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| Star Anise Image from Wikipedia |
In fact, I have completed this research long time ago, but there are so many interesting topics that I just have to give them the priority and have to put this one till now.
Recently, I attended student Suki's wedding banquet (Congratulations to Suki and Chiu by the way!) and somehow I must have caught a cold then. When I got home, I started sneezing and blowing my nose non-stop, at one point I couldn't even find time to take my breath. Because of this, I went into the kitchen, got 5 pieces of this miraculous seeds, crushed them, poured half a cup of boiling water into a flask with the seeds, soaked them for 5 minutes or so and drank all the water. I added another half of cup of hot water just in case. In 10 minutes' time, all my symptoms were gone, then after I woke up from sleep that night, I was back to 100%.
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| Star Anise tea with Cinnemon, lemon and honey Image from colourbox |
Why would I choose this seed? Because it contains Shikimic acid which is a primary ingredient in the anti-influenza medicine Tamiflu, the heroic drug that was used to combat Swine Flu in 2009.
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| Chinese Five Spice Powder Image from tumblr |
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| Lou Mei Image from tw.tranews.com |
Modern pharmacology studies demonstrated that its crude extracts and active compounds possess wide pharmacological actions, especially in antimicrobial,antibacterial, [1] antioxidant, insecticidal, analgesic, sedative and convulsive activities."
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So if you think you are coming down with a cold or a flu, do give this Star Anise water a try! Add some honey to balance the sour taste is a big tip from me! Adding cinnamon will increase the flavour!
Vocabulary:
rheumatism -- (n) [U] a medical condition that causes stiffness and pain in the joints (= places where two bones are connected) or muscles of the body
stagnation -- (n)[U] staying the same and not grow or develop
antimicrobial -- (adj) kills or inhibits the growth of microorganisms[1] such as bacteria, fungi, or protozoans.
antibacterial -- (adj) intended to kill or reduce the harmful effects of bacteria especially when used on the skin
antioxidant -- (n) [C] a substance which slows down the rate at which something decays because of oxidization (= combining with oxygen)
insecticidal -- (adj) of a chemical substance made and used for killing insects, especially those which eat plants
analgesic -- (n)[C] (adj) a type of drug which stops you from feeling pain
sedative -- (n)[C] a drug used to calm a person or animal or to make them sleep
convulsive -- (adj) describes sudden uncontrollable movements of the muscles in your body
come down with sth -- (phrasal verb) to start to suffer from an illness, especially one that is not serious
Resources:
Anise Star @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anise_Star
Shikimic Acid @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikimic_acid
Tamiflu @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamiflu
Swine Flu @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swine_flu
Lo Mei @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lo_mei
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/rheumatism?q=rheumatism+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/stagnate?q=stagnation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimicrobial
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/antibacterial?q=antibacterial
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/antioxidant?q=antioxidant
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/insecticide?q=insecticide
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/analgesic?q=analgesic+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/sedative?q=sedative+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/convulsive?q=convulsive+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/come-down-with-sth?q=come+down+with#come-down-with-sth__2
