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Sugarcane has a long history of use in China, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has well documented about its properties, actions, and applications. Sugarcane is a food ingredient with multiple health benefits, but also certain contraindications. To maximize its benefits, sugarcane should be consumed in moderation and tailored to individual health conditions.
Edible sugarcanes are classified as fruit cane. They have crisp stalks, abundant juice, a sweet and refreshing taste, and relatively low fiber content, making them suitable for chewing or juicing. There are two common types:
- Bamboo cane: Commonly found in southern China, bamboo cane has thin skin and tender flesh. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), it is considered the most effective type for clearing heat.
- Red-skinned fruit cane: This variety has reddish-brown skin and a crisp texture. Traditionally, it is used to moisten dryness.
Nature and Flavor
Sugarcane is sweet in flavor, cold in nature, and mainly manifests its therapeutic actions in the stomach and lung meridians.
Healing Properties in TCM
Sugarcane’s sweet flavor helps tonify the spleen and stomach, while its cold nature clears heat and promotes the production of body fluids. These properties make it especially suitable for conditions such as dehydration, fever, and yin deficiency with internal heat. Its main health benefits include:
- Clearing heat and promoting body fluid production: Sugarcane juice helps clear heat, quench thirst, and replenish fluids. It is commonly used for symptoms like dry mouth and thirst following febrile illnesses. In hot summer months, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) often recommends sugarcane juice to restore hydration and counteract heat-related damage.
- Moistening dryness and relieving cough: Sugarcane moistens the lungs and soothes coughs, making it suitable for dry coughs and throat dryness. It is often combined with ingredients such as pear and lily bulbs to enhance its lung-moistening effects.
- Harmonizing stomach and stopping vomiting: According to the Compendium of Materia Medica, sugarcane juice “harmonizes the middle burner and redirects qi downward,” which can stop vomiting. It is also used to relieve nausea or indigestion caused by excess heat in the stomach.
- Promoting urination and relieving constipation: Sugarcane is rich in fiber, which stimulates bowel movements and helps relieve constipation. Its diuretic properties also assist in reducing swelling and fluid retention.
Traditional Applications for Sugarcane
1. Juicing: Fresh sugarcane juice can be consumed raw or warmed, but is often mixed with other ingredients to enhance its healing properties:
Sugarcane juice street stall
- Fresh sugarcane juice: Clears heat, quenches thirst and relieves symptoms of summer heat.
- With ginger juice (few drops): Helps stop vomiting, especially useful for morning sickness during pregnancy.
- With pear juice: Moistens the lungs and relieves dry cough.
- With water chestnut juice: Clears heat and detoxifies, suitable for sore and inflamed throats.
- With couch grass rhizome juice: Promotes urination and reduces swelling, helpful for urinary issues caused by damp-heat.
2. Raw Consumption: Chewing fresh sugarcane helps clean the mouth and maintain dental health.
3. Cooking: Sugarcane is often added to soups or stews, such as lamb stew, to balance the energetic properties of the ingredients.
4. Processing: Sugarcane can be refined into products like brown sugar and black sugar. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the processing transforms its properties from “heat-clearing” to “warming and nourishing.”
5. External Use: Sugarcane pulp can be applied externally (after proper disinfection) to treat minor burns or skin inflammation.
Precautions for Sugarcane Consumption
- Individuals with weak digestion should consume sugarcane in moderation, as its cooling nature may affect digestive function.
Those prone to hot flushes, dry mouth, or constipation should consume brown or black sugar in moderation, as their warming properties may aggravate these symptoms. - People with diabetes should limit sugarcane intake due to its high natural sugar content.
- Moldy sugarcane may produce toxins that can lead to food poisoning. It is important to inspect sugarcane carefully and avoid any that show signs of spoilage.
Sugarcane, Brown Sugar, & Black Sugar
Sugarcane is the raw material used to produce brown and black sugar through processes such as extraction and boiling. These procedures transform its nature from cooling to warming.
Handmade black sugar
- Sugarcane: Cold in nature, it helps clear internal heat and promotes body fluid production. Fresh sugarcane juice is especially favored during hot summer months for its cooling and hydrating effects.
- Brown sugar: Warm in nature, it is known for enriching the blood, warming the meridians, buffering acute conditions and relieving pain. It is commonly consumed to alleviate menstrual cramps.
- Black sugar: More tonifying than brown sugar, it is suitable for individuals with cold body signs, such as sensitivity to low temperatures and cold limbs. TCM practitioners often recommend black sugar for postpartum women to replenish blood and promote circulation.
- White sugar: Also known as granulated or table sugar, it can be refined from sugarcane. In TCM, white sugar is considered neutral in nature and bland in flavor, primarily used as a flavoring agent rather than for medicinal purposes.
Food Cure with Sugarcane
Five-Juice Drink is a well-known health recipe made from five different fruits or vegetables. This mixed drink is beneficial for clearing heat, promoting body fluid production, moistening dryness, and quenching thirst. Traditionally, the five ingredients include:
- Pear juice: Clears lung heat and moistens dryness.
- Water chestnut juice: Clears internal heat and detoxifies.
- Fresh reed rhizome juice: Promotes body fluid production and quenches thirst.
Bamboo cane and cogongrass rhizome
- Dwarf lily-turf tuber juice: Nourishes yin and moistens the lungs.
- Lotus root juice: Cools the blood and helps stop bleeding.
If some of these ingredients are unavailable, they can be substituted with sugarcane juice, watermelon juice, or fresh orange juice. Any fresh ingredient that helps clear heat and promote body fluid production can be used. A sample combinations: pear, cucumber, apple, orange, and honey.
Health Benefits of the Five-Juice Drink
- Clears heat and promotes fluid production: Beneficial for individuals with fever, persistent dry mouth, and thirst caused by summer-heat damage.
- Moistens the lungs and relieves cough: Helps soothe dry coughing and itchy throat.
- Nourishes yin and moistens dryness: Alleviates discomforts caused by staying up overnight or experienced by menopausal women with hot flushes.
- Promotes urination and detoxifies: Helps relieve symptoms such as hot or scanty urine and supports the elimination of bodily waste.
Generally, the Five-Juice Drink is suitable for individuals recovering from fever, dehydration, summer-heat damage, or experiencing symptoms like dry cough, excessive sweating, and hot flushes.
 has well documented about its properties, actions, and applications. Sugarcane is a food ingredient with multiple health benefits, but also certain contraindications. To maximize its benefits, sugarcane...)
