The difference between false heat and real heat

False heat and real heat are terms in traditional Chinese medicine. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, this is a sub-healthy state, which is very unfavorable to the body's conditioning. If it persists in this state for a long time, it is easy to cause some diseases. Whether it is false heat or real heat, you can strengthen your diet. More serious cases can be treated with certain Chinese medicines. Let us learn about this aspect below.

The difference between false heat and real heat

What is the Yangming Meridian? The Yangming Meridian includes the hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian and the foot Yangming Stomach Meridian of the human body; in the internal organs, the stomach (stomach and large intestine) belongs to Yangming.

Looking at the symptoms of shortness of breath, fatigue, gas reversal, nausea, and loss of appetite, it is not simply heat in the Yangming meridian, and the heat is not real heat, but rather false heat in the Yangming stomach meridian.

What are false heat and real heat? For example, when we boil water, sometimes the water boils quickly because the fire is too strong, and sometimes the water boils quickly because too little water is added. Therefore, real heat means too much fire, and false heat means not enough water.

Well, the same is true for the human body.

Yangming real heat is caused by excessive fire in Yangming, while Yangming false heat is caused by insufficient water in Yangming. Yangming real heat should be treated mainly by clearing fire and clearing heat, such as Baihu Decoction, Baihu Jia Renshen Decoction, Tiaowei Chengqi Decoction, etc. Yangming false heat should be treated mainly by replenishing water and clearing heat, such as Bamboo Leaf Gypsum Decoction, etc. Of course, these decoctions require syndrome differentiation before treatment can be applied, and the prescription can only be used when the syndrome is correct.

Finally, looking at his pulse, which is thin and rapid, and combining it with the above symptoms, it can be judged that this is a sign of insufficient body fluid and hot qi, so this patient should have false heat and should use Bamboo Leaf and Gypsum Decoction.

"After recovering from typhoid fever, if the patient is weak and short of breath, has gas reversal and wants to vomit, Bamboo Leaf and Gypsum Decoction is the main treatment."

Bamboo Leaf and Gypsum Decoction is based on Baihu Decoction, with bamboo leaves, Ophiopogon japonicus and ginseng added to replenish body fluids; Pinellia ternata is added to reduce adverse effects; and Anemarrhena asphodeloides is removed because it is a treatment for deficiency heat.

What needs to be noted here is that the decoction method of Bamboo Leaf and Gypsum Soup is quite special. "Take the above seven ingredients, add one liter of water, boil and take out six liters, remove the dregs, add polished rice, cook the rice until the soup is done, remove the rice, take one liter of the warm soup three times a day." This means that you should first boil bamboo leaves, gypsum, pinellia, ginseng, roasted licorice, and Ophiopogon japonicus. After boiling for a while, remove the residue and then add polished rice. When the rice is cooked, remove the rice when the soup is ready. That is to say, cook the medicine first, remove the residue after it is cooked, and then add the japonica rice.

Symptomatic treatment of deficiency-heat and damp-heat

Deficiency heat is mostly caused by internal injuries, strain, and organ dysfunction, which lead to endogenous deficiency heat. The main symptoms are dry and painful eyes, dry mouth, mouth ulcers, dry throat and hoarseness, dry cough with little sputum, hot nasal cavity, loose or painful teeth, irritability and frequent dreams, red tongue with little coating, etc. For those with internal heat due to deficiency, you can choose foods that nourish yin, moisten dryness and reduce internal heat, such as Ophiopogon japonicus, Asparagus cochinchinensis, Adenophora sibiricum, Polygonatum odoratum, Rehmannia glutinosa, Dendrobium candidum, lotus seeds, lily, Tremella fuciformis, and snow pear.

The symptoms of excessive heat are different, but the most common ones are liver, gallbladder, and gastrointestinal fire. Symptoms include thirst, bad breath, bitter taste in the mouth, oral ulcers, red and swollen sore throat, nosebleeds, swollen and painful gums, irritability, constipation, short and dark urine, red tongue with yellow coating, etc. For those who suffer from excessive heat, you can choose foods that clear heat and reduce fire, such as chrysanthemum, honeysuckle, selfheal, houttuynia cordata, monk fruit, coix seed, water chestnut, mung bean, kudzu vine, white radish, etc.