Detailed Explanation of Commonly Used Traditional Chinese Medicines for Weight Loss (Part 2): Pharmacology of Corn Silk, Salvia miltiorrhiza, Lotus Leaf, and Honeysuckle
Corn silk: This product is the style of the corn plant, an annual herbaceous plant of the Poaceae family. It contains fatty oil, volatile oil, gum-like substances, resin, bitter glycosides, saponins, alkaloids, vitamin K, sterols, and organic acids. It has diuretic, choleretic, blood pressure lowering, blood sugar lowering, anti-cancer, and weight-loss effects. Medicinal dietary uses include corn silk drinks, corn silk stewed turtle, and corn silk stewed clam meat.
Panax notoginseng: This product is the root of Panax notoginseng, a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the Araliaceae family. It contains notoginsenosides, flavonoids, and alkaloids, among other components. It can shorten clotting time and has hemostatic effects; it has preventive and therapeutic effects on experimental arthritis in rats; notoginseng flavonoids can dilate coronary arteries, increase coronary blood flow, and reduce myocardial oxygen consumption; it also has analgesic and weight-loss effects. Dietary uses include notoginseng drink, notoginseng porridge, notoginseng wine, and notoginseng stewed black-boned chicken.
Imperata cylindrica root: This product is the rhizome of Imperata cylindrica, a perennial herbaceous plant of the Poaceae family. It contains sucrose, glucose, small amounts of fructose, xylose, citric acid, oxalic acid, malic acid, and starch, among other components. It has diuretic, weight-loss, hemostatic, and antibacterial effects. Medicinal dietary uses include Imperata cylindrica root drink, Imperata cylindrica root stewed with winter melon, and Imperata cylindrica root and red bean soup.
Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza): This product is the root of the perennial herb *Salvia miltiorrhiza*, belonging to the Lamiaceae family. It contains tanshinone, tanshinone alcohol, vitamin E, and other components. It has the effects of dilating coronary arteries, increasing blood flow, improving myocardial contractility, and regulating heart rhythm; it can improve microcirculation and enhance the body's oxygen tolerance; it can promote tissue repair and regeneration, inhibit the growth of excessively proliferating fibroblasts and tumors; it can inhibit coagulation and activate fibrinolysis; it can lower blood pressure and blood sugar, and has a sedative effect. The decoction has the strongest antibacterial activity against *Staphylococcus aureus*. It also has a weight-loss effect.
Chuanxiong (Ligusticum striatum): This product is the rhizome of Chuanxiong, a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the Apiaceae family. It contains volatile oils, alkaloids, tetramethylpyrazine, ferulic acid, and phenolic components. It has sedative, analgesic, and antispasmodic effects; it can dilate peripheral blood vessels, increasing coronary artery blood flow and lower limb blood flow, thereby lowering blood pressure; it has uterine stimulating effects and anti-vitamin E deficiency effects; it also has weight-loss and antibacterial effects. Dietary uses include Chuanxiong drink, Chuanxiong and Astragalus porridge, and Chuanxiong stewed black-boned chicken.
Motherwort: This product refers to the aerial parts of *Leonurus japonicus*, an annual or biennial herbaceous plant belonging to the Lamiaceae family. It contains various alkaloids, including leonurine, as well as benzoic acid, oleic acid, sterols, and vitamin A. It has antihypertensive, diuretic, and weight-loss effects. It also has a uterine-stimulating effect. Medicinal diets include motherwort drinks, motherwort porridge, and motherwort cooked with winter melon.
Leonurus japonicus seed: This product is the fruit of Leonurus japonicus, a plant in the Lamiaceae family. It contains leonurine and 37.02% oil. The oil contains 63.75% oleic acid and 21.13% linolenic acid. It also contains vitamin A derivatives and other components. It has the effects of dispelling wind and clearing heat, promoting blood circulation and regulating menstruation, and aiding weight loss. Medicinal diets include Leonurus japonicus seed porridge, Leonurus japonicus seed drink, and Leonurus japonicus seed stewed with clam meat.
Honeysuckle: This product consists of the flower buds of *Lonicera japonica*, a perennial vine belonging to the Caprifoliaceae family. It contains chlorogenic acid, flavonoids, luteolin, inositol, saponins, tannins, and volatile oils. It has significant broad-spectrum antibacterial effects, can fight influenza viruses and inhibit skin fungi; it can reduce the absorption of cholesterol in the intestines of experimental animals; and it also has a weight-loss effect. Medicinal dietary uses include honeysuckle drinks, honeysuckle and melon strips, honeysuckle and chrysanthemum tea, and honeysuckle and chrysanthemum drinks.
Lotus leaf: This product refers to the leaf of the lotus, a perennial aquatic herbaceous plant belonging to the Nymphaeaceae family. It contains various alkaloids such as lotusine, nuciferine, pronuciferine, and papaverine, as well as quercetin, isoquercitrin, tannin, various organic acids, and tannins. Nuciferine has antispasmodic effects on smooth muscle; it also has antipyretic, weight-loss, and hemostatic effects. Medicinal dietary uses include lotus leaf porridge, lotus leaf drink, lotus leaf chicken breast, steamed black-boned chicken with lotus leaves, and steamed glutinous rice with lotus leaves.
Chrysanthemum: This product is the capitulum of the perennial herbaceous plant chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium), belonging to the Asteraceae family. It contains volatile oils, choline, adenine, chrysanthemin, amino acids, flavonoids, and trace amounts of vitamin B₁. Its infusion has a certain inhibitory effect on some common pathogenic fungi of the skin; it can enhance capillary resistance; and it also has a weight-loss effect. Medicinal dietary uses include chrysanthemum meat slices, chrysanthemum drink, chrysanthemum fish slices, chrysanthemum, hawthorn, and cassia seed tea, and chrysanthemum porridge.