🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Heat-Clearing and Toxin-Removing Herbs
This category of herbs functions to clear internal heat, eliminate heat toxins, and cool the blood to reduce heat. They are primarily used for individuals with heat-prone constitutions or conditions involving internal heat.
① Scrophularia Root
Scrophularia root is the root of Scrophularia ningpoensis or Scrophularia orientalis (family Scrophulariaceae), containing scrophularin, iridoid glycosides, essential oils, alkaloids, etc. Pharmacological studies have shown that water extracts, alcohol extracts, and decoctions of Scrophularia all exhibit hypotensive effects; Scrophularia also has vasodilatory and cardiotonic actions; various Scrophularia extracts possess antispasmodic and anticonvulsant properties.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), it is considered cold in nature and sweet-bitter in taste. It nourishes yin, reduces fire, cools blood, and detoxifies. It is suitable for symptoms such as fever-induced thirst, petechiae, night sweats, spontaneous sweating, dehydration, constipation due to body fluid deficiency, and sore throat.
Dosage: 6–12 grams; contraindicated for those with loose stools or excessive phlegm-dampness.
② Cassia Seed
Cassia seed is the seed of Cassia obtusifolia or Cassia tora (family Fabaceae), containing anthraquinone glycosides, cassia glucoside, vitamin A, etc. Pharmacological tests show that Cassia seed lowers blood pressure and serum cholesterol levels; it also exhibits antibacterial activity and mild laxative effects.
In TCM, it is slightly cold in nature and sweet-bitter in taste. It clears liver heat, improves vision, promotes diuresis, and relieves constipation. It is effective for red, painful eyes, photophobia, and excessive tearing caused by liver heat or wind-heat in the liver meridian. Additionally, it is beneficial in treating hypertension, hepatitis, cirrhosis with ascites, and habitual constipation.
Dosage: 3–9 grams, crushed and decocted.
③ Lycium Bark
Lycium bark is the root bark of Lycium barbarum (family Solanaceae), containing cinnamic acid, various phenolic compounds, betaine, linoleic acid, etc. Lycium bark has significant antipyretic effects; its decoction can lower blood glucose, reduce serum cholesterol, and protect against fatty liver; its extract significantly reduces blood pressure in animals.
In TCM, it is cold in nature and sweet-mild in taste. It cools blood, removes feverish heat, and clears lung heat. It is used for symptoms such as tidal fever due to deficiency, night sweats, cough with wheezing from lung heat, hemoptysis, epistaxis, abscesses, carbuncles, and hypertension.
Dosage: typically 3–9 grams.
④ Reed Rhizome
Reed rhizome is the underground stem of Phragmites australis (family Poaceae), containing coixol and asparagine.
In TCM, it is cold in nature and sweet in taste. It clears heat, generates body fluids, relieves irritability, stops vomiting, and promotes urination. It is used for heat diseases causing body fluid depletion, irritability and thirst, stomach heat with vomiting, dysphagia, gastroesophageal reflux, and lung heat cough or lung abscess.
Dosage: dry form, 9–30 grams; fresh form, 15–40 grams.
⑤ Forsythia Fruit
Forsythia fruit is the fruit of Forsythia suspensa (family Oleaceae), containing essential oils, forsythol, flavonoid glycosides, alkaloids, etc. Pharmacological studies indicate that Forsythia has broad-spectrum antibacterial effects; forsythol may be the main antimicrobial component. Forsythia also has anti-inflammatory, antiemetic, diuretic, and cardiotonic actions; its flavonoid glycosides enhance capillary resistance, thus effectively stopping bleeding from capillary rupture, subcutaneous hemorrhage, etc.
In TCM, it is slightly cold in nature and bitter in taste. It clears heat and detoxifies, disperses nodules, and reduces swelling. It is used for warm-heat diseases, erysipelas, maculopapular rashes, carbuncles, toxic swellings, and allergic purpura.
Dosage: generally 6–9 grams.
⑥ Moutan Bark
Moutan bark is the root bark of Paeonia suffruticosa (family Ranunculaceae), containing paeonol, paeonol glycoside, essential oils, and plant sterols. Pharmacological tests show that Moutan bark lowers blood pressure; it also has analgesic, sedative, anti-inflammatory, and antipyretic effects; it strongly inhibits various pathogenic bacteria.
In TCM, it is cool in nature and bitter-pungent in taste. It clears heat, cools blood, harmonizes blood, and resolves stasis. It is used for heat invading the blood, petechiae, convulsions, hematemesis, carbuncles, and injuries from falls or blows.
Dosage: 5–9 grams; contraindicated for those with spleen-stomach deficiency-cold or diarrhea.
⑦ Anemarrhena Rhizome
Anemarrhena rhizome is the rhizome of Anemarrhena asphodeloides (family Liliaceae), containing multiple saponins, flavonoids, mangiferin, etc. Tests show that Anemarrhena has obvious antipyretic effects and is highly effective for hemorrhagic fever, Japanese encephalitis, and tuberculous tidal fever.
In TCM, it is cold in nature and sweet-bitter in taste. It clears heat and fire, nourishes yin, and moistens dryness. It is used for lung heat cough or yin-deficiency cough, irritability and thirst, tidal fever due to deficiency, difficulty in urination, and hard stool.
Dosage: generally 6–9 grams; contraindicated for those with kidney yang deficiency, weak pulse at the two cun positions, or loose stools.
⑨ Isatis Root
Isatis root is the root of Isatis indigotica or Stellaria media (family Brassicaceae), containing indigo glycoside, indican B, β-sitosterol, etc. Isatis root has significant antiviral activity; it inhibits various pathogenic bacteria and leptospira. Clinically, oral or intramuscular administration of Isatis root decoction shows remarkable efficacy in treating Japanese encephalitis; it also has certain effects on acute and chronic hepatitis, alleviating symptoms and improving liver function. Using Isatis root to treat viral skin diseases such as herpes simplex, herpes zoster, pityriasis rosea, and flat warts yields varying degrees of therapeutic effect.
In TCM, it is cold in nature and bitter in taste. It clears heat and detoxifies, cools blood, and soothes the throat. It is used for influenza, encephalitis, pneumonia, erysipelas, heat-toxin eruption, red eyes, and herpes.
Dosage: generally 5–9 grams; not recommended for those with spleen-stomach deficiency-cold.
⑨ Honeysuckle Flower
Honeysuckle flower is the flower bud of Lonicera japonica (family Caprifoliaceae), containing chlorogenic acid, inositol, flavonoids, etc. Pharmacological tests confirm that honeysuckle has anti-inflammatory and antipyretic effects; it inhibits influenza virus and various pathogenic bacteria, as well as dermatophytes, reflecting its heat-clearing and detoxifying properties.
In TCM, it is cold in nature and sweet in taste. It clears heat and detoxifies. It is used for febrile diseases with high fever, heat-toxin dysentery, boils, carbuncles, and furuncles due to excessive heat toxicity.
Dosage: generally 6–12 grams; not recommended for those with deficiency-cold diarrhea or sores discharging clear pus without heat-toxin.
⑩ Prunella Herb
Prunella herb is the flower or whole plant of Prunella vulgaris (family Lamiaceae), containing triterpenoid saponins and their aglycones (oleanolic acid), essential oils, vitamins, potassium chloride, etc. Pharmacological research confirms that the entire herb has hypotensive effects; its decoction shows varying degrees of inhibition against common dermatophytes, and also inhibits various pathogenic bacteria.
In TCM, it is cold in nature and bitter-pungent in taste. It clears liver fire, disperses stagnation, and lowers blood pressure. It is used for red, swollen eyes, eye pain, photophobia, tearing, headache, dizziness due to liver fire ascending; also for goiters and thyroid nodules due to phlegm-fire stagnation.
Dosage: generally about 9 grams.
⑩ Gardenia Fruit
Gardenia fruit is the fruit of Gardenia jasminoides (family Rubiaceae), containing various bitter glycosides, mannitol, ursolic acid, etc. Gardenia has choleretic effects, increasing bile secretion; it also has cooling, sedative, analgesic, and anticonvulsant actions; additionally, it has antimicrobial effects, inhibiting various pathogenic bacteria and dermatophytes.
In TCM, it is cold in nature and bitter in taste. It clears fire, removes irritability, clears damp-heat, cools blood, and detoxifies. It is used for restlessness and insomnia due to heat disease, jaundice, red eyes, epistaxis, heat-toxin sores and ulcers.
Dosage: 3–9 grams.
⑩ Dandelion
Dandelion is the whole herb including roots of Taraxacum officinale (family Asteraceae), containing taraxasterol, betaine, inulin, and organic acids. Its decoction has antimicrobial effects; it also protects the liver, promotes bile secretion, and enhances immune function.
In TCM, it is cold in nature and sweet-bitter in taste. It clears heat and detoxifies, reduces swelling, and disperses nodules. It is used for acute mastitis, lymphadenitis, salivary gland inflammation, gastritis, hepatitis, cholecystitis, and urinary tract infections.
Dosage: 9–15 grams; crushed and applied externally for breast abscess, skin eruptions, carbuncles, etc.
<Heat-Clearing and Toxin-Removing>