07 Stomach maintenance using herbal medicines
There is a saying in traditional herbal medicine that:
If the spleen and stomach are deficient, all kinds of diseases will arise. Thus most diseases are first treated from the spleen and stomach.
We meet the elderly who have weak spleen and stomach with abdominal distension and constipation. We also meet the infants and young children with food accumulation, loss of appetite, and constipation.
There are also people with symptoms of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and hyperglycemia who eat rich foods. They suffer from food stagnation in the middle-section, nausea and vomiting, fullness in the abdomen, bad breath and dry stool, restless sleep and fever in the hands and feet.
They can all be treated with methods that will increase digestion of foods, clearing all organs, strengthening the spleen and
replenishing qi.
There is nothing better than Hawthorn Pill to help digestion and food accumulation, and Bazhen Cake is the first choice for invigorating spleen and nourishing qi.
01 Hawthorn Pill
Hawthorn Pill is an OTC prescription from ancient times. It is also called the Big Hawthorn Pill. It is a good prescription to help indigestion.
Hawthorn Pill is composed of three herbal ingredients namely hawthorn, malt and shenqu. Hawthorn is the main ingredient in the prescription, which has the functions of digesting food, removing accumulation and helping digestion. Malt and shenqu are also good medicines for digestion.
Hawthorn is good at dispelling stagnation of meat, while malt and shenqu are good at dispelling stagnation of starchy food.
As early as in the Compendium of Materia Medica, there is the following record:
Where the spleen is weak, the food does not melt, and the chest and abdomen are distended. It is good to eat two or three hawthorns after meals.
There is also a record in Medical Hearts in Chinese and Western Records:
If you use sweet medicine to assist it, it can remove blood stasis without hurting new blood, and open up depression without hurting righteousness, and its nature is especially peaceful.
Hawthorn, which is good for medicine and food, has always been loved by people.
Hawthorn is sweet and sour in nature and slightly warm. It belongs to the stomach and liver meridian. Eating it in moderation can promote digestion, promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and soften blood vessels.
In addition, hawthorn also has magical effects of relieving asthma, reducing phlegm, inhibiting bacteria, and treating abdominal pain and diarrhea.
02 Bazhen Cake
The original prescription is first recorded in Surgery Authentic written by Chen Shigong, a famous surgeon in the Ming Dynasty, which is the secret recipe handed down by Chen’s family.
It is composed of ginseng, lotus seeds, gorgon, lentils, barley, hawthorn, malt, and yam. In ancient times, the cake was handmade. They grind the ingredients into fine powder, and use rice flour to make bar cakes. Nowadays, it is mostly sold as an over-the-counter prescription, and one can buy it at drug stores or large supermarkets with a drug counter. If you have a hard time finding it, you may use our buying service by contacting us.
Take a few bar cakes every morning, and you will gradually feel healthy after a hundred days.
With regard to the ingredient yam, Compendium of Materia Medica recorded that:
Invigorating kidney qi, invigorating spleen and stomach, stopping diarrhea, reducing phlegm and salivation, and moisturizing hair and skin.
Yam is both a nourishing food and a traditional herbal medicine for invigorating qi, and it is a good product for both medicine and food.
According to herbal medicines, Chinese yam (shanyao) is sweet in taste and flat in nature, and belongs to the spleen, lung, and kidney meridians. It is called huaishan in the dried form.
The Book of Materia Medica recorded:
Yam can invigorate the kidneys and essence, and the essence will strengthen the yin-energy.
All the top grades herbs can be taken regularly, not necessarily as medicines for curing diseases. Shennong also mentioned the word long-term use in association with this herb.
03 Fuling Ershan Pill
Fuling Ershan Pill combines the effects of Big Hawthorn Pill and Bazhen Cake, which can not only help digestion, but also strengthen the spleen and stomach.
In the combined prescription, hawthorn and yam are used as the main ingredients, and tangerine peel, malt, poria cocos, etc. are used to promote qi, invigorate the spleen and eliminate dampness.
The chuan tangerine peel used in Fuling Ershan Pill is made from the 2016 Chuanhongju Dahongpao produced in Zizhong, Sichuan.
Chuanhongju (orange peel) is known as the first fruit with the same origin of medicine and food. The dried tangerine peel made from it is a good medicine for regulating qi and invigorating the spleen, dispelling dampness and resolving phlegm.
For common ailments in daily life, as long as they are related to the respiratory tract or digestive tract, such as cold, cough, phlegm, indigestion, in addition to fever, eating some tangerine peel will help.
As recorded in Materia Medica:
Poria cocos can benefit the orifices and remove dampness. It can make people happy and improve intelligence. It guides turbidity and promotes body fluid. Its dehumidification can expel water and dry the spleen, nourish the middle and invigorate the stomach. It dispels convulsions and epilepsy, thickens the intestines, and treats phlegm. It helps medicines to descend. It has a slightly sweet taste, so it is said to nourish yang-energy.
For diarrhea and leukorrhagia caused by spleen deficiency, the application of poria cocos has the effect of taking care of both symptoms and root-cause. It can be used as an adjuvant drug for invigorating the lung and spleen and treating qi deficiency.
There is a difference between the Fuling Ershan Pill and the ordinary Big Hawthorn Pill.
What Fuling Ershan Pill and ordinary Big Hawthorn Pill have in common is that they both have fried malt and hawthorn. The difference is that there is no shenqu, but spleen-invigorating yam, poria cocos, and tangerine peel are added to Fuling Ershan Pill to strengthen the spleen and stomach while digesting food.
Hawthorn, tangerine peel, and malt have the effect of promoting qi, soothing the liver and strengthening the spleen. It is used to treat children with weak spleen and stomach, lack of food, abdominal distension, sallow complexion, loose stool and diarrhea, etc.
Later, it is used for the health care of the elderly, which can nourish the spleen and stomach. The elderly may take it for a long time to lighten the body and promote longevity.
People with poor spleen and stomach digestion, people with strong stomach and spleen deficiency, people with appetite but indigestion may take the Pill regularly for maintenance.
It is not suitable for pregnant women.
The stomach governs intake and the spleen governs movement. The stomach-energy should flow downwards, and the spleen- energy should flow upwards. The stomach likes nourishment and the spleen likes dryness.
Illnesses of the spleen and stomach should not be treated in a slow, long-term, or obstructed manner. They should be nourished with a flow in the middle, and movement in the stillness, so that the tonification does not stagnate, moistens but not greasy, and can ascend and descend, so as to follow the nature of the spleen and stomach ascending and descending.
Fuling Ershan Pill is the most suitable medicine for invigorating the spleen and strengthening the stomach in this respect.
Cautions on using Fuling Ershan Pill
Diabetics should take it with caution. Hawthorn is one of the fruits with high sugar content, so diabetics should eat it with caution.
Be sure to rinse your mouth after eating hawthorn, otherwise it will easily lead to tooth decay.
Pregnant women should be cautious in taking the pill. Due to the high sugar content of hawthorn, it is easy to cause symptoms of hyperglycemia during pregnancy. In addition, hawthorn has the effect of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. If eaten too much, it will stimulate blood circulation tubes and accelerate uterine contraction.
The elderly and those recovering from a serious illness should be cautious. Hawthorn has the effect of shrinking and stimulating the gastric mucosa, while the elderly and patients recovering from a serious illness have weak spleen and stomach functions, and eating too much will damage the stomach qi. Such people should choose a more gentle way, such as boiling water and porridge with hawthorn.
People with fasting stomach and gastric motility disorder should be cautious. Hawthorn will accelerate the secretion of gastric juice, so patients on an empty stomach, or patients with gastritis, gastric ulcer, and gastroesophageal reflux illness, should not eat a large amount of hawthorn.
Finally, we hope you have a healthy body, apply the knowledge you have learned in your life, and truly achieve the unity of knowledge and action.
Take action. This is not a mystery novel for you to read for entertainment.
04 Renshenjianpi Pill for weakness of the spleen and stomach
Properties: This product is a large brown honeyed pill: fragrant, sweet and slightly bitter. Big honeyed pill is 6 grams per pill. Water honeyed pills are 4 grams per pill or per bag.
Ingredients: ginseng, atractylodes macrocephala (stir-fried with bran), cardamom, citrus aurantium, licorice, yam, woody fragrance, coix seed, hawthorn, grain buds, white lentils, gorgon fruit, lotus seed meat, green peel, tangerine peel, Liushenqu, angelica.
Dosage: Take orally with warm water. Big honeyed pills 2 pills each time, water honeyed pills 8 grams each time, 2 times per day.
Contraindications: This product should be taken before meals or at the same time as meals. When taking this medicine, it is not advisable to take veratrum, wulingzhi, acacia or their preparations at the same time. It is not advisable to drink tea and eat carrots so as not to affect the efficacy of the medicine. It should not be taken with cold medicine at the same time.
Functions and indications: invigorating the spleen and replenishing qi, harmonizing the stomach and relieving diarrhea. Used for indigestion caused by weak spleen and stomach, noisy stomach, nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain and loose stools, lack of appetite, weakness and fatigue.
Modern efficacy: clinical studies have shown that the drug is not only used for the treatment of indigestion, malnutrition and dyspepsia diarrhea, but also for chronic gastritis and duodenal inflammation, gastrointestinal dysfunction, gastrointestinal surgery post syndrome, allergic colitis, chronic cough and other illnesses.
05 Yizhongbuqi Pill for deficiency of the spleen and weak qi, lack of qi and short speech
Medicinal Properties: This product is a concentrated black pill with a slightly sweet and pungent taste. Large honey pills, each weighing 9 grams.
Ingredients: astragalus (honey-roasted), codonopsis pilosula, licorice (honey-roasted), atractylodes macrocephala, angelica, cimicifuga, bupleurum, tangerine peel, ginger, jujube.
Dosage: Take orally, take with warm water. Big honey pill, 1 pill each time, 2-3 times per day; concentrated pill, 8-10 pills each time, 3 times per day.
Contraindications: This medicine is not suitable for patients with symptoms of aversion to cold and fever, or patients with symptoms of overeating and abdominal fullness. If you experience epigastric fullness, or symptoms of burning fire after taking it, it means that the dialectical syndrome is wrong and you must stop taking it.
Functions and indications: invigorating the middle and replenishing qi, raising yang and lifting depression. For weakness of the spleen and stomach, depression of central qi, fatigue, lack of food, abdominal distension, chronic diarrhea, prolapse of the anus, and uterine prolapse.
Modern efficacy: The drug is mainly used to treat illnesses of the digestive system. It is also commonly used to treat the following illnesses: hypotension, hypertension, coronary heart disease, arrhythmia, cardiogenic edema, angina pectoris after myocardial infarction and other cardiovascular illnesses; enuresis, urinary incontinence, nephritis, nephrosis, nocturnal emission, non-ejaculation, oligospermia sexual infertility, impotence and other urogenital diseases.
06 Shenlingbaizhu Powder for syndrome of weakness of spleen and stomach with dampness
Properties: powder, 10 grams per bag; pills, 6 grams per 100 capsules.
Ingredients: ginseng , poria, atractylodes, macrocephala (stir-fried), Chinese yam, white lentils (stir-fried), lotus seeds, coix seed (miao), amomum, platycodon grandiflorum, licorice.
Dosages: oral, powder 6-9 grams each time, 2-3 times per day; pill 6 grams each time, 3 times per day.
Contraindications: It is suitable to be taken before meals. It is best not to drink tea and eat carrots during the medication period to avoid affecting the efficacy of the medicine. People with yin deficiency who have fever in hands and feet and night sweats are not suitable for this prescription. Pregnant women should not use Shenlingbaizhu Powder.
Functions and indications: Replenishing qi, invigorating the spleen and expelling dampness to treat various illnesses of the Sanjiao. Applied to loss of appetite, fullness in the abdomen, loose stool, emaciation, shortness of breath, cough, weakness of limbs, mental fatigue, etc. caused by weakness of the spleen and stomach.
Modern efficacy: the drug can also be used to treat chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, diabetes, chronic nephritis and nephrotic syndrome with spleen deficiency and damp stagnation, chronic pharyngitis, chronic sinusitis, pulmonary heart disease, tumor and radiation sickness, zinc deficiency in children, headache syndrome, hepatobiliary syndrome in children.
07 Fuzilizhong Pill for deficiency of the spleen and stomach, coldness in the abdomen
Medicinal properties: big honeyed pills, 9 grams per pill.
Ingredients: Codonopsis pilosula, aconite (made), dried ginger, roasted licorice.
Dosage: Take orally, take 1 pill each time, 2-3 times a day.
Contraindications: Use with caution in pregnant women. According to TCM syndrome differentiation, it should not be used in patients with yin deficiency and yang excess, heat syndrome and pain.
Functions and indications: Warming the middle and invigorating the spleen, used for symptoms such as epigastric pain, abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea, and cold hands and feet caused by deficiency and cold of the spleen and stomach.
Modern efficacy: Through clinical practice, it is found that this drug has many new functions, and it is also effective in chronic dyspepsia, ulcerative colitis, chronic diarrhea, acute gastroenteritis, gastric and duodenal ulcers, male infertility and other diseases. Good curative effect.
08 Xiangshayangwei Pill for stomach coldness and pain, love to drink hot drinks
Properties: This product is small black pills, each weighing 9 grams.
Ingredients: Woody Fragrance, Amomum, Atractylodes Rhizoma, Rhizoma Cyperi (made with vinegar), Tangerine Peel, Poria, Citrus Aurantium (stir-fried), Cardamom, Licorice, Patchouli, Pinellia (made), Magnolia officinalis (made with ginger).
Instructions: Take it orally with warm boiled water, 9 grams/time, 2 times/day, or take it with ginger soup.
Contraindications: People with heartburn and dry mouth should not take Xiangsha Yangwei Pills. It is best to be directed by a doctor if you take this medicine continuously for more than one week. Do not eat raw or cold food while taking the medicine, because raw or cold food can aggravate the cold and temperature, which is not conducive to the efficacy of the medicine.
Functions and indications: invigorating the spleen, warming the spleen, eliminating fullness, mainly used for indigestion caused by cold-damp blockage, for symptoms such as fullness in the epigastric cavity or vomiting of acid water and loose stools caused by poor circulation of Qi It is especially suitable for diarrhea, borborygmus, fatigue and weak dampness obstructing the spleen and stomach.
Modern efficacy: Modern pharmacological studies of this drug have shown that it can regulate the secretion of digestive juice, adjust gastrointestinal function, anti-ulcer, antibacterial, choleretic, etc. It is also used to treat respiratory tract infection and senile intestinal dysfunction.
09 Guipi Pill for loss of appetite and body fatigue, metrorrhagia and blood in the stool
Properties: This product is in the form of brown water honeyed pills, small honeyed pills or big honeyed pills.
Ingredients: Codonopsis pilosula, Atractylodes macrocephala, astragalus, longan meat, jujube kernel, woody fragrance, angelica, polygala, licorice, poria cocos, jujube, ginger.
How to take: Take it with warm water or ginger soup.
Contraindications: It is not advisable to take it with cold medicine at the same time, and it is not advisable to drink tea and eat carrots so as not to affect the efficacy of the medicine. When taking this medicine, it is not advisable to take veratrum, wulingzhi, acacia or their preparations at the same time.
Functions and Indications: Mainly used for lack of appetite, body fatigue, sallow complexion, insomnia, dizziness, loss of appetite, metrorrhagia, hematochezia, etc. caused by deficiency of both the heart and spleen.
Modern effects: enhance red blood cell oxygen transport capacity, reduce platelet aggregation and anti-thrombosis, change the state of blood viscosity and suspected aggregation, and treat various bleeding syndromes, such as thrombocytopenic purpura, functional uterine bleeding, gastroduodenal ulcer bleeding, nasal Epistaxis, tooth bleeding, hematochezia, hematuria, metrorrhagia, etc.
10 Baohe Pill for indigestion
Medicinal Properties: Each pill weighs 9 grams.
Ingredients: Hawthorn, Shenque, Pinellia, Poria, Tangerine Peel, Forsythia, Radix Seed.
Dosage: take orally, 1-2 pills each time, twice a day; reduce as appropriate for children.
Contraindications: It is not suitable for those who have poor diet, do not want to eat, and have fullness in the abdomen due to liver disease or heart and kidney insufficiency. The weak or the elderly should not take it for a long time. Not suitable for lactating （breast-feeding) women.
Functions and indications: digestion, stagnation, and stomach, mainly treating food accumulation.
Modern pharmacological studies have confirmed that Baohe Pills have the effect of helping digestion, and also have a good effect of relieving spasm, relieving pain and diarrhea, and regulating gastrointestinal function.
11 Jinfuzhitong Pill for stomach pain after meals, fullness on the sides
Medicinal properties: Concentrated water pills.
Ingredients: Curcuma, Bergamot, Paeoniae Alba, Corydalis Corydalis, Panax notoginseng, Turmeric, Licorice.
Dosage: Take orally, 5-10 grams each time, 2-3 times a day.
Contraindications: During the period of taking the medicine, the diet should be light, avoid spicy, raw or cold food, and it is not advisable to take nourishing Chinese medicine at the same time while taking the medicine. It is not suitable for people with stomach yin deficiency (dry lips, dry mouth, drinking, dry stool).
Functions and Indications: Promoting qi and relieving pain, soothing the liver and harmonizing the stomach, dispelling blood stasis and promoting regeneration, suitable for stomach pain after meals, distension of the ribs, upset and irritable, prone to sighing, and the disease often occurs or aggravates when angry or irritable, etc. symptomatic patients.
12 Other herbal medicines or prescriptions
The spleen is characterized by earth, and it is the cardinal for the rising of yang-energy. There are many traditional herbal medicines and soups for nourishing the spleen in the past dynasties, including:
For invigorating the spleen and drying dampness, there is Atractylodes (herb) and Pingwei Powder (OTC).
For invigorating the spleen and removing dampness, there is Poria cocos (herb) and Sijunzi Decoction (OTC).
For invigorating the spleen and helping with flowing, there is Tsao Kuo (herb) and Xingpi Powder (OTC).
For warming the spleen and dispelling cold, there is dried ginger and Lizhong Decoction (OTC).
For promoting spleen and replenishing qi, there is astragalus (herb) and Buzhongyiqi Decoction (OTC).
For invigorating spleen, there is ginseng and Guizhi Ginseng Decoction (OTC).
These are all examples, and there are more prescriptions for promoting the spleen yang-energy and harmonizing the middle qi.
As an example, the Buzhongyiqi Decoction uses 15 grams of Astragalus membranaceus, 10 grams of Atractylodes macrocephala, 15 grams of Codonopsis pilosula, 6 grams of angelica, 6 grams of tangerine peel, 5 grams of Bupleurum, 5 grams of Cimicifuga, 5 grams of roasted licorice, decocted with water. It is reputed to invigorate qi, raise yang-energy, and regulate spleen and stomach.
The spleen governs movement and transformation of nutrients. If the spleen is weak, movement and transformation of nutrients will be under par. Then, no matter how much you eat, you will still be under-nourished, and your complexion will still be sallow and emaciated. When this occurs, you should pay attention to fortifying the spleen.
The spleen likes sweetness and blandness, but it hates fishy, spicy and heavy turbidity. Therefore, sweetness and blandness can nourish the spleen, so keep your food sweet and bland. If your energy associated with the spleen is too weak, you should not eat spicy food or drink.
The following prescription can be used to nourish the spleen:
30 grams each of poria cocos, coix seed, gorgon seed, and yam, 10 grams of dried tangerine peel, decocted in water, one dose per day.
Or gather the herbs, dry them, and grind them into fine powder. The drug store will help you to do it. Take 15 grams each time, twice a day. Pour it into warm rice porridge and take it.
13 Some observations on over-the-counter prescriptions
In the beginning, traditional herbal medicines were used to help poor people, thus herbal medicines are generally not expensive to buy and use. However, as practitioners of holistic wellness, we have observed a trend towards more and more expensive herbal medicines.
There are several reasons for this trend. One is profit-motive of the pharmaceutical companies. They may argue that the cost of production has risen because of government regulations. This may be true when we were doing due diligence before investing in pharmaceutical companies in China. It does cost more money to make the same medicine nowadays compared with the traditional hand-made era.
It is worth noting that in traditional herbal medicines, in over-the-counter prescriptions of medicines that were handed down for a thousand years, it is not true that the new ones are more effective than the old ones. They are equally effective since they have the same origin.
This completes our series of posts on stomach health. If you are eager to learn how to keep yourself healthy, visit our website https://mustang.press.