Chinese Food Health gives you the basic approaches on how to nourish and preserve health in the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

While pearls are made into necklaces, rings, bracelets, pins, pendents, and even pocket decorations, do you know that they also have been used as medicine since ancient time because of their high medicinal value?

But what exactly makes this one of the oldest gemstone a pill to heal?  According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), pearls can boost brain power, cure faintness, restore energy, stop bleeding, and resolve toxin.  In fact, every pearl contains organic as well as inorganic components.  Organic components include a unique protein called conchiolin, taurine, metalloporphyrin compounds, etc.; while inorganic ones comprise trace elements such as calcium carbonate, iron, zinc, magnesium, copper, manganese, chromium, cobalt, molybdenum, and nickel, making pearls not only can be worn as fine jewelry, but also made into medicine to treat a wide variety of ailments and conditions.

For example, the large number of calcium carbonates contained in pearl are a strong inhibitor to bacteria, especially staphylococcus, a common cause of gastroenteritis and enteritis.  And for the calcium ion, it can promote the formation of protein fiber in our blood, which helps cure open wounds.

Talking about the conchiolin, it acts just like keratin, one of fibrous proteins (collagen) found in our bone, tendon, skin, hair, etc. Typically, conchiolin is recognized to be capable of hydrating skin cells, advancing skin cell metabolism, and assisting in repair of damaged skin cells.  It explains why pearls are crushed into powder and used in cosmetics like skin cream.

Aside from conchiolin, dozens of amino acids and minerals, including taurine, also found in pearl.  Taurine is known to have the property of calming, analgesia, and inflammation reduction.  At the same time, it is able to promote biliary excretion that can protect the liver against toxins.

Well, pearls that are big, round, smooth, shine, and in translucent silk-white color are obviously worn around one’s neck or wrist; those in lesser quality and can’t be made into jewelry will be ground into fine powders and used to prepare medicines and beauty products.  Either way, pearl makes us wonderful—externally and internally.

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