Shu Di Huang
| 6-60g | |
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Pinyin: Shu Di Huang
Chinese: 熟地黄
Pharmaceutical: Radix Rehmanniae Preparata
Taxonomy: Rehmannia glutinosa
English: Prepared Chinese Foxglove Root
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Tastes: Sweet, slightly warm
Meridians Entered: Kidney and Liver
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Actions & Indications:
- Nourishes the Blood
Blood Deficiency with facial pallor, dizziness, palpitations, insomnia, irregular menstruation, uterine bleeding and postpartum bleeding
- Nourishes Liver and Kidney Yin
Kidney and Liver Yin Deficiency with a weak low back and limbs, dizziness, tinnitus, tidal fevers, night sweats and nocturnal emissions
- Strongly enriches Yin and relieves wasting and thirsting disorder
Lower Jiao wasting (it can be used as a stand-alone herb for this)
- Nourishes Jing and Blood and fills the Marrow
Exhausted Jing and Blood problems such as delayed development during childhood, blunted affect, premature aging, diminished mental acuity, graying of hair, impotence and memory loss
- Arrests coughing and wheezing
Kidney Deficient coughing, wheezing and asthma, such as inability of the Kidneys to grasp Qi
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Standard Dosage: 10-30g in decoction.
Cautions: It should be used with cautions for spleen and stomach deficiency, loose stool due to fullness in abdomen and qi stagnation with excessive phlegm because it is greasy and will produce indigestion. |
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Shan Zhu Yu
| 6g | |
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Pinyin: Shan Zhu Yu / Shan Yu Rou
Chinese: 山茱萸 / 山萸肉
Pharmaceutical: Fructus Corni
Taxonomy: Cornus officinalis
English: Dogwood Fruit
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Tastes: Sour, slightly warm
Meridians Entered: Liver and Kidney
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Actions & Indications:
- Stabilizes the Kidneys and astringes Jing and Body Fluids
Leakage of fluids due to weak Jing with urinary frequency, incontinence, spermatorrhea and excessive sweating
- Stops excessive sweating and supports that which has collapsed
Collapse of Qi with excessive sweating and shock
Devastated Yang with excessive sweating and shock
Sweating mistakenly induced as a treatment
- Tonifies Liver and Kidney Yin and strengthens Kidney Yang
Lightheadedness, dizziness, soreness and weakness of the lower back and knees or impotence due to Kidney and Liver Yin Deficiency and Kidney Yang Deficiency
- Stabilizes the menses and stops bleeding
Excessive uterine bleeding and prolonged menstruation due to Deficiency (weak effect)
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Standard Dosage: 5-10g in decoction.
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Gou Qi Zi
| 3g | |
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Pinyin: Gou Qi Zi
Chinese: 枸杞子
Pharmaceutical: Fructus Lycii
Taxonomy: Lycium barbarum seu chinense
English: Goji Berries / Wolfberries / Boxthorn Berries
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Tastes: Sweet, neutral
Meridians Entered: Liver and Kidney
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Actions & Indications:
- Nourishes and tonifies Liver and Kidney Blood and Yin
Blood and Yin Deficiency with sore back and legs, low-grade abdominal pain, impotence, nocturnal emissions, wasting and thirsting disorder and consumption
Liver and Kidney Deficiency
Added to baths during spring to promote skin health and delay aging
- Benefits Jing and brightens the eyes
Liver and Kidney Deficiency where Jing and Blood cannot nourish eyes with dizziness, blurred vision and diminished visual acuity
- Nourishes Yin and moistens the Lungs
Consumptive cough and wasting and thirsting disorder
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Standard Dosage: 10-15g in decoction.
Cautions: In vitro testing suggests that unidentified wolfberry phytochemicals in goji tea may inhibit metabolism of other medications, such as those processed by the cytochrome P450 liver enzymes. Such drugs include warfarin, or drugs for diabetes or hypertension. However, no in vivo statistics support this. |
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Zhi Gan Cao
| 6g | |
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Pinyin: Gan Cao
Chinese: 甘草
Pharmaceutical: Radix Glycyrrhizae
Taxonomy: Glycyrrhiza uralensis seu glabra seu inflata
English: Liquorice Root
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Tastes: Sweet, slightly cold
Meridians Entered: Heart, Lung and Spleen (and all 12 meridians)
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Actions & Indications:
- Tonifies the Spleen and augments Qi
Spleen Qi Deficiency with shortness of breath, lassitude and loose stools
Qi and Blood Deficiency with an irregular pulse and/or palpitations
Heart Qi Deficiency or Heart Yang Deficiency
- Moistens the Lungs, resolves Phlegm and stops coughing
Lung Heat or Cold
Productive or non-productive coughing
- Moderates spasms and alleviates pain
Painful muscle spasms of the abdomen and legs
- Clears Heat and relieves Fire toxicity
Raw for Toxic Heat with sore throat or carbuncles and sores (Chuang Yung)
- Antidote for many toxic substances (internal and topical)
Poisoning
- Moderates and harmonizes the harsh properties of other herbs and guides the herbs to all twelve channels
Often added in small doses to harmonise formulas
- Tonifies the Qi while suppressing Parasites
Gu Sydnrome (Fruehauf, 1998)
Chronic inflammatory disease (Fruehauf, 2015)
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Standard Dosage: Typically 1.5-9g in decoction. Large doses can be up 30g.
Cautions: It is contraindicated for combining with Hai Zao, Da Ji, Gan Sui and Yuan Hua because of "eighteen antagonisms". It is also contraindicated in cases of dampness obstruction in middle energizer and edema because it can help dampness obstruct qi, and it is prohibited from long-term usage in large dosage (more than 20g/day) and should be avoided or used with extreme caution in patients with high blood pressure because it may raise aldosterone levels in the blood causing retention of sodium. |
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Du Zhong
| 6g | |
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Pinyin: Du Zhong
Chinese: 杜仲
Pharmaceutical: Cortex Eucommiae
Taxonomy: Eucommia ulmoides
English: Hardy Rubber Tree / Chinese Rubber Tree
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Tastes: Sweet, warm
Meridians Entered: Kidney and Liver
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Actions & Indications:
- Tonifies the Kidneys and Liver and strengthens the sinews and bones
Kidney and Liver Deficiency with a weak, sore or painful lower back and knees, fatigue and urinary frequency
Weakness of sinews and bones
- Aids the smooth flow of Qi and Blood
Promotes circulation for weak sinews and bones
- Calms the fetus
Deficiency Cold patterns with bleeding during pregnancy
Prevents miscarriage when the fetus is agitated or restless and when a pregnant woman has significant back pain or presents with a deficient condition
Threatened abortion
- Lowers blood pressure
Dizziness and light-headedness due to Liver Yang Rising
- Tonifies Kidney Yang
Reproductive and urinary disorders such as impotence and incontinence
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Standard Dosage: 10-15g in decoction.
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Rou Gui
| 3-6g | |
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Pinyin: Rou Gui
Chinese: 肉桂
Pharmaceutical: Cortex Cinnamomi
Taxonomy: Cinnamomum cassia
English: Cinnamon Bark
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Tastes: Pungent, sweet, hot
Meridians Entered: Kidney, Spleen, Heart and Liver
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Actions & Indications:
- Warms the Kidneys, Spleen and Heart and strengthens Yang and Ming Men Fire
Kidney Yang Deficiency and Deficiency of Ming-Men Fire with aversion to Cold, cold limbs, weak back, impotence and urinary frequency
Spleen and Kidney Yang Deficiency with abdominal pain and Cold, reduced appetite and diarrhoea
Kidney Unable to Grasp Qi
Heart Yang Deficiency, particularly with chest Bi
- Disperses deep Cold, warms the channels, unblocks the channels and vessels and alleviates pain
Deep Cold causing Qi Stagnation or Blood Stasis with Cold in the Blood causing amenorrhea or dysmenorrhea, Cold-Damp Bi, Yin-type boils (chronic sores that are usually concave and ooze a clear fluid) and sores or abscesses that do not heal
It enters the Blood aspect and, in small amounts, enhances the Blood moving action of other substances
- Leads the Fire back to its source
Upward Floating of Deficient Yang (False Heat, True Cold or Heat Above and Cold Below) with flushed face, wheezing, severe sweating (the sweat pours out like oil), weak and cold lower extremities and a deficient and rootless pulse
Any condition with Heat in the Upper body (dry mouth, sore throat, or teeth which is worse at night) and Cold in the Lower body (Lower back pain, cold lower extremities, diarrhoea and weakness in the proximal portion of the pulse)
- Assists in the generation of Qi and Blood
Chronic Qi and Blood Deficiency (auxiliary)
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Standard Dosage: 1-5g in decoction. It should be decocted later.
Cautions: It is contraindicated for syndrome of yin deficiency with fire effulgent, haemorrhage due to blood heat and pregnant women. It is incompatible with Chi Shi Zhi (nineteen incompatibilities). |
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Zhi Fu Zi
| 3-9g | | |
Pinyin: Fu Zi
Chinese: 附子
Pharmaceutical: Radix Aconiti Lateralis Praeparata
Taxonomy: Aconitum carmichaeli
English: Aconite Root / Monkshood Root
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Tastes: Pungent, sweet, hot, toxic
Meridians Entered: Heart, Kidney and Spleen
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Actions & Indications:
- Restores Devastated Yang and rescues from rebellion
Devastated Yang with diarrhoea containing undigested food, chills, cold extremities and a faint almost imperceptible pulse (often as a result of severe vomiting, diarrhoea or sweating)
- Warms Ming Men Fire and assists Heart, Kidney and Spleen Yang
Heart Yang Deficiency
Spleen Yang Deficiency
Kidney Yang Deficiency
- Disperses Cold and Dampness, warms the channels and stops pain
Wind-Damp-Cold Bi
Cold blocking the organs, channels, bones and Blood vessels
Yin flat abscesses
Gu Parasites /
chronic inflammatory disease (Fruehauf, 2015)
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Standard Dosage: 3-10g in decoction.
Cautions: It is contraindicated for heat syndrome, yin-deficiency leading to hyperactivity of yang and the pregnant because of its pungent, hot, dry and drastic properties. It must be soaked and decocted for about half and hour to one hour until numbing taste disappears for oral use. Over-dosage and incorrect processing must be avoided.
This herb is prohibited from use in the UK under the banned and restricted herbal ingredients list issued by the MHRA. It is generally substituted with various Yang tonics depending on the presentation although none can imitate its powerful cardiovascular effects making them ineffective substitutes for rescuing devastated Yang. External use is permitted at 1.3% or below. |
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