Properties: Sweet, astringent, cold

Meridans Entered:
Primary: Heart, Kidney, Liver, Spleen, Lung

1. Fortifies the Lungs and Spleen and tonifies Qi
   High altitude sickness
   Fatigue and sensations of weakness
2. Clears Lung Heat, nourishes Lung Yin and relieves cough
   Lung Heat cough: cough due to pneumonia, hematemesis, hemoptysis
   Lung Yin Deficiency: tuberculosis, bronchitis
3. Invigorates the Blood and transforms Stasis
   Blood Stasis from traumatic injury topically
   Topically for burns and scalds
4. Promotes contraction
   Abnormal vaginal discharge

Suggested Daily Dosage: 3-12g in decoction.

• Rosarin
  Cinnamyl alcohol glycoside only present in Rhodiola rosea, but not crenulata, believed responsible for many of the adaptogenic properties against neurodegenerative, digestive, respiratory and bone diseases (Wang et al., 2023).
• Salidroside
  Glycoside of tyrosol, present in all species of rhodiola believed responsible for protection from high altitude hypoxia through maintaining the integrity of the blood brain barrier and activating several mitochondrial homeostasis mechanisms (Hou et al., 2024; Hou et al., 2023; Yan et al., 2021) and possessing neuroprotective effects by protecting neurons against apoptosis (Wang et al., 2017).

Notes:

There are many subspecies of Rhodiola. Rhodiola rosea (Mei Gua Hong Jing Tian, 玫瑰紅景天) tends to be the dominant species on the market although crenulata (Da Hua Hong Jing Tian, 大花紅景天) was the species mainly used in Chinese medicine when it was introduced to the pharmacopoeia in the 1990s and is still a common adulterant despite not containing the rosarins believed to be the principle adaptogenic component.