- Region
- Asia
- Origin
- China
Asia · Herb · № 673
Rehmannia glutinosa
Herb · Asia
Rehmannia
Rehmannia glutinosa
Traditionally attributed effects: raw it cools the blood and nourishes yin; prepared (steamed with wine) it nourishes the blood and the kidney yin.
Safety notes
Not with diarrhoea, poor appetite or much phlegm from spleen deficiency; heavy to digest. Traditional use is no proof of effectiveness; if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medication or have a medical condition, consult a doctor or pharmacist.
Cautions by tradition (1)
- Chinese materia medica: Raw rehmannia not during pregnancy.
Preparation
Root, raw (sheng di huang) or prepared (shu di huang). Usually as a decoction, together with other herbs.
Use in traditions
Described in the classical Chinese materia medica, in the group 'herbs that cool the blood and blood tonics'. The raw root (sheng di huang) cools the blood; the black root steamed with wine (shu di huang) nourishes blood and yin. Shu di huang is the chief herb of Liu Wei Di Huang Wan and Si Wu Tang, and in Japan of Hachimijiogan. In Korea the root (jihwang) is an important tonic.
Applications
Use by tradition
How different herbal traditions describe this herb. Amounts are traditional guidelines checked for obvious errors; they are not medical advice. For poisonous plants no dosage is given on purpose.
Chinese materia medica
- Nature and taste
- sweet, bitter, cold (raw); sweet, slightly warm (prepared)
- Meridians
- heart, liver, kidney
Attributed effects
Raw: cools the blood in fever that has reached the blood (high fever, thirst, bleeding, red tongue), nourishes yin in mild fever and thirst from yin deficiency, cools heart fire in mouth ulcers and insomnia and is used in exhausting 'wasting-and-thirsting diseases' such as diabetes. Prepared: one of the most important blood tonics in anaemia, menstrual complaints and pallor, and nourishes the kidney yin in night sweats, tinnitus, early grey hair and lower back complaints.
Preparation and amount
Traditional dosage: 9–30 g a day, usually in a decoction. Prepared rehmannia is steamed with rice wine and repeatedly dried in the sun. Add cardamom or tangerine peel to prevent stagnation.
Combinations
- Prepared with dang gui, white peony and chuanxiong in si wu tang for blood deficiency
- Prepared with cornus and Chinese yam in liu wei di huang wan for kidney yin deficiency
- Raw with xuan shen and ophiopogon for fever that exhausts the yin
Caution: Raw rehmannia not during pregnancy.
- Ways to prepare herbs
- Decoction
- Formulas
- Ba wei di huang wan (jin gui shen qi wan)Ba zhen tangBai he gu jin tangDa ding feng zhuDao chi sanDu huo ji sheng tangJiao ai tangJing jie lian qiao tangJiu wei qiang huo tangLing yang gou teng tangLiu wei di huang wanLong dan xie gan tangMai men dong yin ziQi ju di huang wanQing hao bie jia tangQing wei sanQing ying tangShi quan da bu tangShu jing huo xue tangSi wu tangTai shan pan shi sanTian wang bu xin danXi jiao di huang tangXiao feng sanXiao ji yin ziXue fu zhu yu tangYi guan jianYou gui wanYu nu jianZeng ye tangZhi bai di huang wanZhi gan cao tangZhu sha an shen wanZuo gui wan