Herbs that Dissolve and Cool Phlegm Heat: Huang Yao Zi

Huang Yao Zi

Huang = Yellow
Yao = Medicine
Zi = Seed

Huang Yao Zi is related to the yam. I don't have this seed in my kit. Shoot.

It goes to:

Lung
Liver

It is cold, bitter and TOXIC (long term use or LIV disorders)

Its fourth function is to stop cough and calm wheezing. But it has the special stop bleeding / cool blood function, which means that these two functions together make it the choice for someone who is coughing up blood.

Otherwise, Huang Yao Zi dissipates nodules, like goiter; and it clears heat / resolves toxicity.

Herbs that Dissolve and Cool Phlegm Heat: Pang Da Hai

胖大海

Pang Da Hai

Pang = Fat
Da = Big
Hai = Sea

This herb looks like big brown seeds or little brown turds. Pang Da Hai becomes even fatter and bigger when hot water is added. It goes to the LU/LI and is sweet. The seed disseminates Lung Qi and helps with a sore throat, hoarseness, and phlegm heat cough. It also moistens the intestines and unblocks the bowels. I guess it is fitting that Pang Da Hai looks like turds. And it encourages expression of rashes.

Herbs that Cool and Dissolve Heat Phlegm: Hai Zao

海藻

Hai = sea
Zao = weed

Seaweed!

bitter and salty
cold

Lung, Liver, Kidney, Stomach (all elements except fire are represented here)

Reduces phlegm by softening hardness. Especially good for neck nodules and scrotal swellings. Hai Zao! Being a seaweed, good for reducing edema/ promoting urination (all the sea herbs in this category promote urination).

Helps with weight loss.

Herbs that Cool and Dissolve Phlegm Heat: Kun Bu

昆布

Kun
Bu

Does it make sense that this herb means elder brother's clothes? I don't think so either. But I'm not a Chinese translator, so I've probably got this all wrong.

Like other "herbs" that come from the sea (Fu Hai Shi and Hai Ge Ke), Kun Bu, a kind of seaweed is also cold and salty. This one does NOT go to the lungs, though. It travels to the Stomach, Liver, and Kidney channels.

The saltiness helps to reduce phlegm, soften hardness, and it also promotes urination and reduces swelling (helps with edema). It is good for thyroid tumors.

Seaweed for the thyroid. Kun Bu.

Herbs that Cool and Dissolve Phlegm Heat: Hai Ge Ke

海蛤壳

Hai = sea
Ge = clam
Ke = shell

Hai Ge Ke also comes from the sea, just like pumice (Fu Hai Shi). Therefore, it is also cold and salty, but also bitter. Hai Ge Ke goes to the lung, and because we eat it (well, we eat clams, not the shells), it makes sense that it goes to the stomach also.

Hai Ge Ke will transform any kind of phlegm heat. It also softens hardness and dissipates nodules. It promotes urination, but more mildly than Fu Hai Shi. Since Hai Ge Ke goes to the stomach, it controls acidity there, stopping pain due to gastric ulcers.

Herbs that Cool and Dissolve Phlegm Heat: Fu Hai Shi

浮海石

Fu Hai Shi is pumice.

Fu = to float
Hai = ocean
Shi = stone

"float on the sea stone"

If you swallow pumice, it's salty coldness will travel to your lungs. Salty transforms clumps, softens hardness, dissipates phlegm nodules, an helps with severe food stagnation. Pumice is good at this even on the outside of the body, when we use it to scrape off all those clumps off our toes.

Also, because it is salty and is associated with the ocean, it is relatively easy to remember that Fu Hai Shi also promotes urination, particularly for hot/stony painful UTIs and Kidney stones. Hair of the dog, I guess.

Emphysema, old stagnant hot phlegm.

Not for deficient coughs.

Herbs that Cool and Dissolve Phlegm Heat: Zhu Ru 竹茹

竹茹

Zhu = Bamboo
Ru = Root

goes to the GB!! The only one I think. How to associate the gallbladder with Zhu Ru? Also, Zhu Ru travels to the Lung and Stomach.

GB, LU, ST
Cool
Sweet

Looking at Zhu Ru, the bamboo root, I feel more spirited. That's what Zhu Ru is good for - when phlegm heat in the lungs, with its viscous sputum and stifled chest begins to disturb the spirit and create anxiety it affects the GB and creates and emotional feeling of stuckness as well.

Since it travels to the stomach also, Zhu Ru will stop vomit due to stomach heat.

Herbs that Cool and Dissolve Hot Phlegm: Gua Lou Ren

栝楼仁

Gua Lou Ren

This is the Chinese Snake Gourd seed (versus the peel). Like Gua Lou Pi, it also goes to the LU/LI and ST. They are both sweet and cold.

Gua Lou Ren and Gua Lou Pi have similar functions, but Gua Lou Ren does a little more, and has more clear involvement with the LI / lower burner connection. However, Gua Lou Pi is stronger at opening the chest.

Gua Lou Ren:

As a seed, Gua Lou Ren has moistening action. It clears and transforms phlegm-heat, expands the chest, moistens the intestines, and also promotes the healing of breast sores.

Herbs that Cool and Dissolve Phlegm Heat: Gua Lou Pi

栝楼皮

Gua Lou Pi

LU/LI, ST
Cool
Sweet (gourds are often sweet!)

This is Chinese snake gourd. It expands the chest and circulates qi in the upper burner (Lou Pi / "loopy / looping around in the upper burner").

Good for dry cough and throat, phlegm that is hard to expectorate, chest pain/obstruction, early stage breast abscesses.

Herbs that Dissolve Hot Phlegm: Qian Hu 前胡

This bitter and spicy barbarian, his name is Qian Hu, lives outside in the wind and heat. He directs things downwards with sticks. He can beat the phlegm right out of you!

前胡

Qian Hu

Qian = before
Hu = barbarians

Lung only
Cool
Bitter Spicy

Directs Qi Downwards & Dispels thick phlegm
Can be used with Exterior Wind Heat

Barbarians live outside in the wind and the heat. They beat things down with clubs. Qian Hu - before barbarians. The brown root sticks look a little bit? like barbarian clubs?

Herbs that Dissolve Hot Phlegm: Jie Geng

桔梗

Jie = Chinese bellflower
Geng = branch

"Jorgen guides up the Swedish mountain" - okay this is a way I am trying to remember this herb: Jie Geng (Jorgen) guides up (this is what jie geng does- it raises lung qi upwards) the Swedish (Jie Geng is neutral like Sweden) mountain (a gigantic abscess full of pus - lovely I know - Jie Geng pushes pus out of abscesses). Walking up mountains is good for the lungs, too, and Jie Geng goes only to the lungs.

There's Jorgen now! Guiding up the Swedish mountain! Notice how clear his lungs are!

This is another herb that Dennis says is very important. It is a white root that looks a lot like many other white roots. Oh well. Important doesn't always mean easy. It is the only herb in this category considered NEUTRAL. All the rest are cool or cold.

Because Jie Geng is neutral, it is versatile and can treat hot or cold phlegm coughs, but they must be EXCESSES (it is cautioned for yin deficient coughs). Jie Geng is bitter and spicy, opening and disseminating lung qi, dispelling phlegm and benefiting the throat. It is an herb that directs upwards.

Funny, the flower herbs direct qi down, and the root herb directs lu qi upwards. In addition to directing lung qi up, Jie Geng also guides other herbs upwards. Xing Ren, the apricot seed, is also a guide herb.

Jie Geng will push out pus and abscesses.

Herbs that Dissolve Hot Phlegm: Zhe Bei Mu

浙贝母

Zhe = Zhejiang province
Bei = Shell
Mu = Mother

acute, excess heat coughs with phlegm, dissipates nodules (phlegm fire nodules/neck swellings)

Similar to Chuan Bei Mu, Zhe Bei Mu also travels to the Lung and Heart, and also is bitter. Chuan Bei Mu, being gentler, is also sweet. Zhe Bei Mu, being stronger, is not sweet.

Zhe Bei Mu is for the acute phlegm-heat excess cough. Zhe Bei Mu for the chronic, deficient, hard to expectorate cough with deficient heat.

The plants appear very similar as well. And the herbs both come from the bulb, but the Zhe Bei Mu must be bigger, as the bulb is sliced up and the pieces are bigger.

Herbs that Cool / Transform Phlegm Heat: Chuan Bei Mu

川贝母

Chuan = River
Bei = Shell
Mu = Mother

yin deficient, chronic coughs / heat clearing / dissipate nodules

My mother has a chronic, yin deficient cough, and has afternoon fever. Chuan Bei Mu, River shell mother, would be good for her dry cough, and to clear her yin deficient heat.

This important cooling herb is bitter and sweet. It travels to the heart as well as the lung.

In addition to its primary function as a heat clearing, phlegm transforming herb for those dry deficient coughs that are difficult to expectorate, Chuan Bei Mu also clears heat and dissipates nodules, sores, lung or breast abscesses.

It is an important herb of this category, along with Zhe Bei Mu, but Chuan Bei Mu is gentler and good for chronic coughs (C for Chuan, C for chronic), and Zhe Bei Mu is good for acute, excess coughs. They come from the same plant family, fritillaria.

Warm Herbs that Dissolve Phlegm: Bai Qian

白前

Bai Qian

redirects lung qi, removing blockage of phlegm, and helping with that phlegm gurgle in the throat. Takes care of rebellious and turbid qi.

Bai = white
Qian = before

sli. warm
spicy
sweet

LUNG

Sometimes regarded as neutral because it can be used for hot or cold conditions, but typically regarded as slightly warm.

Goes just to the lung.

Primary superpower of Bai Qian is to redirect the qi downward, thereby dispelling phlegm and cough with copious stuck sputum. Great for Lung qi blockage / stagnation / excess. Phlegm that won't budge.

Noted for getting rid of that phlegm gurgle in the throat.

Bai Qian looks like little sticks, that one can picture poking the phlegm downward, breaking through phlegm balls gurgling in the throat, breaking up blockages in the lung.

Kind of obvious given its function, but it is not to be used for a lung deficient unproductive cough.

Warm Herbs that Dissolve Cold Phlegm: Xuan Fu Hua

旋覆花

Xuan Fu Hua

Xuan = rotated
Fu = upturned
Hua = flower

Also known as "British yellowhead" and Inula britannica flower. It travels to a bunch of channels: SP/ST, Lung, and Liver.

It also has several characteristics:

bitter spicy and SALTY (a way to remember, maybe, is that Xuan Fu Hua grow near water - also, it helps to dissipate fluid in the lungs)

It is a WARM herb.

Functions:

1. Reduces phlegm / "pathogenic water" (fluid in the lungs) and accompanying cough

2. It redirects the Qi downward and stops puking, hiccups, and belching.

It's descending nature can push out loose stools, so it's not for yin deficiency and loose stools due to deficiency.

Since it is a flower with lots of little hairy parts, please put Xuan Fu Hua is a cheese cloth bag to prevent throat irritation.

Also, like many phlegm reduction herbs, it is cautioned in pregnancy.

Warm Herbs that Dissolve Cold Phlegm: Bai Jie Zi (Mustard Seed)

白芥子

Bai Jie Zi (White Mustard Seed)

Bai = white
Jie = mustard
Zi = seed

White mustard seed is warm. It is for excess cold lung conditions, not lung deficiencies. It travels only to the lung channel. It would have been good medicine for my housemate Jim a few weeks ago when he had clear, thin, copious sputum and drainage, and all the other signs associated with cold phlegm.

Bai Jie Zi is spicy and warm. "Very warming." It warms the lung like a little toaster. One toaster slot per lung. It regulates the qi movement and expels all that cold phlegm.

In promoting qi movement, Bai Jie Zi will disperse clumps and abscesses, otherwise known as phlegm obstructing the channels. When phlegm obstructs the channels, there will be pain. Therefore, white mustard seed helps to alleviate that pain.

White mustard seed transforms this excess yin into yang.

It should not be given to patients with chronic lung deficient cough, yin deficient fire, or stomach fire. This will likely cause diarrhea and further depletion and that would simply make the person sicker.

Warm Herbs that Dissolve Cold Phlegm: Bai Fu Zi

白附子

(Zhi) Bai Fu Zi

Basic functions: wind phlegm from head and face, dries damp, dissipates nodules, resolves toxicity (oozing eczema, fungal skin)

Zhi = Prepared
Bai = White
Fu = Appendage
Zi = Seed

Bai Fu Zi looks a lot like Tian Nan Xing (my herb samples do, anyway). They have a lot in common, too, as far as functions go.

Similarity:Both go to the spleen and liver
Difference: Tian Nan Xing also goes to the lung, while Bai Fu Zi goes to the stomach (and may be the only herb in all of these stop cough / dispel phlegm herbs that doesn't go to the lung?)

Similarity: Both Tian Nan Xing and Bai Fu Zi are indicated for wind phlegm (the fact they both go to the liver gives a clue). They also both dry dampness (spleen)
Differences: Tian Nan Xing stops spasms and is indicated especially for wind-stroke / seizures / epilepsy, while Bai Fu Zi concentrates on expelling wind phlegm from the head and face especially (a sagging face)

Third function differences:
Tian Nan Xing is indicated for swelling and pain reduction (sores, ulcers, carbuncles); Bai Fu Zi dissipates nodules and resolves toxicity (phlegm masses, fungal skin, eczema with wind and dampness -- greasy, oozing, moving around, NOT hot eczema)

Pregnancy: Tian Nan Xing is contraindicated in pregnancy; Bai Fu Zi is cautioned in pregnancy at doses greater than 5 g.
Dosage: Tian Nan Xing: 3 - 9 g; Bai Fu Zi: 3 -5 g

Temperature: both are WARM.

Bai Fu Zi is also indicated for draining damp, stopping itching and pain, and can be combined with other herbs for bi zheng.

Warm Herbs that Dissolve Cold Phlegm: Tian Nan Xing

Tian Nan Xing: Stubborn phlegm, spasms, sores





天南星

(Zhi) Tian Nan Xing

Tian = Heaven
Nan = South
Xing = Star

"Star of the Southern Heavens"

Toxic (must be used prepared)
Bitter
(intensely) Acrid (and therefore extremely drying)
Warm

Lung, Liver, Spleen

Contraindicated in pregnancy.

This herb must be prepared before being ingested, otherwise it is toxic. It has two primary functions in its prepared form.

First, Tian Nan Xing is extremely drying (the plant is shaped like a star -- particularly like a drawing of our sun, with rays shooting out -- so think hot sun / drying) and therefore it dries dampness and expels phlegm. Particularly useful if you have a cough with a chest full of stubborn phlegm.
Tian Nan Xing is like a dryer for stubborn phlegm!

Second, Tian Nan Xing also travels to the Liver, and the second function of the herb is related to this fact. If there is a wind-phlegm obstruction in the channels, Tian Nan Xing will disperse and calm wind-phlegm manifesting in symptoms such as dizziness, vertigo, numb limbs, facial paralysis, hand/foot spasms, stroke, seizures.


Tian Nan Xing stops spasms and dizziness by dispersing wind-phlegm.

Finally, used topically (and often raw for this application), Tian Nan Xing can reduce swelling and alleviate pain from sores, ulcers, carbuncles, joint pain. Bensky writes that it is "recently used topically for cervical cancer."

Herbs that Warm and Transform Cold Phlegm: Xi Xin

细辛

Xi Xin

Oddly, I could not find a translation for this herb, either the Chinese characters or the Pinyin. It is Asian Wild Ginger, the root and the herb, and also oddly it is on the FDA prohibited herbs list because it contains aristolochic acid which is toxic to people with Liver disease. The recommended dose is low -- 1 to 3 grams.

In Bensky, it is found in the Warm Herbs that Release the Exterior section. As a surface releasing herb, it is acrid (spicy).

Xi Xin travels to the Lung, Heart, and Kidney. According to some texts, it travels to all twelve channels.

Xi Xin is "vigorous," as you might expect something that is "wild" to be. It dispels wind, cold, and relieves pain; good for conditions such as headache, arthritis (Wind-Cold-Damp Bi Zheng / old injuries), and chest bi.

It also dispels exterior Wind-Cold symptoms such as headache and backache.

Xi Xin warms the lung and resolves phlegm and watery mucous with symptoms such as cough, asthma, and sputum.

And finally, Xi Xin opens the "sensory orifices" -- nasal congestion, loss of consciousness, mouth ulcers (note that it travels to the heart) -- it opens the collaterals and helps dispel blood stagnation and deficient headaches (shaoyin headaches).

Warm Herbs that Dissolve Cold Phlegm: (Zhi) Ban Xia

半夏

Ban Xia

Ban = half
Xia = summer

Often called "Zhi" Ban Xia, Zhi meaning "prepared." If it is raw, or unprepared (fresh/sheng), it is toxic.

The Ban Xia in my bag from Mayway says "Jiang" after it, which means it has been gingered. The plant is also nicknamed "crow dipper" in English and is included in the diet pill Relacore.

As typical for this category, it travels to the lung, spleen, and stomach, is spicy, and toxic when fresh. The live plant looks like this (below), and the part used for Ban Xia is the little root ball below the dirt:



This herb is a "premiere herb," according to Dennis. It appears in many formulas when I do a Google search for it. To me, Ban Xia looks like little phlegm rocks or nodules, which is helpful in remembering its function: to descend rebellious LU and ST Qi (like a dropped rock descends), to transform phlegm, and dissipate nodules and clumps.

It expels phlegm by the action of drying. The herb is warm, so it should not be used with a yin deficient cough or with excess fire sore throat. In the stomach, it is useful to stop vomiting by descending rebellious stomach qi (as mentioned above), and for stomach deficiency and heat, and during pregnancy.

From the notes (because the above is all over the place), Ban Xia:

1. Dries Dampness, Descends Rebellious Lung Qi, Transforms phlegm from copious cold (thin, watery) sputum

2. Stops vomiting, Descends Rebellious Stomach Qi

3. Dissipates nodules, reduces clumps (chest pain, goiter)

Opens, Disseminates, is Slippery, and moves Downward (ODSD)

Warm Herbs that Dissolve Cold Phlegm (8)

Here are the Warm Herbs that Transform/Dissolve Cold Phlegm:

(Zhi) Ban Xia

Xi Xin

(Zhi) Tian Nan Xing

Bai Fu Zi

Bai Jie Zi

Xuan Fu Hua

Bai Qian

The category of these herbs kind of says it all -- the herbs are warm, they dissolve/transform "cold phlegm." They also treat phlegm damp, and as Bensky says "They tend to be rather strong, and can be toxic."

They are respiratory stimulants and promote a productive cough with expulsion of phlegm by stimulating the bronchi. In addition to being warm, they are spicy and drying (because they are bitter). Some are salty, helping to soften "hard phlegm." They tend to go to the lung as well as the stomach and spleen. Phlegm in the lungs often results from a spleen deficiency which creates dampness that then settles in the lungs (earth impacting metal). Conditions they treat include bronchitis, asthma, emphysema, and pneumonia.

Symptoms of "cold phlegm" disorders include: white, viscous, watery sputum that is easy to expectorate; a cough; wheezing; a greasy white coating on the tongue; and a slippery pulse.

Typical patterns of "cold phlegm" will show up as exterior evils (wind-cold OR wind-heat...huh?), and internal problems that include upper and burner phlegm stagnation in the lung, kidney (leukorrhea), and liver (seizures, strokes).

The treatment principle is to transform the cold phlegm (which is the branch, or secondary symptom) and to dry damp (caused, most likely, by spleen deficiency). Because the root of the disease is trouble with spleen qi, they are often combined with qi regulating herbs.

Herbs that Relieve Cough and Asthma: Bai Guo / Gingko

白果

Bai Guo is the Gingko Biloba nut. It translates into "White Fruit." I remember the first Gingko tree I ever saw. It grew next to the library in the little Ohio town where I grew up. Longing for a wild I never knew really existed, I became enchanted with that tree with its strange fan-shaped leaves. I think that I felt closer to that tree than I did to my messed up family. The tree stood alone, so quiet, refined, unexpected, magical.

Not surprisingly, the Gingko is unlike any other tree in existance. Unrelated to any other living tree, it is considered to be a "living fossil" because it has been around for about 270 million years in basically the same form. It has been the sole survivor of its family since the Pliocene. I wonder if it is lonely? Individual Gingko trees can, and have, lived for 3,000 years.

Funny that current usage shows Gingko is helpful in the prevention of memory loss and it is also used to sharpen ones attention. Maybe this tree, the one who has lived for so long and seen so much, is trying to tell us something?

There was a long history in China of cultivation of the Gingko tree by monks. I think the monks must have known there was something very special about these trees. Because the tree is so old, they once grew wild in virtually every part of the world (before, I imagine, the continents floated apart), but now grow wild only in China.



In Bensky, Bai Guo is listed in the category "Herbs that Stabilize and Bind."

Bai Guo is the only herb in this category that in addition to going to the Lung, goes to the Kidney channel. Therefore, it is good for chronic, (deficient?) coughs (contraindicated for excess coughs) and is said to "preserve the lungs" and to "arrest wheezing."

A second function, related to the Kidney channel, is that it eliminates damp, stops discharge, and contains the urine--used in cases of deficiency and damp-heat vaginal discharge and turbid urine.

By nature, Bai Guo is sweet, bitter, astringent, and slightly toxic (must not be used in large dosages).

Herbs that Relieve Cough and Asthma: Ma Dou Ling

My rebellious darling...do you need a Tucks?

马兜铃 = Horse Pocket Bell ("Bell of a horse's hat")

Ma Dou Ling

The Latin name for the plant is aristolochia debilis. In English, we call this herb Ma Dou Ling "Birthwort Fruit" as well as other names like Pelican Flower, Red River Snakeroot, Sangree Root, Sangrel, Serpentaria, Snakeroot, Snakeweed, Texas Snakeroot, Virginia Serpentary, Virginia Snakeroot. I get the feeling it is rather serpentine like. The herb is not in the Mayway kit because it is now considered to be obsolete due to the fact that it is toxic at large doses or if taken longterm. It contains aristolochic acid.

LU/LI (metal)
Slightly cold
Bitter
TOXIC / OBSOLETE

In the lungs it is best for REBELLIOUS QI and Lung heat - it will clear the lungs by transforming phlegm, stopping cough, calming wheezing due to lung heat.

In the large intestine channel, it clears and drains excess large intestine heat, reducing swelling and pain, traveling all the way through the LI to the anus where it will relieve pain due to heat. Since the plant is snakelike, you might think of it like a plumbing snake, traveling all the way through the LI, coming out the anus, removing heat and blockage.

Herbs that Relieve Cough and Asthma: Zi Su Zi

紫苏子

Zi Su Zi

spicy and warm
LU/LI

This is the seed from the purple perilla plant.

It goes to the metal element: LU/LI - so we know it is good for wheezing and phlegm (copious sputum, difficult exhalation, chest pressure) redirecting the qi downward, and for moistening the intestines, unblocking stool. Imagine all the years and hard work and bad treatments that went in to figuring all this stuff out? All I can say is "thank you" to all of those who trod this path before us. We think we have it hard!! How about the person who first spent the time gathering the little perilla seeds and figuring out they got rid of constipation and cough!?

Herbs that Relieve Cough and Asthma: Zi Wan

紫菀

Zi Wan

Zi = purple
Wan = softness, luxuriant

In English it is called Purple Aster.

Lung only.
Spicy (disperses), bitter (drains).
Slightly warm.
5-9 g.

I am so glad that it actually fits to call this herb "Zi Wan" ("The One" in a bad Pink Panther accent - or purple panther accent haha). And it is "Zi Wan" because it is "zi wan" for everything -- a broad spectrum herb for cough and expelling phlegm. It can be used for externally contracted wind cold or wind heat, or for internal lung deficiency or excess.

It warms and moistens without drying. It is used in combination with Kuan Dong Hua to redirect the lung qi downward.

"Experiments show that Zi Wan can increase the excretion of phenol red from mice's respiratory tract." It is a native of Siberia and must have full sun and moist soil. There is an interesting research paper on the plant done by Robyn Klein, a Medical Botanist (cool field, huh?!) at Montana State U. at Bozeman. In her paper she reports that the plant "relieves respiratory spasms possibly by inhibiting histamine. This activity is likely due to flavonoids and other anti-inflammatory compounds in the root."

Herbs that Relieve Cough and Asthma: Pi Pa Ye

If ya have the hiccups, and a hot dry cough, come on over to my house and pluck yourself some Pi Pa Ye from the backyard.

枇杷叶
Pi Pa Ye

Pi = loquat
Pa = loquat
Ye = leaf

Loquat Leaf

Bitter
Neutral (some sources say cool)

Lung and STOMACH

Pi Pa Ye, the leaf of the loquat tree (which I have in my backyard, see pics, below) is helpful for transforming phlegm, and stopping cough, specifically from lung heat (which is why I think some sources say it is cool). This herb also travels to the STOMACH -- the only one of this category that does so. Therefore, it also clears stomach heat, and redirects stomach qi downward (belching, hiccups, heartburn, vomiting).

Pretty exciting to have it in my backyard all these years and finally realize what it is, and what its medicinal properties are.

The candidate for Pi Pa Ye is someone with a dry, hot cough. It acts as a sedative, expectorant, and antitussive (cough suppressant).

Dosage is typical, 6 - 15 g, but it can be used fresh at 15-30 g (remove the fuzz from the leaves). Can be prepared with ginger or honey. The seeds and small leaves, according to Wikipedia, are slightly poisonous, containing small amounts of cyanide, like its relative, the apple (though I think the apple poison is arsenic?). If you eat a large quantity of the fruit, they have a sedating effect that can last a day. Too bad our tree hasn't produced any fruit in ten years -- until this year it hatched just a couple of little deformed fruits.

The tree is indigenous to southeastern China, and also grows in my backyard in southwestern Berkeley:

Herbs that Relieve Cough and Asthma: Kuan Dong Hua

款冬花

Kuan = Welcome
Dong = Winter
Hua = Flower

Spicy (dispersing) and slightly warm (but not drying or draining)

Lung only

In English we call it coltsfoot. It blooms in late fall (hence, I'm guessing, the name), just at the time when a lot of people get sick.

It will moisten the lungs, direct lung qi downward, and transform phlegm. That's important. The phlegm part. For a cough, wheeze, hot or cold cough, excess or deficient. Very versatile this pretty little herb is.

In Western terms, it's a relaxant (for uncontrollable cough, bronchial spasms), a bronchodilator, expectorant, anti-inflammatory, and demulcent. Seems like a good bet for any kind of cough.

It does contain a carcinogen, however, and therefore is restricted in some countries. High doses may cause liver cancer. Typical dosage is from 4.5-9 grams. Widely used in China due to the poor air quality.

Herbs that Relieve Cough and Asthma: Sang Bai Pi

桑白皮
Sang Bai Pi = Mulberry White Bark

For the "Big Hot Cough"

Diuretic (Pi = Pee)

Lung only
Sweet
COLD

Drains lungs & fluids (treats edema)
CI: Cough from lung cold

* Cough and wheezing with yellow sputum (the "Big Hot Cough")


* Sang Bai Pi relieves edema - especially around the eyes


* Sang Bai Pi makes you pee.


Lung is metal. When it is in excess, it requires draining of the child, water. This doesn't exactly make sense to me, except that maybe the overflow of metal onto water blocks the water from draining?

And finally, Sang Bai Pi provides relief from hypertension, or Liver Yang Rising, depending on which language you are speaking.

Herbs that Relieve Cough and Asthma: Bai Bu

Bai Bu: Moistening yin def. coughs, getting rid of fleas!



百部
Bai Bu = "Hundred Parts"

Lung only
Sweet, bitter, slightly warm
Acute and chronic coughs
3-9 grams ("in 20-30 percent of patients [bai bu] leads to some mild adverse reactions...burning in the chest, dryness of mouth, nasal, or throat mucosa, dizziness, tightness of chest, rapid breathing, anorexia, abdominal pain, or diarrhea")
CI: loose stools, spleen deficiency


A superstar at directing lung qi downward, for all sorts of coughs, Bai Bu is especially good for yin deficient / chronic cough.

This herb seems to be whatever you want it to be. Instead of "Hundred Parts" perhaps it should be called "Hundred Faces," kind of like Lon Chaney, the man of a hundred faces from the classic horror movies.
Above, Lon Chaney, otherwise known (on this blog at least) as Bai Bu. Is he coughing or did he just learn he has lice?

There is disagreement about its temperature, some saying slightly cold, some saying slightly warm (Bensky says slightly warm). It's good for chronic or acute, excess or deficient coughs. Because it is moistening, it excels at deficient coughs.

One this is for sure, though, and that is because Bai Bu a root that has many "rootlets" pointing downward, it is noted for being excellent at sending lung qi downwards.

The second function this herb is known for is scaring away parasites -- particularly if applied topically to someone with lice or fleas.

Relieve Cough and Asthma: Xing Ren

Xing Ren 杏仁 - Apricot Seed

Bitter, slightly warm, and slightly toxic, Xing Ren travels to the Lung and Large Intestine (METAL!), hence the picture of a sterling silver apricot, above.

Always good to know when an herb goes to the Lung and LI together. Then I can remember that it has something to do both with breathing as well as pooping -- in this case, Xing Ren helps to stop a cough, calms wheezing, and also moistens the intestines and bowels like a good little seed.


That's very straightforward and pretty easy to remember on its own I think. I did find a blog posting by an acupuncturist who used Xing Ren for a patient with a persistent cough. Here is the website (http://fivelements.com/blog/) and here is the entry:

Case History: Constant Cough

February 11, 2009 in Case Study, acupuncture, herbs | No comments

Alicia, a gamine, engaging woman from Brazil, came into my practice last August with a hacking, dry cough. She looked fatigued and had no energy. The cough had started in July of 2007, more than a year ago.

Even though her nose was dry and stuffy, fluid was running down her throat. It seemed to me like she had an allergic cough, aggravated by post-nasal drip. Her voice was often hoarse. I explained to Alicia that due to the length of her respiratory complaint, it would take repeated treatments and herbs to get her better. She agreed to come weekly at first.

After her first treatment, Alicia said she felt better some days; however, the previous night she had gotten no rest, due to the cough. Her throat was no longer so dry. Because the cough was still so bad, I decided to add a treatment point on the big toe, on the Liver meridian. In the Japanese style of acupuncture I follow, this point can be used to treat the phrenic nerve, the nerve that controls the diaphragm. Constant irritation of this nerve through the spastic contraction of the diaphragm can increase the need to cough.

Herbs for Alicia includes plant medicinals such as Apricot seed (Xing Ren) and Winter melon seed (Gou Lo Ren) to moisten the lungs, dried orange peel (Chen Pi) to redirect ascending lung energy, and Ginseng and Astragalus to strengthen the lungs.

By the third treatment she was much better. She continued with acupuncture for most of the fall, and also reported her anxiety was alleviated.