Dong quai, also called Chinese angelica, is a member of the celery family that grows in the mountainous areas of central China.It has been used in Chinese, Korean and Japanese traditional medicine for millennia.Legend has it that the dong quai plant's first medical appearance was the result of a man's self-assertion who ventured into the mountains in hopes of proving his strength and resourcefulness by living in the wild.Before he left, he told his faithful wife that he would not be back for three years, and considered himself dead and asked her to marry another man.That's exactly what happened.Shortly after the woman married another man, the man returned.The woman, who was very upset with the return of the man, caught a deadly disease.On his pilgrimage to the mountain, the man gathered the root of a plant he had never seen before.He made medicine from this plant and healed the woman.The word dong quai is often translated as "return to order," as the herb is thought to restore bodily functions and systems to normal.Dong quai is one of the most widely used herbs in Chinese medicine – often mixed with other herbs – and is often used to treat women's health problems.For this reason, it is sometimes referred to as female ginseng.Different parts of dong quai are used in Chinese traditional medicine.The uppermost part is thought to have blood thinning, the stem part to strengthen and the root tip to prevent blood immobility.For centuries, Chinese herbalists have used medicines made from dong quai to treat the circulatory, respiratory, and reproductive systems.Herbal remedies also strengthen xue, “blood”;It was used to relieve headaches, infection and inflammation, and lower blood pressure.Herbal medicine practitioners in the West recommend dong quai for women's reproductive system problems, including premenstrual syndrome (PMS).Some women also take dong quai for hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms.One of the most famous and widely used herbs in Chinese herbal medicine, dong quai belongs to the genus Angelica.There are 110 species belonging to this genus that grow in the Northern Hemisphere, and half of the 110 species are native to China.Dong quai is a perennial herb that can reach 12 meters in length.The protruding stem is green or purplish in color.The petioles below have sheaths that cover the stem.The leaves are very segmented and can reach 30 cm in length and 25 cm in width. The leaflets are lanceolate, lobed and have irregular sharp teeth on the margins.Tiny white (rarely purple) flowers are collected in umbrella-shaped flower heads, with 10 to 30 flowers radiating from the center.The fruits (seeds) have wider lateral wings than the main part of the fruit.Flowering lasts from June to July, the fruits ripen from August to September.All parts of the plant are aromatic.HOW TO GROW DONG QUAI?Dong quai grows in forest edges and bushes at an altitude of 1800-3000 meters in Gansu, Hubei, Shensi, Sichuan and Greek regions of China.It is grown wild in these regions as well as by human hands.Dong quai grows deep in the ancient forests of Gansu, and this area is famous for producing large quantities of dong quai.The name Dang gui in Chinese is translated as “proper order” due to the positive effect of the plant on health.Dong quai is a slightly phonetically modified version of the Chinese noun.The name Angelica is the classical name of the plant group valued as medicine, condiment and fragrance.It is extremely difficult for gardeners in the west to maintain the natural growing conditions of the dong quai plant, which grows at altitudes above 1500 meters.No wonder dong quai is rare in Western horticulture.Dong quai grows in fertile, moist and sandy soils.Reproduction occurs with fresh seeds.Large-scale production was first described in 650 AD.It is harvested in the second or third autumn after the roots have been planted.The roots are carefully dug by hand.The roots are carefully rinsed in case of injury.If the roots are too wet, they will turn black and resist rot.In central China, dong quai is not dried in the sun as sunlight can harden the roots.In some regions, the roots are first dried a little in the shade, then gathered in small bundles and dried again by fire and smoke.Special processing methods have changed over hundreds of years.BENEFITS AND THERAPEUTIC USES OF DONG QUAINDong quai root has been used as a spice and medicine in China, Korea, and Japan for millennia.It is one of the most widely used herbs in Chinese herbal medicine today.Dong quai is used to treat women's health problems such as menstrual pain, burnout, and postpartum weakness.It became widespread in the West in the late 1800s, and Merck company introduced Eumenol, a drug made from dong quai extract, to the market in Europe for the treatment of gynecological problems.Studies have shown that dong quain has a weak estrogenic effect, and the herb has been used to relieve menopausal symptoms.A randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled clinical trial studied 71 menopausal women, but found that dong quain was no more effective than placebo in reducing hot flashes.This experiment has been criticized for using dong quai without mixing it with other herbs as in traditional Chinese medicine.When drugs made by blending Angelica sinensis root, Paeonia lactiflora root, Ligusticum rhizome, Atractylodes rhizome, Alisma orientalis rhizome and Wolfiporia Cocos plants were given to menopausal women, a 70% reduction in hot flashes was observed.The blending of herbs is the rule rather than the exception in many traditional medicine systems, and scientific studies using only one plant often do not yield effective results.Dong quai has been used by blending it with astragalus (A.membranaceus) herb to strengthen the kidneys and strengthen the immune system.A study has shown that this blend reduces the deterioration of kidney function and provides a certain improvement in animals with chronic kidney disease.Dong quai and other Angelica species contain psoralen, which is used in conjunction with ultraviolet therapy for psoriasis.An improvement of 40-66% was seen in patients treated in this way.HOW TO CONSUME DONG QUAI?TEA: Boil 1-2 teaspoons of dong quai root in 1 glass of water for 5 minutes and strain.Drink 1 glass 2 or 3 times a day.CAPSULES: Take 1 gram 2-3 times a day.Tincture: 3-5 ml 2-3 times a day.A delicious recipe you can make with dong quai;Chicken soup with dong quai...½ pound skinless and boneless chicken breast (hormone-free), 8 glasses of water or organic chicken stock, chopped 1 medium onion, 2 chopped carrots, 2 heads of garlic, half a teaspoon of thyme, 1 small dong quai root, 2 teaspoons of salt, and Put 1 teaspoon of chili powder in a bowl.Cook for 8-10 hours on low heat.Whether healing!Those with coagulation disorders or those on blood thinners should not use dong quai because of the risk of bleeding.It should not be consumed during pregnancy.The psoralen in dong quain theoretically causes photosensitivity.CLICK HERE TO BUY THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HEALING PLANTSHurriyet's website hurriyet.com.tr for breaking news from Turkey's agenda, the latest developments in today's political agenda, and all breaking news;Hurriyet.com.tr news content cannot be quoted without reference, cannot be copied or published elsewhere illegally and without permission.