Observing 红景天/Hong Jing Tian/Rhodiola rosea in nature and in the clinic
红景天/Hong Jing Tian/Rhodiola rosea is currently blooming away and is quite the delight to witness against a clear blue sky.
My favorite VIP at Zhejiang Provincial Hospital is Dr. Wang. He practices a wonderfully nuanced form of internal medicine that is a synthesis of the many currents present in the Hangzhou medical culture with Dr. Wang’s own personal brilliance.
Recent additions to the herb blog collection - Withering, Harvest and Evaluation
Addressing the lack of objective standards for the quality control of Chinese Herbal Medicine
The linked article was my third prize winning entry into a contest run by UCLA's East
West Center for ideas on how to improve the quality and efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine in America.
Imaging the nature of transformation
This link is a photo journal designed to inspire introspection. The photos and words were collected during the course of 2015. I shot all of the photos on my iPhone but some of them are pretty good all the same.
Tai Chi is medication in motion
The mimosa flower is pleasing to the eye as well as the spirit
He Huan Hua/合欢花 first appeared in the Ben Cao Yan Yi/本草衍义 during the Song dynasty (1116AD). The consensus seems to be that it has sweet flavor and a balanced nature. It enters the heart and spleen channels equally. In the 本草便读/BenCaoYanYi it is said to nourish the blood. The 分类草药性/FenLeiCaoYaoXing states that it can purify the heart and brighten the eyes. The 四川中药志/SiChuanZhongYaoZhi states that it can unite the heart with the....
Exploring the toxicity and processing of Pinellia ternata – a common TCM medicinal known as Ban Xia/半夏
Starting with an examination into the notion of toxicity in the classic texts of Chinese medicine, we move on to an analysis of the molecular mechanism of Pinellia ternata induced toxicity and finally we look at how the traditional processing methods of TCM are used to eliminate this mechanism of toxicity.
Please click the link below to peruse the .pdf with the whole story.
A complete look at the discussion on Pinellia toxicity and processing
A comprehensive review of Fu Zi processing methods
One of the methods I was interested in was the method for Huang Fu Pian. I found a method in the Huo Shen Pai Book火神派扶阳第一要药/Huo Shen Pai Fu Yang Di Yi Yao Yao/Fire God Faction Support Yang Number One Demand Medicine about Huang Fu Pian
Huang Fu Pian/Huang Pian – Clean the Fu Zi, classically you would boil it in the mother liquid, steep in clean water that is repeatedly replaced until toxicity is reduced, eliminate the peel and any remnants of the root, cut into even slices, then use gan cao, sheng jiang, hong hua in equal amounts to make a medicinal liquid for soaking, dry with heat source, and then sun dry to completion; as a result of this process the Fu Pian slices should become yellow, therefore it is known as huang fu pian. End product is cross cut, has a circular or possibly oval form, without peel, has a protruding tumor that is the trace of the root. Diameter is 3.5 to 4 cm, thickness is 0.4 to 0.5 cm. Whole surface is yellow, cut surface can have polygons that are attributed to cambium rings, without oily face, only a glossy feel, opaque, some places of production use a red 5 pointed star stamp. Slight smell, bland taste, possibly has a slight prickly feeling in the throat.
For the rest go here.
Bai Zhu/Atractylodes macrocephala/白术
Popular for millennia, Atractylodes was used by the ancient Daoist sages as a foodstuff while they pursued transformation and immortality deep in secluded mountains. Today we use it to improve digestion.