Pinyin: Gou Qi Zi  Chinese: 枸杞子
Pharmaceutical: Fructus Lycii
Taxonomy: Lycium barbarum seu chinense
English: Goji Berries / Wolfberries / Boxthorn Berries

Tastes: Sweet, neutral
Meridians Entered: Liver and Kidney

Actions & Indications:

1. Nourishes and tonifies Liver and Kidney Blood and Yin
   Blood and Yin Deficiency with sore back and legs, low-grade abdominal pain, impotence, nocturnal emissions, wasting and thirsting disorder and consumption
   Liver and Kidney Deficiency
   Added to baths during spring to promote skin health and delay aging
2. Benefits Jing and brightens the eyes
   Liver and Kidney Deficiency where Jing and Blood cannot nourish eyes with dizziness, blurred vision and diminished visual acuity
3. Nourishes Yin and moistens the Lungs
   Consumptive cough and wasting and thirsting disorder

Standard Dosage: 10-15g in decoction.
Cautions: In vitro testing suggests that unidentified wolfberry phytochemicals in goji tea may inhibit metabolism of other medications, such as those processed by the cytochrome P450 liver enzymes. Such drugs include warfarin, or drugs for diabetes or hypertension. However, no in vivo statistics support this.

Pinyin: Long Yan Rou  Chinese: 龙眼肉
Pharmaceutical: Arillus Longan
Taxonomy: Dimocarpus longan
English: Longan Fruit

Tastes: Sweet, warm
Meridians Entered: Heart and Spleen

Actions & Indications:

1. Tonifies and augments the Heart and Spleen, nourishes the Blood and calms the Spirit
   Insomnia, palpitations, forgetfulness and dizziness due to Heart and Spleen Deficiency
   It is commonly used for problems associated with over thinking or overwork (can be taken alone as a tea)
2. Aids fasting
   Mentioned in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing as part of the middle class of herbs which can, with protracted taking, strengthen the Hun sharpen senses, make the body light, prevent forgetfulness and enable one to communicate with the Spirit Light (Shen Ming 神明). This may suggest it was part of supplementing the diet when engaging in an "avoiding grain" (Bigu 辟穀) fasting regime to cultivate life (Yangsheng 養生).

Standard Dosage: 10-15g in decoction.

Pinyin: Nu Zhen Zi  Chinese: 女貞子
Pharmaceutical: Fructus Ligustri Lucidi
Taxonomy: Ligustrum Lucidim
English: Glossy Privet Fruit

Tastes: Sweet, bitter, cool
Meridians Entered: Liver and Kidney

Actions & Indications:

1. Nourishes and tonifies Liver and Kidney Yin
   Kidney and Liver Yin Deficiencies with dizziness, spots before the eyes, lower back soreness, premature graying of the hair and tinnitus
2. Clears Deficiency Heat
   Yin Deficiency with Empty Fire Rising
3. Improves vision
   Diminished visual acuity in those with Liver and Kidney Deficiencies
4. Aids fasting
   Mentioned in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing as part of the superior class of herbs which can, with protracted taking, make one fat and strong, the body light and prevent forgetfulness. This may suggest it was part of supplementing the diet when engaging in an "avoiding grain" (Bigu 辟穀) fasting regime to cultivate life (Yangsheng 養生).

Standard Dosage: 10-15g in decoction. Alcohol extracts may be preferable to extract the oleanolic and ursolic acid content.

Pinyin: Sheng Di Huang  Chinese: 生地黃
Pharmaceutical: Radix Rehmanniae
Taxonomy: Rehmannia glutinosa
English: Chinese Foxglove Root / Rehmannia Root

Tastes: Sweet, bitter, cold
Meridians Entered: Heart, Liver, Stomach and Kidney

Actions & Indications:

1. Clears Heat and cools the Blood
   Ying Stage Heat with high fever, thirst and a scarlet tongue
   Xue Stage Heat
   Hemorrhage due to Blood Heat
2. Nourishes Yin, generates fluids, increases saliva and treats wasting and thirsting
   Yin Deficiency with Heat signs
   Injury to fluids
   Throat pain due to Yin Deficiency
   Wasting and thirsting disorder (消渴 Xiao Ke - diabetes)
3. Cools Heart Fire
   Heart Fire
4. Calms the Spirit agitated by Parasites damaging the Yin
   Gu Sydnrome (Fruehauf, 1998)
   Chronic inflammatory disease (Fruehauf, 2015)
5. Breaks up Blood Stasis, expels Cold and Hot Bi, replenishes Bone Marrow and promotes the growth of Muscles and Flesh
   Broken bones or severed sinews from falls and a damaged center (Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing)
6. Aids fasting
   Mentioned in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing as part of the superior class of herbs which can, with protracted taking, make the body light, and prevent forgetfulness. This may suggest it was part of supplementing the diet when engaging in an "avoiding grain" (Bigu 辟穀) fasting regime to cultivate life (Yangsheng 養生).

Standard Dosage: 10-15g in decoction.
Cautions: It is contraindicated in cases of diarrhea, abdomen distention due to spleen deficiency.

Pinyin: Yin Yang Huo / Xian Ling Pi  Chinese: 淫羊藿 / 仙靈脾
Pharmaceutical: Herba Epimedii
Taxonomy: Epimedium brevicornum, sagittatum, pubescens seu koreanum
English: Horny Goat Weed / Barrenwort / Bishop's Hat / Fairy's Wings

Tastes: Sweet, pungent, warm
Meridians Entered: Kidney and Liver

Actions & Indications:

1. Tonifies the Kidneys, strengthens Yang and increases the libido
   Kidney Yang Deficiency with impotence, infertility, urinary frequency, forgetfulness, withdrawal and painful, Cold lower back and knees
2. Dispels Wind-Cold-Dampness and warms and unblocks the flow of Yang Qi (strengthens the sinews and bones)
   Wind-Cold-Damp Bi with spasms, or cramps in the hands and feet, joint pain and numbness in the extremities Contractures, numbness or hemiplegia following Wind-Stroke

Standard Dosage: 5-15g in decoction.

Pinyin: Lu Dou  Chinese: 綠豆
Pharmaceutical: Vigna radiata
Taxonomy: Vigna radiata
English: Mung Bean

Tastes: Sweet, cold
Meridians Entered: Heart and Stomach

Actions & Indications:

1. Resolves Summerheat and relieves thirst
   Summerheat patterns of irritability and fever, especially when thirst is an important symptom. Often made into a tea in summer to prevent Summerheat
2. Clears Heat and resolves Toxicity
   Toxic sores and swellings (ground and applied externally)
   Skin eruptions and rashes in children (ground into a powder and take as a tea)
3. Detoxifies poisons
   Poisoning from toxic herbs such as Fu Zi, Chuan Wu, Ba Dou or alcohol
   Countering the side-effects from toxic medicines, such as chemotherapy
   Poisoning from organophosphorus pesticides and lead
   Mung bean soup is also used in China as an emergency medicine for all kinds of poisoning while awaiting hospital treatment (A+ Medical Encyclopedia).

Standard Dosage: 15-30g in decoction.
Cautions: It is contraindicated for deficiency-cold of spleen and stomach.

Beans generally have a high FODMAP score (George Eats, April 2024). Mung beans have a low FODMAP score in serving of around 50g, suggesting that they should still be eaten with caution in cases of abdominal distention and swelling due to Spleen Dampness.

Pinyin: Zhu Zhi Gao  Chinese: 猪脂膏
Pharmaceutical: Lardum
English: Lard

Tastes: Sweet, cool

Actions:
Tonify deficiency, moisten dryness and remove toxicity.

Indications:
Dry cough, constipation, chapped skin

Standard Dosage:
Cautions: It is contraindicated in case of loose stool and exogenous disease. Avoid eating with plum.

Pinyin: Jiu  Chinese: 酒
Pharmaceutical: Alcohol
English: Rice Wine

Tastes: Hot, pungent, sweet, bitter, toxic
Meridians Entered: Stomach, Heart, Lung and Liver, but reaches every part of the body

Actions & Indications:

1. Nourishes and moves Blood and Qi, opens the Meridians
   Taken internally or applied topically as the medium for liniments in Blood stasis, especially from trauma or Bi syndromes in the elderly
2. Warms Yang and Expels Cold
   All Cold syndromes including Cold Bi, Interior Cold and Yang deficiency
   Often serves as the basis for longevity "elixirs" by soaking Yang tonifying herbs
3. Strengthens the Shen, dispels sorrow and promotes happiness
   Temporary low mood, celebration

Standard Dosage: 10-60ml, two to three times per day. Often combined with other herbs to bring out their Blood moving or warming aspects by washing them, or adding to a decoction, or soaking herbs in alcohol to make medicinal wines.
Cautions: Caution with Damp-Heat syndromes or long term consumption in the young and middle aged.

The Materia Dietetica (Shiwu Bencao 食物本草) by Lu He 卢和 from the Ming Dynasty says that excess drinking can hurt the spirit and consume blood, damage the stomach and deplete the body fluid, produce phlegm and induce fire.