Western Herbs According to Traditional Chinese Medicine by Thomas Avery Garran

Author:Thomas Avery Garran [Thomas Avery Garran]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inner Traditions / Bear & Company
Published: 2011-05-18T16:00:00+00:00

Plantain flower (P. lanceolata)

Translation of Source Material

Most practitioners are aware of chē qìán zĭ—Chinese plantain seed—a major component in many diuretic formulas. The leaf is known as chē qìán yè, a name that encompasses three species (P. asiatica, P. depressa, P. major). This medicinal is sweet and cold. It disinhibits water, clears heat, brightens the eyes, and dispels phlegm. It is used to treat urinary stoppage, strangury-turbidity, vaginal discharge, bloody urine, jaundice, water swelling [edema], heat dysentery, diarrhea, nosebleed, red swollen eyes, throat impediment nipple moth [acute tonsillitis], cough, and ulcerating sores on the skin.

Nettle

Urtica dioica, U. urens, and others

Urticaceae

Urticae Dioicae herba

Other common names include stinging nettle, dwarf nettle, qìán má (Chinese)

Flavor and Qì: salty, bland, slightly acrid, sweet, cool

Channels Entered: liver, lung, bladder

Actions: antirheumatic, astringent, diuretic, tonic

Functions and Indications

• Promotes urination, clears heat, and leaches out dampness. Nettle effectively treats accumulation of dampness anywhere in the body, with symptoms such as premenstrual water retention, urinary difficulty, edema, and joint stiffness. Nettle is also used for phlegm-damp obstructing the nasal passages. The herb disinhibits water through bland percolation and its cool nature clears heat. Its slightly acrid nature helps to disperse damp accumulation and address phlegm-damp obstructing the nasal passages.

• Expels wind-dampness and wind-heat. Nettle is used to treat obstruction of the channels by dampness causing pain and poor mobility of the joints. Nettle also expels wind-heat from the skin for rashes that are damp and hot in character. Nettle has a slightly acrid flavor and is cool in nature. It enters the channels and expels wind-dampness impediment. Due to its coolness, it is especially appropriate for hot conditions, but it can be employed in cold conditions with the appropriate formulation.

• Cools and nourishes the blood. The herb is helpful for treating excessive menstrual bleeding or midcycle spotting, coughing of blood, nosebleeds, or blood in the stool. Sweet in flavor and cool in nature, nettle enters the blood, gently cooling, nourishing, and helping to stop bleeding syndromes due to blood vacuity or heat entering the blood.

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