Clear Heat / Relieve Toxicity: Guan Ye Lian Qiao

Guan Ye Lian Qiao - St. John's Wort

Looking up the Chinese characters, I think this means:

Guan=link
Ye= leaf
Lian=connect/join
Qiao=elevate

Not in Bensky, not in our herb kit, but all over the Western world as an anti-depressant. Weird. And it's cautioned w/ SSRIs, and may increase photo sensitivity.

So, why is it in our list? Well, it is said to clear heat toxins, even though it is one of the four NEUTRAL herbs in this group. The heat clearing function helps with swellings, UTIs, eye redness, insect bites, tonsillitis. The only one of those that makes real sense to me is the eye redness (along with the photo sensitivity) -- these make sense because the only channel to which it travels is the LIVER.

Speaking of the Liver, it regulates Liver Qi (depression/anxiety). That makes sense, too, given its common usage.

It is also said to dispel wind-damp (muscle bi syndrome). The way I am thinking of this is if you have Lv Qi stagnation, you might get tightness in the muscles, so by regulating the LV Qi, it is also helping to dispel the bi syndrome in the muscles.

It is also said to stop bleeding. Coughing up blood, trauma.

It is bitter, spicy, and the first of our herbs to be astringent I do believe.