What are the effects and functions of the traditional Chinese medicine Atractylodes

Are you familiar with red peony root? It is a relatively common Chinese herbal medicine. Maoshan area in Jiangsu Province is the best place to produce red peony root. Red peony root is actually the root of Atractylodes macrocephala, a plant of the Asteraceae family, which is made after being collected, cleaned and dried. Red peony root has a long history as a traditional Chinese medicine. If you don’t know it yet, today’s article will introduce you to the functions and effects of Atractylodes lancea.

What is Atractylodes

Perennial woody plant. The rhizome is flat or obliquely ascending, thick and long or generally lump-shaped, and produces mostly adventitious roots of equal thickness and length or nearly equal length. Stem erect, (15-20)30-100 cm high, single or a few stems lanceolate, often dark purple below or in the middle, unbranched or with small but branched branches from below, all stems and branches sparsely spidery or glabrous.

When red peony root is used as a plant, it is collectively called red peony root, but when it is used as a Chinese herbal medicine, it is divided into two types: Atractylodes macrocephala and Atractylodes lancea. They grow and develop in different areas, and their appearance and functions are slightly different. Let me introduce each of them to you below.

Atractylodes lancea: irregular bead-like or block-like cylindrical, slightly curved, with occasional branches, 3 to 10 cm long and 1 to 51080 cm in diameter. The surface is gray-brown with wrinkles, horizontal lines and residual roots, and the top has stem scars or residual stem base. The texture is solid, the cross section is reddish brown or grayish white, with scattered orange-yellow or reddish brown pits. If exposed for a while, the milky white fibrous crystals can be dissolved. It has a unique aroma and tastes slightly sweet, spicy and bitter.

Atractylodes macrocephala: It is a small lump or a cylindrical mass, 4 to 225px long and 1 to 100px in diameter. The surface is dark brown, and yellow brown after removing the epidermis. The texture is loose, with scattered yellow-brown pits on the cross section. The aroma is light, and the taste is spicy and bitter.

The efficacy and function of Atractylodes

Effect on blood sugar levels

It was previously reported that red peony root extract (raw drug 6g/kg) can reduce blood sugar levels in rabbits.

Other effects

Equal smoking of red peony root and wormwood leaves (6 cubes, 200g each) and fumigation for 2 hours has obvious bactericidal effect on tuberculosis, Staphylococcus aureus, enterococcus, bacillus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Its effect is similar to that of indoor formaldehyde and better than ultraviolet light and lactic acid bacteria.

Calming effect

When red peony root is used in large quantities, it can have a calming effect because it can help inhibit the nerve center. However, the calming effect is not the application scope of red peony root, and the body generally cannot accept large doses. This effect has only been proven in experiments before, so it is provided here as a reminder.

Functions and indications of red peony root

Strengthen the spleen and stomach, eliminate dampness, relieve depression, and eliminate filth. It is used to treat spleen obstruction caused by excessive dampness, laziness and indolence, abdominal distension, poor appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, dysentery, dengue fever, turbid phlegm, edema, fever and cold caused by seasonal weather, wind-cold-dampness arthralgia, foot paralysis, and night blindness.

Are you dazzled by so many functions? In fact, these functions are all materials left by ancient medical practitioners. At that time, they did not have new technology. They were able to obtain the effects of traditional Chinese medicine through numerous experiments and continuous improvement of recipes. It can be said that it is very difficult. I will share this ancient medical book with everyone below.

Mango Tao Hongjing: removes bad air.

Apple Liu Wansu: Clears eyes and warms the water organs.

Oxalic acid "Pearl Capsule": can strengthen the stomach, aid digestion and soothe the spleen. All kinds of swelling caused by dampness can only be eliminated by this.

Luochi Li Gao: It can remove dampness and induce sweating, strengthen the stomach, aid digestion and calm the spleen, and is an important medicine for treating impotence.

Blood Pressure Zhu Zhenheng: Dispel cold, nourish blood, and relieve all kinds of depression.

Blood "Compendium of Materia Medica": Treats dampness, phlegm, and retained fluid, or blood stasis forming cysts, as well as spleen dampness and filthiness, turbid and thin fluids, slippery diarrhea, and intestinal wind.

Supplement "Yuzhuo Yaojie": Drying the earth and eliminating dampness, purging fluid and removing phlegm, removing blood stasis, relieving depression, removing leakage, resolving tinea, eliminating symptoms, regulating acid reflux and removing rot, preventing malaria in mountains and rivers, restoring the weakness of bones and tendons, and clearing turbid urine.

"Bencao Qiuyuan" says: It can stop watery diarrhea, diarrhea caused by food accumulation and summer heat, and blood in the spleen due to dampness.

Medicinal value of red peony root

With black sesame powder

One is drying while the other is moistening, they are closely connected, they can strengthen the spleen and stomach and moisten the lungs, and are good at treating indigestion, abdominal distension, and spleen deficiency with thin and greasy tongue coating.

Paired with ginseng

The moisture of Yuanshen can control the dryness of this product, and the dryness of this product can control the greasiness of Yuanshen, which can strengthen the spleen and stomach, nourish the kidney, nourish yin and expel dampness, having the best of both worlds.

With plaster of Paris

One is warm while the other is cold, combining hardness and softness, it can eliminate dampness, clear away heat and detoxify without hurting the internal organs. It is good at treating dampness and damage to body fluid, and it takes the idea of ​​treating both Taiyang and Yangming meridians at the same time. It is most suitable for symptoms such as summer heat, damp heat, high fever, thirst without appetite, heaviness of the body, and short urination.

With Cork

Both medicines have a heroic spirit, and the combination of the two bitter flavors can enhance the ability to eliminate dampness. Huangbai is combined with red peony root to warm the body and control the cold, clearing away heat and detoxifying without damaging the yang. The two medicines complement each other and have obvious effects of clearing away heat, detoxifying and removing dampness. They are commonly seen in patients with swelling, heat and pain in the feet and knees, foot paralysis and fatigue caused by damp-heat in the lower abdomen, or damp-heat in the lower body, wet sores, dripping urine, red and yellow urine, and thick yellow tongue coating.

With Sichuan pepper

Pengzhong can eliminate dampness and cold, and diarrhea can be stopped if the stomach and intestines function properly. Peng Zhong’s ability to treat diarrhea is enhanced, and it can cure long-term diarrhea caused by severe dampness and cold, and symptoms such as thick and greasy white tongue coating.

Summary: Red peony root has many uses, and more than a dozen of its uses can be counted just from the descriptions in classical Chinese. The key benefits include: strengthening the spleen and stomach, treating night blindness, and also treating loss of appetite, vomiting, nausea and general fatigue. However, red peony root is not the kind of Chinese herbal medicine that can be boiled into tea and drunk by itself. It usually needs to be combined with different Chinese herbal medicines to achieve the best effect.