Ten common Chinese medicine health tips

The health benefits of Chinese medicine are well known, but few people know what specific effects these medicines have. Now let's take a look at the health benefits of some commonly used medicines!

1. Scrophularia

Scrophularia is the root of Scrophularia and Scrophularia ningpoensis of the Scrophulariaceae family. It contains scrophulariacein, iridoid glycosides, volatile oils, alkaloids, etc. Pharmacological experiments have shown that Scrophularia water extract, alcohol extract and decoction have the effect of lowering blood pressure. Scrophularia also has the effect of dilating blood vessels and strengthening the heart. Invasive agents from various Scrophularia scraps have sedative and anticonvulsant effects. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that it is cold in nature, sweet and bitter in taste, and has the functions of nourishing yin and reducing fire, cooling blood and detoxifying. It is suitable for symptoms such as fever, thirst, rashes, bone steaming and fatigue fever, restless sleep, spontaneous sweating, night sweats, loss of body fluid and constipation, and sore throat.

Dosage: 6-12 grams; but it should not be used by those with loose stools and excessive phlegm.

2. Cassia seed

Cassia seed is the seed of the leguminous plant Cassia leaf stew or Cassia, which contains anthracene esters and anthraquinone glycosides, cassia bark and vitamin A. Pharmacological experiments have shown that Cassia seed can lower blood pressure and serum cholesterol; it has the effects of resisting multiple pathogens and softening stools.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that it is slightly cold in nature, sweet and bitter in taste, and has the function of clearing the liver and improving eyesight, promoting diuresis and relieving constipation. It is suitable for red and painful eyes, photophobia and excessive tears caused by liver heat or wind-heat in the liver meridian. In addition, it is also effective in treating hypertension, hepatitis, ascites due to cirrhosis and habitual constipation.

Dosage: 3-9 grams, crush and decoct.

3. Lycium bark

The bark of Lycium barbarum is the root bark of Lycium barbarum, a plant of the Solanaceae family. It contains cinnamic acid, various phenolic substances, betaine and linoleic acid. The bark of Lycium bark has a significant antipyretic effect, and its decoction can lower blood sugar, lower serum cholesterol and resist fatty liver. The infusion of Lycium bark has a significant effect on lowering blood pressure. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that it is cold in nature, sweet and light in taste, and has the functions of cooling blood, relieving steaming, and clearing away lung heat. It is suitable for consumptive hot flashes and night sweats, cough and asthma due to lung heat, vomiting blood, epistaxis, carbuncles and ulcers due to blood heat, as well as tuberculosis and hypertension.

Dosage: generally 3-9 grams.

4. Phragmites australis

Reed rhizome is the underground stem of the grass plant reed, which contains coixol, asparagine, etc. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that it is cold in nature, sweet in taste, and has the functions of clearing away heat and producing body fluid, relieving restlessness, stopping vomiting and promoting diuresis. It is suitable for treating body fluid loss due to febrile disease, restlessness and thirst, vomiting due to stomach heat, choking, nausea, and the treatment of lung heat cough, lung abscess, etc.

Dosage: Generally 9-30 grams for dry ones and 15-40 grams for fresh ones.

5. Forsythia

Forsythia suspensa is the fruit of the Oleaceae plant Forsythia suspensa, which contains volatile oil, forsythia phenol, flavonoids, alkaloids, etc. Pharmacological experiments have shown that Forsythia suspensa has a broad-spectrum antibacterial effect, and the forsythia phenol it contains may be the main antibacterial component; Forsythia suspensa also has anti-inflammatory, antiemetic, diuretic and cardiotonic effects; the flavonoids it contains can enhance the density of capillaries, and thus have a hemostatic effect on bleeding caused by capillary rupture and subcutaneous hemorrhage. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that it is slightly cold in nature, bitter in taste, and has the functions of clearing away heat and detoxifying, dispersing nodules and reducing swelling. It is suitable for warm heat, erysipelas, rashes, carbuncles, swelling and allergic purpura, etc.

Dosage: Generally 6-9 grams.

6. Peony bark

Paeonia suffruticosa root bark is the root bark of the peony plant of the Ranunculaceae family, which contains paeonol, paeonol glycosides, volatile oils and phytosterols. Pharmacological experiments have shown that Paeonia suffruticosa has the effect of lowering blood pressure; it has analgesic, sedative, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic effects; and it has a strong inhibitory effect on a variety of pathogenic bacteria.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that it is cool in nature, bitter and pungent in taste, and has the functions of clearing away heat, cooling blood, harmonizing blood, and clearing blood stasis. It is suitable for symptoms such as heat in the blood, rashes, shock and pain, vomiting blood, carbuncles, and bruises.

Dosage: 5-9 grams, but it is not recommended for people with spleen and stomach deficiency and diarrhea.

7. Anemarrhena

It is the rhizome of the Anemarrhena asphodeloides plant of the Liliaceae family. It contains a variety of saponins and saponins, in addition to two flavonoids, mangiferin, etc. Experiments have shown that Anemarrhena asphodeloides has a significant antipyretic effect and is effective in treating hemorrhagic fever, epidemic encephalitis B, and hot flashes caused by pulmonary tuberculosis. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that it is cold in nature, sweet and bitter in taste, and has the functions of clearing away heat and purging fire, nourishing yin and moistening dryness. It is suitable for symptoms such as lung heat cough and asthma or yin deficiency cough, irritability and thirst, bone steaming and fatigue fever, difficulty urinating, and dry and hard stools.

Dosage: Generally 6-9 grams, but it is not recommended for patients with kidney yang deficiency, weak pulses and loose stools.

8. Isatis root

Isatis root is the root of Isatis and Indigofera, plants of the genus Isatis of the Cruciferae family. It contains isatis indigo glycoside, isatisin B, B-sitosterol, etc. Isatis root has significant antiviral effects. It has inhibitory effects on many pathogenic bacteria and has anti-Leptospira effects. In clinical practice, oral administration or intramuscular injection of isatis root decoction has significant therapeutic effects in the treatment of epidemic encephalitis B; it has certain therapeutic effects on both acute and chronic hepatitis, can relieve or eliminate symptoms, and promote improvement of liver function; isatis root has varying degrees of therapeutic effects in the treatment of viral skin diseases such as herpes simplex, herpes zoster, pityriasis rosea, flat warts, etc. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that it is cold in nature, bitter in taste, and has the functions of clearing away heat and detoxifying, cooling blood, and relieving sore throat. It is suitable for influenza encephalitis, type B encephalitis, pneumonia, erysipelas, heat toxic spots, conjunctivitis, herpes, etc.

Dosage: ——Generally 5-9 grams; but it is not suitable for people with weak spleen and stomach.

9. Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle is the flower bud of the Caprifoliaceae plant Lonicera japonica, which contains chlorogenic acid, inositol, flavonoids, etc. Pharmacological experiments have shown that honeysuckle has anti-inflammatory and antipyretic effects, and has inhibitory effects on influenza virus and a variety of pathogenic bacteria and skin pathogenic fungi, reflecting the heat-clearing and detoxifying effects of honeysuckle. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that it is cold in nature, sweet in taste, and has the function of clearing away heat and detoxifying. It is suitable for fever caused by febrile diseases, bloody diarrhea caused by heat toxins, sores, carbuncles, boils, and other symptoms caused by excessive heat and toxins.

Dosage: Generally 6-12 grams; but it is not suitable for patients with cold diarrhea and sores with clear pus without heat and toxicity.

10. Prunella Vulgaris

Prunella vulgaris is the flower or whole herb of the Lamiaceae plant Prunella vulgaris, which contains triterpenoid saponins and their aglycone oleanolic acid, volatile oils, vitamins, potassium chloride, etc. Pharmacological studies have shown that the whole herb of Prunella vulgaris has the effect of lowering blood pressure; its decoction has varying degrees of inhibitory effects on certain common skin fungi and also has inhibitory effects on a variety of pathogenic bacteria.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that it is cold in nature, bitter and pungent in taste, and can clear liver fire, relieve depression, and lower blood pressure. It is suitable for red and swollen eyes, eye pain, photophobia, tearing, headache, dizziness, etc. caused by liver fire; it is used for scrofula, goiter, etc. caused by phlegm and fire stagnation.

Dosage: Generally about 9 grams.