percentage of macrophages, phagocytic index and lysosomal digestion on average compared with the control group. In cases of leukopenia, Atractylodes macrocephala has the effect of increasing white blood cells. Atractylodes can also increase the lymphocyte transformation rate and natural rosette formation rate, promote cellular immune function, and significantly increase IgG. This shows that Atractylodes macrocephala has the effects of strengthening the spleen and stomach, strengthening the body and improving disease resistance.

Anticoagulant effect

Atractylodes macrocephala has a significant inhibitory effect on platelet aggregation. Oral administration of 0.5g/kg of Atractylodes macrocephala decoction for 1-4 weeks can significantly prolong the prothrombin time of rats. Its effect is weaker than that of dicoumarol, but stronger than that of Butadion. The roots are more powerful than the stems. Healthy people took 5% root decoction, 1 tablespoon each time, 3 times a day. After 4 days, the prothrombin time and coagulation time were significantly prolonged. 10 days after stopping the drug, the above indicators returned to the level before medication. Alcohol extract also had an effect, but the effect lasted for a shorter time.

Effects on the cardiovascular system

Atractylodes macrocephala has a vasodilatory effect. It has an inhibitory effect on the heart and can cause cardiac arrest when the dose is too large. When 0.1g/kg of the decoction was injected intravenously into anesthetized dogs, the blood pressure dropped slightly. When 0.25g/kg was injected, the blood pressure dropped sharply and did not recover within 3-4 hours.

Anti-tumor effect

In vitro experiments showed that the neutral oil in Atractylodes macrocephala volatile oil has a significant inhibitory effect on esophageal cancer cells. At 10mcg/ml, all cancer cells can fall off within 24 hours. At 5mcg/ml, most cancer cells can fall off, and the remaining small pieces of cells or scattered cells show nuclear condensation, unclear nucleoli, and multiple vacuoles in the vesicles. Intraperitoneal injection of 50-100 mg/kg of Atractylodes macrocephala volatile oil has a significant inhibitory effect on Ehrlich ascites carcinoma. When administered systemically, there are inconsistent reports on the efficacy against solid cancers. When 358 kinds of botanicals, Chinese medicine single prescriptions and compound prescriptions were screened, the volatile oil of Atractylodes macrocephala had the strongest inhibitory effect on mouse sarcoma-180 (inhibition rate was 31-49%). It was also reported that it had no significant effect on S-180, S-37, U-14 and W-256, as well as leukemia model (L615. Recently, it was reported that the neutralizing activity of Atractylodes macrocephala on methA tumors was significantly increased compared with the control group, and it significantly enhanced the delayed hypersensitivity reaction of MethA tumors, and also promoted the phytohemagglutinin-P and lipopolysaccharide-induced fibroblastic reaction.

Effects on gastrointestinal smooth muscle

It has been reported in the past that Atractylodes macrocephala has no effect on gastrointestinal function (such as gastric acid secretion, propulsive intestinal peristalsis, etc.), no anti-ulcer, anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects, does not affect normal body temperature, and has no obvious inhibitory effect on the central nervous system. The latter is considered to be the basis for distinguishing it from Atractylodes macrocephala. Recent reports have shown that the effects of Atractylodes macrocephala on the spontaneous activity of the isolated small intestine of rabbits are different. Atractylodes macrocephala can enhance the spontaneous contraction activity of the isolated small intestine of rabbits and increase its contraction amplitude. Atractylodes macrocephala oil inhibits the spontaneous movement of the intestine, or Atractylodes macrocephala has no obvious effect on the spontaneous movement of the isolated small intestine of rabbits. Intragastric administration of 50mg and 200mg/kg of Atractylodes macrocephala extract had a significant inhibitory effect on water immersion and restraint stress ulcers in animals.

Promote hematopoiesis

Subcutaneous injection of Atractylodes macrocephala decoction 1g/kg, 0.2ml/mouse can promote the growth of mouse bone marrow erythroid hematopoietic progenitor cells (CFU-E). It has the effect of increasing the white blood cell count caused by chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

In the above article, we introduced that female friends’ immunity and digestive ability decrease during menstruation, so they need to pay more attention to their diet at this time, and take good care of themselves in terms of diet during menstruation. The Atractylodes macrocephala introduced above has very high medicinal value, so female friends can eat it during menstruation.