Three diuretic Chinese medicines

There are many kinds of diuretic herbs. The three most common Chinese herbs are Poria cocos, corn silk and coix seed. These three Chinese herbs are used quite frequently in our lives. You can choose a diuretic method according to your condition. Diuretics are mainly used for patients with edema and urinary system diseases. However, patients should be careful not to hold their urine and should drink plenty of water to promote urination. When taking diuretics, pay attention to the dosage of the medicine.

1. What are the diuretic Chinese medicines?

1.1. Poria

Poria cocos has the function of promoting diuresis and eliminating dampness, and its medicinal properties are mild. It can promote diuresis without damaging the body's vital energy, making it an important medicine for promoting diuresis and eliminating dampness.

1.2 Corn Silk

Corn silk has the effects of diuresis and swelling reduction, clearing the liver and promoting bile secretion. It is mainly used to treat edema, dribbling urine, jaundice, cholecystitis, gallstones, hypertension, diabetes, and milk obstruction.

1.3 Coix seeds

Coix seed can strengthen the spleen, eliminate dampness, eliminate numbness and stop diarrhea. It is used to treat edema, athlete's foot, difficulty urinating, dampness, cramps, and diarrhea due to spleen deficiency.

1.4 Winter melon peel

Winter melon peel, a traditional Chinese medicine, is the dried outer peel of the winter melon, a plant of the Cucurbitaceae family. Diuretic and detumescent. It is used for edema, difficulty urinating, thirst due to summer heat, and short and dark urine.

2. What are the most diuretic Chinese medicines?

There are many diuretic Chinese medicines that can direct excess water in the body downward, to the lower part of the body, and excrete it in the form of urine.

However, diuretic Chinese medicine has many other functions, such as eliminating edema and phlegm in the body. It is used to eliminate stranguria and expel stones from the urethra. It also has the effect of promoting dampness and relieving jaundice, and is mainly used for medicines such as damp-heat jaundice, which can expel damp heat through urination.

The drugs with good diuretic and anti-edema effects include Poria cocos, Coix seed, Polyporus, Alisma orientalis, and wax gourd peel; the drugs with good diuretic and stranguria-relieving effects include Plantago seed, Talcum, Akebia, and Pyrola; the drugs with good dampness-removing and jaundice-relieving effects include Artemisia capillaris, Lysimachia chinensis, and Polygonum cuspidatum.

3. Does diuretic Chinese medicine harm the kidneys?

Since it can become a traditional Chinese medicine, it must have its uses. Chinese medicine should be used according to the symptoms. If it is used according to the symptoms, the poison can become a tonic; if it is used inappropriately, the tonic can become a poison.

Diuretics in traditional Chinese medicine have a definite diuretic effect, such as Poria cocos, Poria cocos, Alisma orientalis, Plantago, Centella asiatica, and Lobelia. Diuretics in traditional Chinese medicine combined with kidney-warming drugs can enhance the diuretic effect. Kidney-warming drugs can improve renal blood flow and increase renal filtration rate, while diuretics can reduce renal tubular reabsorption, so the combination of the two can enhance the diuretic effect.

Please note that taking diuretics for a long time will cause kidney yin deficiency and increase the burden on the kidneys. The principle is very simple. Under normal circumstances, taking diuretics will cause the body to lose water and the kidneys will be forced to open and close, which will damage the kidneys.

Contraindications of taking diuretics

1. Diuretics should not be taken for a long time

Since diuretics act directly on the kidneys and promote the excretion of water and electrolytes, if diuretics are taken for too long or in excessive dosage, it will cause excessive water loss, which can lead to electrolyte imbalance in the body, especially hypokalemia, and may also lead to the formation of cerebral thrombosis. Therefore, diuretics should be taken intermittently depending on the condition.

2. Diuretics should not be taken when suffering from diarrhea

Because diarrhea will cause the body to excrete a large amount of water, causing blood concentration and increased blood viscosity. After taking diuretics, the blood becomes more concentrated and the blood viscosity is higher, which can easily form blood clots and lead to serious consequences such as stroke and myocardial infarction.

3. Diuretics should not be taken before bedtime

Diuretics begin to work 1-2 hours after oral administration, reach their peak effect in 6-12 hours, and last for about 16-18 hours. After taking the medicine in the morning, the patient's daytime urine volume increases, making excretion more convenient, and the effect gradually disappears at night, which helps the patient sleep.

4. Diuretics should not be taken while drinking alcohol

Diuretics work mainly through urination, achieving the effect of lowering blood pressure. If you drink alcohol, it can dilate your blood vessels and temporarily enhance the antihypertensive effect. At the same time, due to the dilation of blood vessels, the amount of blood returning to the heart is reduced, and a hypotensive reaction occurs, which can easily cause a person to fall and cause a cerebrovascular accident.