Sugarcane holds high medicinal value, leading ancient people to regard it as the “elixir of life from heaven.” According to Traditional Eastern Medicine, sugarcane is sweet in flavor and has a cool nature. The sweetness helps nourish the body, while its coolness aids in heat dissipation.
In sugarcane, sugar accounts for about 20%, along with some organic acids such as citric acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, and various inorganic substances. Therefore, sugarcane is beneficial for nourishment, relieving constipation and is suitable for people with low blood sugar, sore throats, dry mouth, cough, high fever, heart failure, low blood pressure, constipation, difficulty urinating, heat-induced cough, and thirst. According to Tue Tinh, drinking sugarcane juice mixed with ginger water is very effective for treating thirst. The peel of sugarcane is also used to brew with licorice for bathing those suffering from measles. Additionally, burning purple sugarcane peel to ash, grinding it into powder, mixing it with a moderate amount of sesame oil, and applying this mixture can help with measles eruptions or ulcers and inflammation in the oral cavity.
Some medicinal remedies using sugarcane:
For cough due to heat: Use 1.5 liters of sugarcane juice and 4 tablespoons of green millet, cook it into porridge. Consume it twice a day; it nourishes the heart and lungs and is effective for coughs caused by internal heat, dry mouth, and excessive salivation.
To treat oral heat and difficulty urinating: Peel sugarcane, chew and swallow the juice. If there is mouth pain, extract the juice to drink. Consume sugarcane juice 1-3 times daily to alleviate heat-induced thirst.
For vomiting in pregnant women and night sweats: Mix half to one cup of sugarcane juice with 2 to 5 drops of ginger juice, stir well and drink at once. Repeat 2-3 times a day for effectiveness.
To relieve phlegm, treat heat-related cough and dry mouth: Mix 50g of sugarcane juice with enough water to cook 60-100g of white rice into porridge, then consume to benefit the heart and lungs and alleviate the mentioned ailments.
For chronic sore throat: Use a sufficient amount of sugarcane juice with finely chopped sweet potato vine, a little reed root, and brew with water to drink instead of tea daily. Continuous consumption for 10-15 days will yield results.
To treat postpartum hemorrhage: Take a 45 cm piece of sugarcane, wash it clean, chop it into small pieces along with 60g of black apple, add water, and simmer to drink as tea throughout the day. This remedy not only treats postpartum hemorrhage but also alleviates dry mouth.
To relieve constipation: Mix one cup of green sugarcane juice with one cup of honey, and drink twice daily in the morning (on an empty stomach) and at night. A few days of this remedy will be effective.
To treat frequent urination: Chew sugarcane and swallow the juice or extract the juice to drink, three times a day, 1-2 cups each time (note: do not mix with other substances or add ice).
For continuous vomiting: If experiencing morning sickness or evening vomiting after eating, without intestinal obstruction or pyloric narrowing, use this remedy. Mix 3.5 kg of sugarcane juice with one liter of fresh ginger juice, combine them, and divide into three equal parts to consume one part at a time.
To relieve stomach heat pain: Use 500g of sugarcane and 30g of millet, extract the juice from the sugarcane and mix it with millet to cook into porridge to consume with rice, which will be beneficial.
For nausea due to liver or stomach imbalance: Each time, use one cup of sugarcane juice mixed with one teaspoon of heated ginger juice for effectiveness.
Note: Due to sugarcane’s cool nature, individuals with abdominal pain or spleen deficiency should avoid it. It is advisable not to eat sugarcane with the skin or without washing, as the skin can harbor numerous worm eggs and bacteria. In one experiment, two segments of sugarcane about 100 cm long from two different sugarcane plants were washed and the residue from the washing was examined under a microscope, revealing 1,400 worm eggs, with 75% of these eggs capable of causing infections.
