We often see this small grass in the field, the city roadside, or the park. It grows plain and looks featureless. I wonder if you recognize it?

If you have not recognized the above picture, you must realize the following picture.

Researchers from SaintNoon believe that many people have played this in their childhood, pick up that “white hairball,” to it blow a “fairy gas,” a tiny elf will dance with the wind floating to the unknown far away, now you should know what it is it?

That’s right. It’s the familiar dandelion, a weed that can be found everywhere and has no “presence” but is known in the Chinese medicine world as one of the “eight vajra” with the effect of detoxification and anti-infection.

Dandelion, also known as Brahmi, yellow-flowered seedling, yellow-flowered groundnut, and milkweed, can be found throughout the year in spring, summer, and autumn.

It depends on your needs. If you want to make a delicious dish as a weed, it is best to pick it up in early spring. The leaves of dandelion are more tender in early spring, they taste better in cold dishes or stir-fried dishes.

However, suppose you want to use it as a medicinal herb to treat illnesses. In that case, it is best to pick it in the summer and fall in August and September when it is more mature and more bitter than in the spring, making it more suitable for use as a medicinal herb and more effective in clearing heat.

Dandelion can help the liver and stomach meridians and has a strong heat-clearing and detoxifying effect, which can treat canker sores, carbuncles, and some diseases with redness and heat manifestations are used both internally and externally.

The reason why dandelion has a heat-clearing effect is inseparable from its growing season. It grows in the hot summer, and to adapt to this desirable environment, it must have the ability to clear heat itself.

Some people may find that most plants growing in summer or hot areas have a particular role in clearing heat, such as honeysuckle, bitter greens, watermelon, cactus, etc.

That is the result of the adaptation of plants to nature, in different natural environments will produce plants with other properties, such as hot, cold, warm, and calm.

Since dandelion is “an important remedy to relieve heat and cool the blood,” when can dandelion be used?

When can I use it?

In life, we often encounter situations where a cold or fever is followed by a sore throat, swollen and painful eyes, and sores on the tongue. In Chinese medicine, we attribute all the causes that produce manifestations, such as redness, swelling, heat, and pain, to heat toxicity.

That is where dandelion, known as one of the “eight great powers” of Chinese medicine, comes in handy. The dandelion is cold and is suitable for symptoms such as redness and swelling of the throat and toothache caused by heat toxicity, often referred to as pharyngitis, tonsillitis, gum inflammation, and other inflammatory diseases.

For these inflammatory diseases, there is a standard Chinese patent medicine. I believe we have used or heard of it. It is Pu Di Lan anti-inflammatory tablet.

The ingredients include dandelion, Scutellaria, bitter Dillin, and Panax quinquefolium, of which our “main character” today is dandelion.

The four herbs can clear heat and detoxify the body, and the root of the plate of blue can also cool the blood and throat. Dandelion can also reduce swelling and disperse knots so that the dandelion can treat pharyngitis, tonsillitis, boils, and bumps.

If the spleen and stomach are weak and usually suffered from diarrhea, then Pu Di Lan is unsuitable for you. Hard drugs will aggravate the spleen and stomach cold symptoms. If taken, nausea, vomiting, and other adverse reactions may appear.

In addition to using dandelions to treat the diseases mentioned above, they often love fire friends. Drinking dandelion root tea is also a good choice. The following attached homemade dandelion root tea method:

1. Dig up the wild dandelion rhizome, clean it. And don’t forget to wash it several times to avoid residuall sediment.

2. Washed dandelion root, cut it into small 5–10 mm sections, and set aside.

3. Steamed the cut dandelion root segments in a steamer for 15 minutes, removed, and cooled naturally.

4. Cooled dandelion, put it into a frying pan, and bake, pay attention to diligent stir-frying, avoid frying burnt until the color is light brown, and remove it to room temperature.

Cautions

1. It is not recommended to consume dandelion or drink dandelion water if it is cold or if the spleen and stomach are weak or chronically ill.

2. Some people have allergic reactions to dandelions, such as eating a dandelion, drinking dandelion water with itching, etc. At this time, it may mean that you are allergic to dandelion, stop eating dandelion immediately!

3. If you consume fresh dandelion, do not be greedy and do not consume too much at a time. Otherwise, it will quickly lead to diarrhea and abdominal pain. It is best to soak it in salt water for 1 hour before consumption.

Learn more about herbs and herbal products, check out SaintNoon official website! Let's enjoy the generosity of nature!