The sponge gourd has various names in English: Vietnamese luffa, loofah, or luffa cylindrica, and in Vietnamese: Mướp Hương.
The sponge gourd is a cheap, delicious, easy-to-eat, and easy-to-cook fruit, which is popularly sold in most markets in Vietnam, such as in Dong Ba Market in Hue City, and is available almost all year round. Not only that, but sponge gourd is also an extremely good fruit for health with unexpected effects for the female diners.
In the Vietnamese luffa contains a rich amount of nutrients, such as Saponin; Fiber; Gum; Protein; Lysine; Arginine; Mannan; Aspartic Acid; Lignin; Glycin; Threonine; Fat; Glutamic acid; Leucine; Iron; Manganese; Vitamins A, B, C, E; Potassium; Cucurbitacin B; Oleonolic acid; Neutral Sapogenin.
Although sponge gourd has not only nutritional value but also high medicinal value, people with special conditions such as allergies or those who are sick, should not eat loofah, otherwise, it may aggravate symptoms or cause discomfort to the body.
And, you do not combine two vegetables below with loofah:
- White radish: White radish and loofah are both vegetables with high nutritional value, eating separately is not a problem. However, if you eat both together or at the same time, they can cause discomfort for the body. Both are cold food and eating together will cause the body to catch a cold, and cold at the same time.
- Spinach: Spinach is also a very popular vegetable, it is cold, contains a lot of fiber and carbohydrates. If eaten together with sponge gourd, it will increase intestinal motility and can cause gastrointestinal disorders, even cause severe diarrhea.
Now, we will tell about the great uses that many women in Vietnam have used.
1. The sponge gourd with the effect of calling for milk
In cases of low milk production after birth, not enough milk to feed the baby, milk does not come back, breasts are soft, not full, in addition to psychological factors, nutritional features are extremely important to help change the new milk situation. Loofah is known as an effective fruit that has the effect of bringing back milk.
To treat the lack of milk in women after giving birth, it is necessary to maintain the daily use of loofah for about 5-7 days to bring positive effects.
In 100g loofah contains up to 95g of water, 0.8mg of iron, 02g of lipids, 3g of glucose, 69g of protid, 139mg of potassium, 8mg of vitamin C, and many B vitamins.
This amount of nutrients is not only good for the mother’s body but also contributes to the enrichment of nutrients in milk, good for the development of the baby.
How to use: Can be used to cook sponge gourd with pig’s leg and hoof to eat. It is also completely possible to cook sponge gourd with fish, shrimp, or steam, boil to bring the desired effect.
2. Treatment of clogged milk with the loofah
Not only does it have the effect of calling for milk, but in cases of trouble because of clogged milk in women after giving birth, it is also possible to use loofah as effective treatment support.
In addition to using a loofah in daily meals such as cooking soup, stir-frying, steaming, boiling, you can also use it to cook drinking water. The method is extremely simple: cook the loofah with filtered water and a little amount of salt until cooked. After that, it uses this water to drink every day.
You can also use dried whole melon to burn, puree, and mix with a little alcohol. Using this mixture to apply and gently massage on the breasts also has an effective milk gland effect.
3. Effectively treat constipation and even bloody stools caused by hemorrhoids
Constipation is a very common phenomenon in women during pregnancy and lactation. In children, constipation is also a concern of many mothers. Vietnamese luffa provides women with an effective and extremely benign, cheap solution to beat constipation.
Using melon in daily meals will bring great results after 3-5 days. Vietnamese luffa can be cooked with meat, fish, shrimp can also be boiled and steamed to bring good effects.
In addition, you can also use 30g of loofah flower to cook into drinking water, once a day will bring fast and safe results.
4. Effective for women who have a lot of menstrual periods, menstrual pain
In case women have a lot of menstrual periods, often have abdominal pain during menstruation, you can also use sponge gourd as an herbal remedy to overcome this situation.
The sponge gourd contains a natural pain reliever that will help you feel lighter during your red light cycle. The most effective way to use it is to cook a soup of loofah and shrimp as a daily dish.
5. Loofah has an extremely effective skincare effect
Water taken from the fruit, stem, and leaves of loofah has the great effect of removing wrinkles, preventing wrinkles, anti-aging, treating acne, freckles, inflammation of the pores, helping the skin to shine.
It is possible to puree leaves or fruits of loofah, then squeeze the juice mixed with honey and eggs to apply on the skin. Washing your face after 30 minutes will give a very good skincare effect.
It is also possible to cut the fruiting trunk of the loofah tree to get the water used as an extremely effective skincare cosmetic. The way to get water is quite simple: after collecting fruits, cut the trunk of the gourd tree at a distance of about 0.5m from the root.
Then, use a clean jar to catch the water that comes out of the lower part of the plant. Put this water in the refrigerator to use gradually. When using, take water to rub on the skin, leave for about 30 minutes and then wash with clean water.
The Vietnamese luffa fruit is quite cheap and familiar with daily meals, and it can provide a large number of nutrients for the body. For women, loofah also brings a lot of valuable effects. Therefore, adding this fruit to the daily menu is a good thing you definitely should not ignore.
Typically, the sponge gourd flavor is quite easy to eat and easy to prepare. Dishes made from the sponge gourd are usually sweet, crunchy, and cool. The fruit can be used to cook soup, stir-fry, steam, and boil, becoming a healthy Vietnamese food.
Save its great uses and use it when needed.
This article written by Ms. Thinh, a master of the Vietnamese language, is translated by Hueflavor. And, please note that the methods of using sponge gourd or loofah above are only for reference. You use them at your own risk.
