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Entada scandens, Gla gor zho sha གླ་གོར་ཞོ་ཤ

Elephant Creeper, Matchbox Bean
Gil (Ayurveda)
Chillu (Siddha)
Gla gor zho sha  གླ་གོར་ཞོ་ཤ  (Tibetan)
M.E. Descourtilz, Flore médicale des Antilles (1827)

Botanical name:
Entada scandens (syn. E. phaseoloides. E. pursaetha; Lens phaseoloides, Mimosa entada)

Parts used:
Seed, collected when ripe and detoxified.

Temperature & Taste:
Cool, Sweet. Slightly Toxic. (not toxic after preparation)

Uses:
1. Strengthens the Spleen, Clears Damp: (TCM, Tibetan)
-Debility, increases strength (Tibetan)
-Spleen weakness, poor digestion, poor appetite (Tibetan, Indigenous Australian)
-Prolapse of the rectum, Hemorrhoids (TCM)
-Roasted seeds are eaten as food

2. Strengthens the Kidneys:
-Impotency in Tibetan Medicine
-Female Sterility (Indigenous Australian)

3. Moves the Qi, Opens Obstructions, Eases Pain: (TCM)
-Liver obstruction, Jaundice
-Glandular Swellings
-Bloody stool, Diarrhea or Dysentery with Blood, Irritable Bowel with severe spasm

4. Clears Toxin, Disperses Swelling: (TCM, Tibetan)
-Sore Throat
-Skin diseases
-Bloody Dysentery

5. Promotes Vomit:
-Emetic (probably unprepared seed)

6. Externally:
-paste of the seeds is applied to glandular swellings and skin diseases
-as a wash for fungal infections
-due to the saponins, it is used as a wash and shampoo


DOSE:

PREPARATION:
1. Seeds are stir-fried to detoxify.
2. The seed is soaked in water and roasted to detoxify. In this way, it has also been used as food.

Main Combinations:
1. Impotency, Entada seed (stir-fried) with Mucuna, Shilajit
2. Vomiting, Diarrhea with Headache, Fever, Entada seed (stir-fried), Asafetida, Black Pepper, Vitex seed, Nigella seed, Eclipta (used by the Dai minority of China)

Major Formulas:


Cautions:
1. Seeds contain saponins which are toxic. Avoid overdose. They are safer for use after preparation.
2. Not used during pregnancy or breastfeeding

Main Preparations used: