Pharmacist's Antidote | Can the popular "oil-removing expert" orange help you lose weight?

Recently, a fast food brand launched a new product "Juicy Three-Lemon Tangerine Tea". The tangerine that was popular all summer last year has become popular again.
Last summer, due to its wonderful taste of sour and sweet aftertaste and its magical effect of clearing away constipation, the originally unknown southern niche fruit - orange, successfully became a "net celebrity" that was popular all summer. Major tea brands launched orange drinks one after another, shaping it into a "magic weapon" for removing fat and losing weight.

What exactly is orange? Can it really help you lose weight?

What is oil orange?

The scientific name of the oil orange is Phyllanthus emblica, which is the fruit of the Euphorbiaceae plant Phyllanthus emblica. It is one of the first varieties of Chinese medicine and food. Phyllanthus emblica is mainly produced in India, Nepal, southwest and southeast my country. The wild resources are most abundant in Yunnan, my country, and are mostly used for medicine; Fujian and Guangdong are mostly cultivated and eaten as fresh fruits. The harvesting period varies from place to place, and it can be harvested from June to February of the following year.

The use of Phyllanthus emblica as a traditional Chinese medicine was first seen in the Tang Dynasty's "New Compendium of Materia Medica": "Amola, bitter, sweet, cold, non-toxic. It treats wind deficiency and heat. It is also called Phyllanthus emblica. It grows in Jiao, Guang, Ai and other states in Lingnan." Amola is a common translation. It is a widely used medicinal ingredient in India and is regarded as a "holy fruit". The name "Phyllanthus emblica" is derived from the fact that it is "bitter at first, but becomes sweeter after a long time."

What are the medicinal effects?

Phyllanthus emblica is sweet, sour, astringent and cool. It enters the lung and stomach meridians. In ancient my country, Phyllanthus emblica was often seen in herbal books, mainly used to treat wind-deficiency heat, cough, and to nourish the qi, darken the hair, and detoxify metal and stone. "Haiyao Bencao" records: "It is used to treat lung damage caused by cinnabar and stone, cough. Long-term use can make the body lighter and prolong life." "Bencao Shiyi" says: "It is used to nourish and strengthen the qi. Take the seeds and squeeze the juice, mix with oil and apply it on the head to grow hair and remove wind itching. The hair will fall off when first applied, but it will grow like lacquer later."

Modern Phyllanthus emblica is rarely used in traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions, but it is very common in ethnic medicine, especially in Tibetan medicine. It is called the "three major fruits" together with Terminalia chebula and Terminalia chebula. It is often used to relieve alcohol, treat coughs and colds, urine retention, centipede bites, liver and gallbladder diseases, gastrointestinal diseases, blood diseases, skin diseases, hypertension and physical weakness. The "Chinese Pharmacopoeia" records that Phyllanthus emblica is used as medicine with dried mature fruits. However, the "Guangdong Provincial Traditional Chinese Medicine Standard (Volume 1)" includes fresh Phyllanthus emblica, which is used as medicine with nearly mature fresh fruits. Their effects are all "clearing heat and cooling blood, digesting food and strengthening the stomach, promoting fluid and relieving cough. It is used for blood heat and blood stasis, indigestion, abdominal distension, (lung heat or lung dryness) cough, sore throat, and dry mouth."

The fruit of Phyllanthus emblica contains more than 100 chemical components, and tannins and gallic acid are considered to be its main active components. Modern research shows that Phyllanthus emblica has a variety of pharmacological effects, such as: anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects (can be used to treat pharyngitis, dysentery, gastroenteritis, etc.); antioxidant effects (the fresh juice contains a high level of superoxide dismutase); anti-tumor effects (inhibiting tumor cell activity, immune regulation); liver protection effects (reducing the degree of pathological damage to mouse liver tissue); inhibiting aortic atherosclerosis (lipid regulation, blood pressure reduction), etc. In addition, Phyllanthus emblica is rich in vitamin C, protein, mineral elements and amino acids, and has good nutritional effects.

Why can’t you lose weight by removing fat?

Phyllanthus emblica is sweet, sour, astringent and cool in nature. It can nourish, astringe, clear away heat and reduce fire, and can stop diarrhea and help digestion. However, people with weak spleen and stomach will feel cold after taking it, which can easily lead to diarrhea. Because it is sour and astringent, it can relieve greasiness, so it is mistakenly believed to have the effect of removing fat, clearing fat and relieving constipation.

Diarrhea is only the loss of body water and electrolytes, not fat loss. You cannot rely on diarrhea to lose weight. Long-term diarrhea can easily cause electrolyte imbalance in the human body, and severe cases may even be life-threatening. Fresh emblica has no fat-clearing and laxative effects, so it cannot be taken as a weight loss product.

Summer drinks are mostly cold, and the nature of emblica is cold. As an ice drink, it will damage the spleen and stomach more, so it is not recommended to eat too much. In addition to eating fresh, emblica can also be decocted in water, used as a medicinal diet, and salted to achieve a therapeutic effect.

Eat 5 to 8 fresh fruits raw, twice a day.

It has the effect of lowering blood pressure.

21 pieces of emblica buds, first boil the pig heart and lungs, remove the foam and then add the emblica buds and cook until done, eat with the soup.

It can relieve asthma symptoms.

Take 10 to 30 fresh fruits and decoct them in water.

It can be used for colds, fever, cough, sore throat, dry mouth and thirst.

Chew 5 to 8 salted emblica fruits; or soak 1 tablespoon of fruit juice in salt and drink it with boiled water.

Effective for vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea caused by food accumulation.