Sun Dafang
Attending Physician of Xianning Matang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital
The third phase of the series of medicine and food homologous Chinese medicine brings you Here comes the heat-clearing and purging gunpowder: reed root, gardenia, pale bamboo leaves, cassia seeds, and Prunella vulgaris.
The nature and flavor of these drugs are mostly bitter-cold and sweet-cold. The main function is to clear away heat and purify fire. It is used to treat the symptoms of fiery fever, and it is suitable for those who see high fever, thirst, sweating, irritability, or even dizziness, red tongue and yellow coating, and rapid pulse. Due to the difference in the meridian of each medicine, it is also suitable for the syndrome of visceral fire caused by lung heat, stomach heat, heart fire, liver fire, etc.
Reed Root
This product is the underground stem of Reed, a perennial herb of the family Poaceae. Can be excavated all year round, remove buds, fibrous roots and membranous leaves, use fresh or sun-dried.
Reed Root can be used for fever and polydipsia. This product is sweet and cold in nature and light in nature. It can clear the lungs and stomach and separate the heat, and can also nourish yin and produce body fluid. . Therefore, it can be used to treat fever, injury to body fluid, irritability and thirst. It is often used for medicinal purposes such as Ophiopogon japonicus and Trichosandra; it is used for vomiting due to stomach heat. To spit pus, this product enters the lung meridian, which is good for clearing lung-heat, expectorating phlegm and expelling pus; in addition, this product has diuretic and expelling effects.
【Processing】 Fresh reed root, remove impurities, wash and cut into sections.
【Nature, flavor and channeling】 Sweet, cold. Returns the lung and stomach meridians.
【Functions and Indications】 Clearing away heat and purging fire, producing body fluid and quenching thirst, eliminating irritability, relieving vomiting, and diuretic. It is used for polydipsia due to fever, cough due to lung heat, spit pus due to lung carbuncle, vomiting due to stomach heat, hot stranguria with astringent pain.
[Usage and Dosage] Decoction, dry product 15~30g; fresh product double the dosage, or smashed for juice.
Gardenia
This product is the dry ripe fruit of Gardenia, an evergreen shrub of the Rubiaceae family. From September to November, harvest the fruit when it is ripe and turn red and yellow, remove the fruit stem and impurities, steam to the upper air or put it in boiling water to scald slightly, take it out, and dry it.
Gardenia can be used for the treatment of febrile diseases and irritability. This product is bitter and cold and clears down. It can clear away fire pathogens in the three burners, and has the effect of clearing the heart and removing vexation; for damp-heat jaundice, this product can clear damp-heat in the liver and gallbladder. Jaundice; used for blood-heat vomiting, this product also has the effect of clearing heat, cooling blood and detoxification, and can be used for vomiting blood, hematuria, epistaxis, etc. Redness, swelling and pain, redness and pain, bruises, etc.
【Processing】Gardia seeds are removed from impurities and crushed.
【Nature and flavor and channeling】 Bitter, cold. Returns the Heart, Lung, and San Jiao meridians.
【Functions and Indications】 Purging fire and eliminating vexation, clearing heat and removing dampness, cooling blood and detoxifying; external use to reduce swelling and relieve pain. For fever upset, damp-heat jaundice, stranguria with astringent pain, blood-heat vomiting, red eyes, swelling and pain, fire toxin sore; externally treat sprain and contusion pain.
【Usage and Dosage】Decoction, 6~10g. Appropriate amount of raw product for external use, powdered for application.
Light Bamboo Leaf
This product is the dried stem and leaf of Pale Bamboo Leaf of Poaceae. Harvested before flowering and dried in summer.
Dan bamboo leaves can be used to treat fever, polydipsia, short, red and astringent urination, and sores on the mouth and tongue. This product is sweet and cold, the main heart meridian can clear the heart fire to eliminate vexation, enter the stomach meridian and release the stomach fire to quench thirst, use it to treat fever and hurt the body, upset and thirst, often with gypsum, reed root, etc.; this product is cold in nature Clears the heart and reduces fire, oozes dampness and diuresis. It is used to treat heart fire, sores on the mouth and tongue, and heat transfer to the small intestine, hot stranguria, astringent pain, etc. It can also treat edema, oliguria, jaundice and red urine.
【Processing】Remove impurities and cut into sections.
【Nature, flavor and channeling】 Sweet, light, cold. Heart, stomach, small intestine meridians.
【Functions and Indications】 Clearing away heat and purging fire, eliminating irritability and quenching thirst, diuretic and drenching stranguria. It is used for fever, polydipsia, short urination, red and astringent pain, and sores on the tongue.
【Usage and Dosage】Decoction, 6~10g.
Cassia
This product is the dried mature seeds of the leguminous plant Cassia obtuse or Cassia (small Cassia). Mature fruits are harvested in autumn, sun-dried, seeds are laid, and impurities are removed.
Cassia seed can be used for red eyes and dark eyes. This product is bitter and cold to relieve heat, sweet and salty to benefit yin. It can not only clear away liver fire, but also benefit kidney yin. The liver opens the orifices in the eyes, and the pupils belong to the kidneys, so it is a good product for improving eyesight. For intestinal dryness and constipation, this product is cool and moisturizing and has the effect of clearing away heat and moistening the intestines.
【Processing】 Cassia seeds, remove impurities, wash and dry. Mash when used.
【Nature and flavor and channeling】 Sweet, bitter, salty, slightly cold. Returns liver, large intestine meridian.
【Functions and Indications】 Clears away heat and improves eyesight, moistens the intestines and relieves bowel movements. It is used for red eyes and astringent pain, shyness and tears, headache, dizziness, dark eyes, and constipation.
【Usage and Dosage】Decoction, 9~15g.
Prunella vulgaris
This product is the dried fruit ear of Prunella vulgaris Lamiaceae. Harvest in summer when the ear is brown-red, remove impurities and sun-dried.
Prunella vulgaris can be used to treat red eyes, swelling and pain, headache and dizziness. For the treatment of liver fire, red eyes, swelling and pain, it can be used with mulberry leaves, chrysanthemum, cassia seeds, etc.; for liver yin deficiency, eye pain, especially at night, with angelica and wolfberry. For scrofula and gall tumors, breast carbuncle, breast addiction, breast pain. This taste is pungent and can disperse stagnation, bitter cold can relieve heat, mainly enters the liver meridian, and has a good effect of clearing liver and dissipating stagnation. ; Governance of gall tumor, often with kelp, Scrophulariaceae and so on. It is often used together with dandelion to treat swelling and pain of breast carbuncle.
【Nature, flavor and channeling】 Pungent, bitter, cold. Return to the liver and gallbladder meridians.
【Functions and Indications】 Clear the liver and purify fire, improve eyesight, disperse knots and reduce swelling. It is used for redness and swelling and pain in the eyes, night pain in the eyeballs, headache and dizziness, scrofula, gall tumors, breast carbuncle, breast addiction, breast tenderness.
【Usage and Dosage】Decoction, 9~15g.
【Precautions】Prunella vulgaris is rich in potassium ions and should not be used with potassium salts, and should not be used in combination with potassium-sparing and sodium-removing drugs such as spironolactone and triamterene, which may easily cause hyperkalemia.
Editor in charge: Ding Wanying