Licorice is the dried roots and rhizomes of the leguminous plant Glycyrrhiza glabra, swollen-fruited licorice or light-fruited licorice, which is harvested in spring and fall, and is preferred to the ones harvested in the fall, with the whiskers and roots removed, dried in the sun, and to be sliced thickly, and used in raw form or with honey moxibustion.
Taste and flavor: sweet, flat. Attributed to the heart, lung, spleen, stomach meridian.
Functions: tonifying the spleen and qi, expelling phlegm and relieving cough, relieving pain, clearing heat and removing toxins, harmonizing all medicines, used for the weakness of the spleen and stomach, tiredness, palpitations, shortness of breath, cough and phlegm, epigastric, contractile pain in the limbs, carbuncle, swelling and sores, relieving toxicity of medicines, and potent.
Dosage: Decoction of 2-10g, raw, slightly cold, can clear heat and detoxification, honey moxibustion is slightly warm, and can enhance the tonic heart and spleen qi and moisturize the lungs to stop coughing.
6 White lentils to strengthen the spleen and dampness
White lentils for the legume lentil dry mature seeds, autumn, winter two seasons of harvesting mature fruits, sun-dried, take out the seeds, and then sun-dried, raw or fried.
Sex and flavor: sweet, slightly warm, to the spleen, stomach meridian.
Functions and Indications: Strengthening the spleen and resolving dampness, harmonizing the middle and eliminating summer heat, used for weak spleen and stomach, loss of appetite, loose stools, excessive leucorrhea, summer dampness, vomiting and diarrhea, chest tightness and abdominal distension, fried white lentils to strengthen the spleen and resolve the dampness, used for diarrhea in spleen deficiency, excessive leucorrhea.
Dosage: Decoction of 9-15 g. After frying, it can strengthen the spleen and stop diarrhea, so it is recommended to fry it for strengthening the spleen and stopping diarrhea and as a bulk dose.
7 Astragalus to replenish qi and Yang
Astragalus is the dried root of Astragalus membranaceus or Astragalus membranaceus of the leguminous plant family, spring and fall, digging, removing the roots and root head, drying, slicing, raw or honey moxibustion.
Characteristics: Sweet, slightly warm, attributed to the spleen, lung meridian.
Functions and Indications: tonifying qi and Yang, stopping sweating, inducing diuresis and swelling, promoting blood circulation, promoting stagnation and paralysis, supporting pus, convergence of sores and muscle growth. It is used in treating deficiency of qi and weakness, loose stools with scanty food, sinking of qi in the middle of the body, prolonged diarrhea and prolapse of the anus, bleeding in stool and leakage of blood, spontaneous sweating with deficiency of the surface, oedema with deficiency of qi, internal heat and thirst, atrophy and yellowing with deficiency of the blood, paralysis, paralyzing pain and numbness, carbuncles and gangrene, long-time ulcers and non-convergence.
Dosage: Decoction of 9-30g, honey moxibustion can enhance its effect of tonifying the middle and benefiting qi.