Can pregnant women drink senna?

Senna leaves are a common Chinese medicine for treating constipation. They have a good laxative effect. For some people who want to lose weight, tomato leaves are often used as a weight-loss drug. However, for pregnant women, there are many taboos in the usual use of medicines. Pregnant women cannot eat senna leaves because it can easily lead to gastrointestinal dysfunction, which is not good for the health of the fetus.

Can pregnant women drink senna?

Senna leaves, also known as Chana leaves, Senna leaves, and Bamboo leaves, come from the leaflets of the leguminous plants Senna angustifolia or Senna acuminate. It is a stimulant laxative that stimulates intestinal peristalsis through the intestinal mucosa and nerves. It is a strong drug and it is recommended to be used as little as possible. It acts on the colon and usually takes effect within a few hours.

Senna leaves come from "New Reference to Medicinal Pieces"; "Chinese Materia Medica": Imported senna leaves are often mixed with leaves of various Senna plants (i.e., Senna). According to literature records and specimen identification, some of them may contain small leaflets of the plant Senna auricularia, which are oval or obovate, obtuse or slightly concave at the tip, or with spines, symmetrical or asymmetrical at the base, and yellow-gray-green to reddish-brown on the surface, covered with gray-white hairs, sometimes very much. The doping level of such leaves is sometimes as high as 60%. According to the analysis of this leaf by the Pharmacopoeia Teaching and Research Group of Beijing Medical College in 1959, the content of anthraquinone derivatives in this leaf is extremely small.

Therefore, the more this kind of leaves are mixed in, the worse the product quality will be. Senna is native to India and Sri Lanka, either wild or cultivated. In foreign countries, some people use the leaves of the plant Senna obovata as senna leaves, but it has not been seen in China. The plant is distributed in Egypt, southern Arabia and India. It is cultivated in Italy, so it is commonly known commercially as Italian senna. "Medicinal Plants and Pharmacognosy" states: The dried mature fruits (senna pods) of narrow-leaved senna and pointed-leaved senna have the same functions as the leaves. The side effect of abdominal pain after taking the medicine is relatively small.

Indications:

It can relieve heat, relieve stagnation, promote bowel movements and promote diuresis. Used for heat stagnation, constipation, abdominal pain, and edema. Contraindications: People with weak constitution and pregnant women should not take it. "New Reference to Medicinal Pieces": It is not recommended for those suffering from diarrhea due to cold. Therefore, pregnant women should not take senna leaves.