China News

Salt Is Crucial for Quick Recovery From 8 Everyday Ailments

Distressed Patriotic Flag Unisex T-Shirt - Celebrate Comfort and Country $11.29 USD Get it here>>


Salt is an important condiment in daily life and helps maintain the normal functioning of the body. Too much salt intake can easily lead to high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, but cooking without salt can also lead to hyponatremia, which happens when your blood sodium level is too low. In addition to its nutritional value, salt has medicinal characteristics that can apply to some unexpected daily emergencies.

Dr. Shu Rong, a veteran British traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) physician, explained in the program “Health 1+1” how to use salt as a “pseudo” first aid component to treat daily diseases.

Shu said that TCM believes the salty taste of salt enters the kidneys, so salt was often used to solve kidney problems in ancient China.

Shu explained that according to the characteristics of salt entering the kidneys, salt is often used as a medicinal conductor (added to enhance effectiveness) for kidney medicine. One way this characteristic is activated with when you take medicine with light salt water. For example, while taking Liuwei Dihuang Wan (six-ingredient Rehmannia pill), you can drink it together with some light salt water. This way, the salt will help enhance the medicine’s effect on the kidneys. Another way is to stir-fry medicinal materials such as Morinda officinalis and Eucommia together with salt, which can also aid the kidney-enhancing effect of the medicinal materials.

Value of Salt in Traditional Chinese Medicine

According to Shu, in ancient China, salt’s unique characteristics applied in the treatment of the following diseases:

1. Bone disease: TCM believes that salt enters the kidneys, and the kidneys govern all the bony, hard substances (including the teeth). In ancient China, there were records of using salt water to treat bone-related diseases, such as loose teeth.

How to do it: Put the salt in your mouth, rinse with warm water, and let the saltwater flow through the teeth. Do it 100 times every morning for five consecutive days, and the loose teeth will become firm once more.

2. Detoxification: When food poisoning or eating the wrong things causes stomach pain, after frying the salt until it is yellow, add water to make a concentrated solution and drink it. Because the stomach cannot hold the concentrated salt water, it will induce vomiting and help spit out all the bad stuff.

3. Sober up: Some people drink too much alcohol, feel dizzy, have disrupted eyesight and nausea, but can’t vomit. If you drink a bit of light salt water to neutralize the alcohol, you will feel much better.

4. Detoxify insect bites: After being bitten by mosquitoes or bees, you can mix salt with saliva and apply it to the place where you were bitten. Because saliva also has detoxification properties, the two together will make you heal quickly.

5. Skin diseases: For skin problems such as eczema, athlete’s foot, chilblain, and other skin problems, you can soak your feet in salt water to improve.

6. Nasal allergies: When you suffer from sneezing, runny nose, nasal congestion, and other symptoms without actually getting a cold, you can wash your nose with light salt water, then flush it with water, and then blow it out.

7. Eyes are red, swollen, hot, and painful: When the eyes feel itchy, red, swollen, and painful, and you have tears and eye mucus, you can use a cloth dipped in salt water to apply to the eyes, or wipe them.

8. Dysmenorrhea and cold uterus: Before menstruation, you can stir-fry the salt, apply it on the Guanyuan acupoint, then use moxa to burn on the salt, and change it after burning. Do it 30 minutes a day for the best results.

Epoch Times Photo
(The Epoch Times)

Salt Applied to 8 Everyday Ailments

Shu lists eight everyday diseases or conditions that can be treated with the emergency use of salt:

1. Female urinary tract infection: Put a teaspoonful of salt in the washbasin, add boiling water, and stir it. First, steam the affected part with the heat from the boiling water, and when the water gets cooler, take a sitz bath and sit there for 10 to 15 minutes.

This can also be applied to treat the redness and swelling of the buttocks or urinary tract caused by diaper rash in babies by taking a saline hip bath when a doctor is unavailable.

2. Prolapse of the anus and hemorrhoids: For the pain caused by prolapse of the anus and hemorrhoids, you can also use a saline bath to achieve the effects of reducing inflammation, clearing away heat, and detoxifying and relieving the discomfort of the affected area.

3. Acute sore throat: Put salt water into the throat, keep it there for a few minutes, then spit it out. Repeat several times. For intensive redness, swelling, and heat pain in the throat, the antipyretic and detoxifying properties of salt water can improve the symptoms of inflammation.

4. Acute oral inflammation: Add a teaspoonful of salt to a glass of water and rinse your mouth with the light salt water repeatedly to improve oral ulcers.

5. Toothache: Dip a cotton swab in a little water, then dip the wet cotton swab in salt and put the salt on the painful area, which can help reduce inflammation and relieve pain.

6. Foot odor and beriberi: This is a problem of foot inflammation. You can prepare a bath using a spoonful of salt and half a basin of water and soak in it for 15 minutes.

7. Scalding: If you are scalded by hot water, apply salt directly to the affected area. If you are scalded by oil, you can soak the affected area in concentrated salt water for 10 to 15 minutes, which can effectively prevent redness, swelling, pain, and blisters after the burn. It can also help prevent permanent scarring.

If it is a large area of burns, while you wait for the ambulance, you can use a cloth dipped in concentrated salt water and apply it to the affected area as a means of emergency treatment. This will help prevent serious sequelae.

8. Children’s frequent bed-wetting: You can stir-fry the salt, wait until it cools down, then spread a layer of salt on the child’s navel. Heat it with moxa and burn it on the salt, then replace it with another one after burning, and do it for 30 minutes a day. Frequent bed-wetting is a sign of kidney deficiency because moxa will not burn the skin, but the heat will penetrate deep into the body through salt, which can treat this problem.

5 Types of People Who Shouldn’t Use Too Much Salt

Epoch Times Photo
(Shutterstock)

Although salt has many medicinal values and is an indispensable seasoning item in daily life, Shu points out that the following people should avoid taking in too much salt:

1. Young children who are fed on milk: Children under 1 year old who are still fed on milk are not suited to eating salt, because breast milk or formula milk already contains salt. It is not suitable to supplement this food with added salt.

2. Meat eaters: Meat contains a lot of salt, so people who like to eat meat should reduce their salt intake.

3. People with low libido: Having no sexual desire might be an indication that the kidney energy is insufficient; in such a case, it’s not recommended to eat too much salt to further damage the kidneys.

4. People with excessive phlegm and edema: Because salt has the property of retaining water, people with edema, too much body moisture, or excessive phlegm should eat as little salt as possible.

5. Thick and dark skin: Salt is a chemical compound called sodium chloride. If you eat too much salt, the sodium ions in the body will increase, which will cause the facial cells to lose water and appear dry, and that will cause the skin to age and become thick and dark.

*Some herbs mentioned in this article may be unfamiliar, but they are generally available in Asian supermarkets.

Note: Because different people have different physiques, it is recommended to consult your doctor or TCM experts before supplementing.



Source link

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.