Herbs 3 Review: Herbs that Tonify Yang

What disease do I have? Your body is already weak. You need to be careful of over-exaggerating. You are not good at keeping water. You are a man of your word. You are not fit to serve. Am I sick? Be honest. What can I do to be fit? You are not fit. 100 taels for the treatment. What? Lurong and Gejie Lurong is deer antler Gejie is gecko These are both animal parts so we mark their flavor as salty by tradition. These are two very strong tonics not only for kidney yang but for kidney essence as well. They are used for things like weakness, atrophy of the limbs, and impaired development. Because of their nature, we usually don't cook them in decoction. They are usually taken as either a pill or soaked in alcohol. Next, we have a group of herbs that tonify kidney yang to treat certain respiratory problems such as asthma, wheezing, and shortness of breath. The idea here is that when kidney yang is deficient, it can't reach up and grasp the lung qi that's trying to descend. So Gejie and Dongchong Xiacao are the most famous ones for this purpose. But true Dongchong Xiacao is so prohibitively expensive it's probably out of reach for most of our patients. Our other herbs in this group are yinyanghuo, buguzhi, and hetaoshan. So this is something we want to remember. These are the herbs in this category that treat lung conditions due to kidney yang deficiency. Roucongrong, like everything else in the category, it tonifies kidney yang. What makes it stand out is it also moistens the large intestine to relieve constipation. I've had some students say they remember this by looking at the herb sample and saying Roucongrong looks like poop therefore it makes you poop. I think that's pretty weird but if it helps you remember, go for it. But this is actually an important function. We have a formula called Jichuanjian, benefit the river decoction. And this one specifically treats constipation due to kidney yang deficiency. And Roucongrong is there as the chief herb. So Roucongrong is good for constipation. Suoyang literally means locking yang in Chinese. So in tonifying kidney yang, its specialty is for locking in leakage for things like frequent urination, incontinence, seminal emission, vaginal discharge, things like that. And actually we have quite a few herbs in this category that have this specialty. Suoyang, Buguzhi, Yizhiren, Tusizi, all of these tonify kidney to prevent leakage. But Suoyang has this function in its name, so definitely remember Suoyang is good for kidney leakage. Next we have a group of herbs that tonify the kidney and lower high blood pressure. The first two, Yinyanghuo and Xianmao are used together in a formula called Erxiantang, two immortals decoction. This is a modern formula that was created specifically to treat hypertension in menopausal women. So Yinyanghuo and Xianmao were chosen as the chief herbs because they tonify the kidney and lower high blood pressure. Yinyanghuo also goes by the name Xianlingpi, so that's why we call the formula Erxiantang. Duzhong also lowers high blood pressure and it's commonly used as a single herb because of other important functions that we'll get into later. Next we have a group of herbs that expel wind-cold-damp to treat B-syndrome. So Yinyanghuo, Bajitian, Gouji, and Xianmao all expel wind-cold-damp to treat B-syndrome. But all of these herbs are part of a larger group with the action tonify liver and kidney in to strengthen tendon and bone. So these herbs enter the kidney channel to strengthen bones and they enter the liver channel to nourish the tendons. Some of them we can remember just by their name. Gouji means dog spine. It's not actually dog spine, but the idea is if you take this herb regularly then your spine will become as strong as a dog's. Duzhong is the bark of the Chinese rubber tree. It contains naturally occurring latex. So if you get the actual herb, you can stretch it apart and it kind of looks like tendons. So this is a way you can remember that Duzhong strengthens tendon and bones. Many people say that this is the number one herb for strengthening the low back and treating low back pain. Shuduan means reconnect the broken. So it's good for bone fracture and injury and trauma. Gusuibu means bone fracture mender. So it's good for bone fracture and injury and trauma. Huluba is fenugreek seed. This is a common spice in Indian cooking. The hu in huluba means foreign or barbarian. So that tells us that this herb is not native to China. It tonifies kidney yang and it's good for cold limbs, cold body temperature, abdominal pain due to coldness, and it treats what we call Shan disorder or mounting pain or bulging disorder. This is basically pain due to hernia. Bugujer and Yijuren stand out in this category because they both enter the spleen channel, warming spleen yang to treat diarrhea. Bugujer is especially important because it appears as the chief herb in Sishenwang for miracle pill. This is a formula specifically for diarrhea due to yang deficiency. Yijuren is interesting because it's indicated for excessive salivation. The name literally means increase intelligent seed. So this isn't a very nice thing to say, but the name comes from this perception that people who drool a lot are not intelligent. This herb doesn't actually make you any smarter, it just makes you drool less. Next we have Hetaoshan, which is walnut. Walnut is never used in any formula. It's only used in food therapy. It tonifies kidney yang and it warms the lung, so it treats that condition of kidney not grasping lung chi. Also, it looks like a brain, so it treats brain problems like Alzheimer's and dementia. And it's a nut, so it has oils that can gently lubricate the large intestine to relieve constipation. So again, you'll never see this in any formula, but it's something that you can recommend to your patients as a food therapy. It's something that's gentle and can be taken long term. Our next group, Duzhong, Shuduan, and Tusizi, all calm restless fetus to prevent miscarriage. We've learned a few herbs with this function so far, like Huangqin, Sharan, and Baiju. And now we have three more. We have a formula specifically for this purpose called Taishan Panshisan. The story here is, Taishan is a mountain in China. And on the top of Taishan, there's a famous boulder called Panshir that's been there for thousands of years and it's never fallen over. So the idea is, if you take this formula, your pregnancy will be as stable as the rock on Taishan Mountain. So the formula basically consists of Qi tonics, blood tonics, and then a bunch of our herbs that calm restless fetus. Tusizi, like we said, tonifies kidney yang, stops leakage, calms restless fetus. But the thing that makes this one stand out is it tonifies liver and kidney yin to brighten the eyes. Remember, there are three major ways to brighten the eyes. Expel wind heat invasion, clear liver heat, subdue liver yang rising, and tonify yin and blood. So Tusizi definitely belongs to the third category, along with other herbs we've learned, like Gojitsu and Shirhu. And finally, Ziheqi is human placenta. It tonifies everything. Qi, blood, yin, yang, it's pretty much just good for tonifying everything. So that's herbs that tonify yang. It's a big category, but hopefully breaking it down into groups makes it a little bit easier to understand. That's it for now. See you next time.