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TCM Treasures - Desmodium (金钱草)
By Zhang Qian |
November 18, 2011, Friday
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DESMODIUM is a widely used herb for treating kidney and gallbladder stones in TCM. With its leaves shaped like an ancient Chinese coin, it is named "jinqian cao" (literally money grass).
It is said that there was no effective cure for stones before the herb was discovered. A loving couple was separated when the husband died from severe pain out of nowhere. A doctor found a stone in the man's gallbladder. His wife put it in a string bag and took it with her everywhere.
Surprisingly, she found the rock had nearly dissolved after cutting grass on a mountain. The doctor heard the news and asked her to show him where she cut the grass, hoping to find a herb that had helped dissolve the stone.
He took samples of all the different grasses on the hillside. Then the doctor tried the stone on every kind of grass until he found it was the coin-like herb that had dissolved the stone.
The grass is common in southern China, maturing in summer and autumn. It can be used as a "cold" TCM herb after processing, which travels through the energy channels in the liver, gallbladder, kidney and bladder. It can help promote urination, dispel pathogenic heat, resolve stagnation, relieve inflammation and dissolve stones.
Prescriptions & Usage:
For mumps and skin wounds
? Mash the fresh jinqian cao (desmodium) and apply it directly on the wounds or inflamed part.
For bladder stones
? Cook herbal decoction with 25g desmodium, 25g longxu cao (Chinese alpine rush) and 25g cheqian cao (plantain).
? Drink once a day.
For kidney inflammation
? Cook herbal decoction with 50g desmodium, 50g common knotgrass, 25g shepherd's purse inflorescene and water.
? Drink once a day.
It is said that there was no effective cure for stones before the herb was discovered. A loving couple was separated when the husband died from severe pain out of nowhere. A doctor found a stone in the man's gallbladder. His wife put it in a string bag and took it with her everywhere.
Surprisingly, she found the rock had nearly dissolved after cutting grass on a mountain. The doctor heard the news and asked her to show him where she cut the grass, hoping to find a herb that had helped dissolve the stone.
He took samples of all the different grasses on the hillside. Then the doctor tried the stone on every kind of grass until he found it was the coin-like herb that had dissolved the stone.
The grass is common in southern China, maturing in summer and autumn. It can be used as a "cold" TCM herb after processing, which travels through the energy channels in the liver, gallbladder, kidney and bladder. It can help promote urination, dispel pathogenic heat, resolve stagnation, relieve inflammation and dissolve stones.
Prescriptions & Usage:
For mumps and skin wounds
? Mash the fresh jinqian cao (desmodium) and apply it directly on the wounds or inflamed part.
For bladder stones
? Cook herbal decoction with 25g desmodium, 25g longxu cao (Chinese alpine rush) and 25g cheqian cao (plantain).
? Drink once a day.
For kidney inflammation
? Cook herbal decoction with 50g desmodium, 50g common knotgrass, 25g shepherd's purse inflorescene and water.
? Drink once a day.
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