Rehmannia, Sheng Di Huang 生地黄

Chinese Foxglove
Sheng Di Huang (TCM)

Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, 1839

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Botanical name:
Rehmannia glutinosa

Parts used:
Dried, unprepared root
Note the prepared Root is Rehmannia Shu Di Huang

Temperature & Taste:
Cold, moist. Sweet, Bitter

Uses:
1. Clears Heat, Cools the Blood:
-Febrile diseases where heat has penetrated to the Blood with High Fever, Thirst, red Tongue, Mouth Ulcers, irritability
-Heat-type Bleeding including Hemorrhagic Fevers, Coughing or Vomiting Blood, Uterine Bleeding etc.
-also used for Heart Fire, Insomnia, Irritability

2. Nourishes Yin, Generates Fluids:
-low-grade Fever, Night-sweats
-Chronic Throat pain or inflammation
-signs of Yin-deficiency with Heat
-Wasting and Thirsting Disorder; Diabetes
-Chronic Constipation associated with dryness

DOSE:
In Decoction: 9–15 grams
Of the Powder: 1–4 grams

Main Combinations:
1. Chronic, sore, dry Throat; or Dry moist with red tongue and fast but weak pulse from Yin-deficient Heat, combined with Scrophularia Xuan Shen (Figwort root)
2. Heat with Blood deficiency, combined with Paeonia Bai Shao.
3. Heat symptoms with Yin deficiency and dryness, combined with Rehmannia Shu Di Huang.
4. Bleeding associated with Heat and Yin and/or Blood deficiency, with E Jiao (Ass-hide gelatin)
5. Amomum Sha Ren or Costus (Mu Xiang) is added to prescriptions with Rehmannia to avoid the heavy, cloying effect and promote digestion.

Major Formula:

Da Ding Feng Zhu
Bai He Gu Jin Tang
Dang Gui Liu Huang Tang
Du Huo Ji Sheng Tang
Ling Jiao Gou Teng Tang
Tian Wan Bu Xin Wan

Cautions:
1. Very damp and hard-to-digest; not used in Spleen deficiency with loose stool and abdominal fullness.
2. Avoid Onion, Garlic and Radish while using
3. Bezoar is said to antagonize Rehmannia Sheng Di Huang.

Main Preparations used:
Prepared Rehmannia Shu Di Huang