EJiao:
sweet, neural and enters the kidney, liver and lung channels
1. Tonifies liver blood
2. Moistens the lung yin
3. Replineshes kidney essence
4. Stops bleeding
Substitute:
Gou Qi Zi (goji berries)- does funciton 1,2,3 and also nourishes kidney yin. This herb is sweet, cool and enters the liver and heart channels
Xian He Cao- does funtion 2 and 3 and also stops chronic diarrhea and vaginal discharge from damp heat. (this herb is bitter, acrid, neutral, and enters the liver, spleen lung)
Dong Chong Xia Cao (cordyceps)- does function 2,3- also gently tonifies kidney yang, stops cough, wheezing and sweating.** This is sweet, slightly warm, and enters the lung and kidney (if you use this herb in combination with one or both of the previous herbs it will make the temperature neutral like Ejiao. Otherwise it will be slightly cool. This herb also enters the kidney channel while the others do not.
Ge jie- salty, neutral, LU, K
1. Fortifies kidney yang
2. Tonifies lung qi
3. Augments essence
4. Calms wheezing and coughs
Substitutions:
Bu Gu Zhi- does function 1, 3, 4- helps the kidney grasp lung qi to help wheezing or coughing (this herb is bitter, pungent, very warm and enters kidney and spleen channels)
Hu Tao Ren (walnut)- does funtion 2,3,4 and also moistens the intestines. (sweet, warm, and enters kidney, lung, large intestine channels)
*These herbs are almost always used together although Bu Gu Zhi could almost entirely replace all the funtions of Ge Jie with the exception of Hu Tao Ren tonifying the lung more.
* this substitution is warm-very warm and there is no salty quality however in the commentary of the Materia Medica it states that ge jie is "strongly warming to the kidney yang". If you patient has an issue with heat you could also add Bo He (mint) to clear and disperse heat and circulate lung qi to treat wheezing and coughs.
If you have any suggestions please comment!
Turtle
Luckily there are effective substitutes which cover the functions of turtle entirely so using this product is not necessary.
Gui Ban Replacement:
Shu Di Huang- nourishes yin and blood. Added function to augments essence
Dai Zhi Shi- subdues yang and cools the blood to stop bleeding
Du Zhong- supplements kidneys and strengthens bones, very good for dizziness
Bei Jie Replacement:
Niu Xi- tonifies liver and kidney, invigorates blood
Gou Teng- extinguishes wind. Added function to clear liver fire
OR...
Nu Zhen Zi- nourishes kidney and liver yin
Gou Teng- extinguishes wind. Added function of clearing liver fire
Dan Shen- invigorates blood. Added function of cooling the blood and calming shen )
Antelope Horn: Ling Yang Jiao
Formulas this is in:
Zi Xie Dan for warm febrile disease
Ling Qiao Du Pian for wind heat toxicity
Substitutes:
Sheng Di Huang- H, LR, K sweet bitter cold- clears heat, cools the blood, enriches yin, clears heart fire *See research study below*
Huang Lian- H LR ST LI, bitter and cold- drains fire, clears heat and dries dampness, clears heat and stops bleeding, clears toxins
Modern synthetic products to reduce fever: aspirin, acetaminophen, Ibuprofen
Research in the 1990's by Paul But phD, professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, performed experiments to test the effectiveness of rhino horn and some of its alternatives. He found that rhino horn, or high doses of buffalo horn, could reduce fever and counter toxins, as could a combination of herbs without any type of horn. Based on this study they found Rehmannnia glutinosa (Sheng Di Huang) and Coptis chinesis (Huang Lian) as acceptable botanical substitutes.
A survey of herbal practitioners in 2002 found that Sheng Di Huang was the most common botanical substitute for Rhino horn.
Botanical substitutes have added benefits because the provide antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties in which Rhino horn did not.
Of course there are modern synthetic products such as aspirin, acetaminophen and ibuprofen which alleviate fevers that are easily accessible and affordable too.
RSS Feed