Detailed Product Description

Liquorice (gan cao)

Radix Glycyrrhizae

Properties: The herb is sweet in flavour, neutral in nature, and acts on the heart, spleen and lung channels. Being sweet, neutral, moist, not dry for invigoration Qi, and mild in effect, it is a typical herb with many effects of sweet flavour, such as tonifying the heart and spleen, moistening he lung, relieving spasm, clearing toxic substances and harmonizing other herbs. The herb is indicated for deficiency of the heart-qi and spleen-qi, dryness of the lung, cough, food poisoning, drug intoxication swelling of pharynx, toxic sore and other syndromes, and also for relieving spasm, alleviating pain, alleviating toxic and drastic properties of other herbs.

Effects: Tonifying the heart and spleen, moistening the lung to arrest cough, purging fire to remove toxins, relieving spasm to alleviate pain, and moderating other herbs.

Indications:

1. It is often used in combination with ginseng, white atractylodes rhizome and poria, such as Sijunzi Decoction, for deficiency of the spleen and stomach; and with cinnamom twig, ginseng, donkey-hide gelatin, ophiopogon root and other herbs for invigorating Qi, nourishing Yin and restoring pulse, such as Zhi Gancao Decoction, for deficiency of the heart-qi, palpitation, uneasiness and slow pulse with irregular intervals.

2. It is used in combination with ephedra and bitter apricot kernal to treat cough due to pathogenic wind-cold; with mulberry leaf, platycodon root, chrysanthemum flower and other herbs to treat cough due to pathogenic wind-heat; with gypsum, ephedra and bitter apricot kernel to treat dyspnea due to lung-heat;and with tangerine peel, pinellia tuber and poria to treat deficiency of the spleen. abundant expectoration, cough and asthma.

3. It is often used in combination with honeysuckle flower, dahurian angelica root, frankincense, pangolin scales and other medicines for clearing toxins and eliminating swelling, to treat sore, carbuncle and pyogenic infections; and with platycodon root to treat sore throat.

4. It is often used in combination with lophatherum, fiveleaf akebia, plantain seed and other herbs, to treat pain in dribbling urination; and with white peony root for relieving spasm and alleviating pain, such as Shaoyao Gancao Decoction and Xiao Jianzhong Decoction, to treat cold of deficiency type, gastric pain, deficiency of blood, spasm and pain of muscles.

In addition, The herb can also be used to buffer and detoxicate other medicines and food.

Dosage and Administration: 3-10g. Used unprepared for clearing heat and toxic substances, and used stir-baked with auxiliary fluid mainly for others.

Precautions: The herb is antagonistic to kansui root, knoxia root, genkwa flower and seaweed, Large dosage can cause edema.