Bottle Gourd Peel hú lu · 葫芦

Safety. The critical point: a bitter-tasting bottle gourd contains cucurbitacins, the compounds responsible for violent bitterness in some gourds, and eating bitter gourd flesh or drinking bitter gourd juice has caused severe gastrointestinal poisoning, with reported cases of bleeding and shock. Discard any gourd or gourd juice that tastes bitter — this applies to the vegetable as much as to the drug. Beyond that, the herb is neutral and mild, classically avoided where there is cold deficiency with frequent urination. Avoid in pregnancy and breastfeeding; human safety data for the dried peel at medicinal intakes are limited. Oedema and abdominal swelling require a diagnosis before anything is taken for them.