The coconut is the fruit of the coconut tree (Cocos nucifera L.), a species of the Windmill Palm family. It is also known as Xu Yu (Shiji), Xu Ye ("Book of Han"), Yue Wang Tou ("Southern Flora"), and so on. Coconut juice is also referred to as Ye Jiu ("Notes on South Yue"). The coconut is native to the Pacific Islands and was introduced to the mainland around the Han Dynasty. It is mainly distributed in the Xisha Islands, Leizhou Peninsula, Yunnan, and Taiwan.

The life of a coconut tree is almost identical to the growth, aging, and death of humans. After sowing, it sprouts, grows into a seedling, and then into a mature plant. It begins to flower and bear fruit in its eighth year, reaching full growth at around twelve or thirteen years old, similar to the developmental period of humans. After twenty years, it enters a period of abundant production, continuously flowering and bearing fruit. After sixty years, it enters a period of decline, with fruit production gradually decreasing. By eighty or ninety years, the coconut tree begins to die, with some long-lived individuals reaching around a hundred years. Hence, it is honored as the "Tree of Life."

The coconut tree is at home everywhere, found in all tropical regions. After the seeds fall from the tree, they drift with the ocean currents, washing ashore where they take root. The coconut tree's remarkable vitality is due to its seed being encased in three layers of armor: the exocarp, mesocarp, and endocarp, which protect the seed kernel, allowing it to sprout and grow when it encounters a suitable environment.

bubble_chart Properties and Meridians

Bencao Gangmu: "sweet, warm, nontoxic". Act on heart and spleen meridians.

Relieves heat and quenches thirst, strengthens the heart and promotes diuresis, stops vomiting and nosebleeds, reduces edema, expels parasites, halts diarrhea, and nourishes the body.

bubble_chart Indications

Summer heat and thirst, vomiting and diarrhea causing damage to bodily fluids, swelling with reduced urination, parasitic diseases, and congestive heart failure, among others.

bubble_chart Documentation

1. The "Hai Yao Materia Medica" states: "It primarily treats consumptive thirst, hematemesis, edema, and dispels wind-heat."
2. The "Illustrated Handbook of Chinese Medicinal Plants" notes: "It nourishes, clears summerheat, and quenches thirst."

bubble_chart Cautions and Contraindications

Coconut meat gives a feeling of "eating without hunger" and should not be consumed excessively. Those with frequent loose stools should avoid eating it. It is not advisable to overindulge repeatedly. "Sea Materia Medica" states: "Excessive consumption stirs up qi."

bubble_chart Modern Pharmacology

Coconut water is high in potassium, but it also contains a significant amount of magnesium, which can increase the body's tolerance to high potassium levels. The composition of potassium and magnesium in coconut water may resemble that of intracellular fluid, making it effective as a substitute for bodily fluids and providing electrolytes for treating conditions such as gastroenteritis, diarrhea-induced dehydration, and collapse. For congestive heart failure and edema, consuming more coconut water as part of the treatment can have a cardiotonic and diuretic effect.

bubble_chart Modern Application

1. Gastroenteritis: Intravenous injection of coconut water, 300-500 ml each time. Coconut water itself is sterile, but the coconut shell should be carefully checked for cracks before extracting the juice. Coconut water is an excellent bacterial culture medium, and the extracted liquid must be filtered through sterile gauze before it can be used for intravenous injection. Generally, each coconut can yield 500-800 ml of coconut water, which should be used immediately and not stored. ("Foreign Medical Trends" 1966.8)
2. Fasciolopsis buski, Tapeworm: Drink coconut water and eat half to one coconut meat every morning. 69 cases were treated and all were effective. (Introduced by Jiangmen Health and Epidemic Prevention Station, Guangdong)

bubble_chart Supplementary Medicinals

Coconut meat: Sweet in taste and neutral in nature. It has the effects of tonifying qi, dispelling wind, promoting fluid production, diuresis, killing worms, and eliminating stagnation. It is suitable for "infantile malnutrition with accumulation, white worms, and emaciated children" (Bencao Qiuyuan). Coconut meat is the endosperm of the coconut, and the oil extracted from the crushed and steamed endosperm is coconut oil. Coconut oil has the effects of strengthening the heart, clearing heat, boosting immunity, moisturizing the skin, and promoting black hair. It is suitable for conditions such as sores, scabies, chilblains, and neurodermatitis. Coconut meat contains 60-65% oil. While many believe that coconut oil, being a saturated fat, increases cholesterol levels in the body, it actually contains about 40-50% lauric acid, which is very similar to the fat composition of human breast milk. Lauric acid is a healthy medium-chain fatty acid that does not accumulate in blood vessels but directly produces energy. Therefore, coconut oil is quickly converted into energy after being absorbed by the body and does not become stored fat. Lauric acid can also stimulate the thyroid, promote metabolism, burn body fat, and aid in weight loss.