Leek, also known as Long Life Leek or Flat Vegetable, has been loved by the people of China since ancient times. Because of its rich nutrition and ability to warm and tonify the liver and kidneys, and enhance yang, it is known in medical texts as the "Erectile Grass."
Medicinal Value
Leek has a sweet and spicy taste, warm nature; it can tonify the kidneys, enhance yang, warm the middle, open the appetite, and disperse stagnant blood. Pharmacological studies have found that it helps regulate lipids and prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases. Clinically, it is commonly used to treat injuries, dysphagia, regurgitation, enteritis, hematemesis, epistaxis, chest pain, impotence, premature ejaculation, spermatorrhea, frequent urination, among others.
The earliest record of leek as medicine appears in Liang Tao Hongjing's "Mingyi Bie Lu," which says it can "stabilize the five organs, remove heat from the stomach." The "Shi Liao Ben Cao" states it can "benefit the chest and diaphragm." The "Ben Cao Shi Yi" says it can "warm the middle, lower qi, tonify deficiency, harmonize the internal organs, promote appetite, enhance yang, stop diarrhea with white pus, abdominal cold pain, and should be cooked and eaten."
Eating leek in summer helps digest food and relieve stagnation, strengthens the spleen. Eating leek in winter warms the kidneys and enhances yang. Boiling leek water for external washing treats neurodermatitis; crushing and applying externally treats hives; extracting juice and drinking 10–20 ml per dose treats bleeding conditions like hematochezia, hematuria, and epistaxis. Additionally, leek seeds have the effect of tonifying the kidneys, enhancing liver function, strengthening yang, and consolidating the lower burner. Grinding leek seeds into powder and taking 15 grams twice daily with warm water is effective for treating impotence.
Dietary Recipes
◆ Stir-Fried Leeks with Walnut and Shrimp
Ingredients: 500 grams of leeks, 100 grams of walnut meat, 20 grams of shrimp, sesame oil, salt, monosodium glutamate, in appropriate amounts.
Method:
(1) Wash leeks, cut into 3 cm pieces.
(2) Soak shrimp in warm water for 30 minutes, then wash.
(3) Remove walnut shells, wash the meat.
(4) Heat wok over high flame, add vegetable oil, heat until 80% hot, add walnuts and shrimp, stir-fry until cooked, then add leeks, stir briefly, add salt and monosodium glutamate, serve.
Benefits: Tonify the kidneys, enhance yang.
Usage: Once or twice daily. Continue for 20–30 days.
Indication: Kidney yang deficiency, weak back and legs, dizziness, poor eyesight, low sexual function, impotence, premature ejaculation, cold sperm (reduced sperm motility), oligospermia; women with irregular menstruation, uterine cold infertility, clear vaginal discharge.
◆ Stir-Fried Leeks with Lamb Liver
Ingredients: 150 grams of leeks, 120 grams of lamb liver, vegetable oil, ginger threads, salt, cooking wine, in appropriate amounts.
Method:
(1) Wash leeks, cut into 3 cm pieces.
(2) Wash lamb liver, slice thinly.
(3) Heat wok over high flame, add vegetable oil, heat until 80% hot, fry ginger threads first, then add lamb liver and cooking wine, stir well, add leeks and salt, stir-fry quickly until cooked.
Benefits: Tonify the kidneys, enhance yang, generate essence, enrich blood, nourish the liver and improve vision.
Usage: Can be eaten alone or as part of a meal, once or twice daily. Continue for 20–30 days.
Indication: Women who are generally weak, with light menstrual flow, pale color, empty sensation in lower abdomen, back and waist pain, irregular menstruation, uterine cold infertility.
◆ Leek Ginger Milk Porridge
Ingredients: 500 grams of leeks, 30 grams of ginger, 250 ml of milk.
Method:
(1) Wash leeks, chop finely; peel and wash ginger, then put both in a juicer, extract juice, set aside.
(2) Put leek-ginger juice in a pot with milk, simmer gently until ready to eat.
Benefits: Warm the middle, dispel cold, strengthen the spleen and stomach.
Usage: Once in the morning and once in the evening, best consumed one hour after meals.
Indication: Cold-type chronic gastritis, duodenal ulcer, symptoms include cold pain in the upper abdomen, vomiting clear fluid, bloating after eating, pain worsens with cold food, improves with warm food, loose stools, bland taste, pale tongue, white coating.
[Dietary Note] Cooked leeks are more warming, raw leeks are better for dispersing stasis. If cooked, do not overheat. Not suitable for those with yin deficiency and heat, or those with skin sores, eye diseases.
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