🌿 Folk Prescriptions

A person spends about one-third of their life sleeping. Sleep is a physiological necessity and a crucial means of maintaining health. Its health benefits include: promoting growth and development; protecting the brain; eliminating fatigue and restoring physical strength; and enhancing immunity. Yet some people suffer from chronic insomnia, difficulty falling asleep, waking easily, often accompanied by dizziness, headache, forgetfulness, and fatigue, severely affecting work and study.
Insomnia often stems from dysfunction of the five zang organs, particularly the heart, liver, and kidney. Depending on the cause, it can be classified as deficiency or excess. Deficiency fire disturbing the heart and kidney disharmony manifests as palpitations, fatigue, forgetfulness, and restless insomnia—typically deficiency patterns. Conversely, external shock, liver depression transforming into fire, lung heat disturbing the heart, or heart spirit unrest leads to irritability, fear, anger, and inability to sleep—commonly excess patterns. Deficiency cases should be treated with nourishing and calming herbs; excess cases require clearing and regulating herbs.
Traditional formulas for calming the mind and improving sleep primarily focus on tonification. Common ingredients include lotus seeds, red dates, sour jujube seeds, lilies, longan, yam, quail, oyster meat, yellow croaker, and animal hearts. Improved sleep helps restore brain fatigue and supports learning and memory. In this sense, calming herbs also possess mild cognitive-enhancing effects.
[Formula One]
5 red dates, 50g millet, 10g Poria cocos (Fúshén). Boil Poria cocos first, filter the liquid, then combine with red dates and millet to cook into porridge. Consume twice daily, in the morning and evening.
Red dates are sweet and warm, effective for strengthening the spleen, boosting qi, nourishing blood, and calming the spirit. According to Japanese researchers, a substance extracted from dates shows sedative and hypnotic effects in pharmacological tests—consistent with traditional Chinese medicine’s concept of "calming the spirit."
Poria cocos (Fúshén) is the white part of the pine root inside the Poria cocos sclerotium. It shares the same taste and nature as Poria cocos—sweet and neutral—specializing in nourishing the heart and calming the spirit, used specifically for palpitations, restlessness, and forgetfulness. As recorded in *Mingyi Bie Lu*, "Poria cocos stops palpitations, excessive anger, forgetfulness, opens the heart, enhances intelligence, calms the soul, and nourishes the spirit." Its decoction has sedative effects.
Millet (Sùmǐ), also known as foxtail millet, has nutritional content similar to regular rice and helps strengthen the spleen and stomach. *Sui Xi Hou Yinshi Pu* states: "Millet’s function is similar to that of rice, but slightly cooler, suitable for patients."
This formula uses Poria cocos and millet as auxiliary ingredients to enhance the calming effect and support spleen qi. Together, the formula strengthens the spleen and nourishes the heart, calms the spirit, and improves intelligence. It is suitable for those with heart-spleen deficiency presenting symptoms like palpitations, restlessness, insomnia, forgetfulness, and poor concentration.
[Formula Two]
30g fresh lily, 50g glutinous rice,适量 ice sugar. Separate lily petals, wash clean, cook glutinous rice as usual. Add lily when the rice is nearly done, cook until the porridge is ready. Add ice sugar to taste. If fresh lily is unavailable, use 10g dried lily instead, cooking directly with rice. Consume twice daily, in the morning and evening, warm.
Lily has long been valued as a tonic and medicinal food. *Shennong Bencao Jing* classifies it as a superior herb. Various herbal texts record its benefits: "nourishes the spleen, calms the heart," "enhances willpower," "tonifies and strengthens," "prevents aging and prolongs life." It is sweet and neutral, capable of tonifying the center, moistening the lungs, and calming the spirit.
[Formula Three]
100g fresh mulberry, 50g fresh lily. Wash both ingredients, boil in water, drink once daily.
Mulberry is sweet and sour, slightly cold in nature. Sweet and cold, it nourishes yin, clears heat, and promotes blood production—commonly used to tonify liver and kidney. Regular consumption effectively improves "heart-kidney weakness causing insomnia." Lily nourishes and moistens while clearing heat. Liver-kidney yin deficiency leads to internal heat, disturbing the heart spirit and causing insomnia and restlessness. Mulberry nourishes yin and clears heat, while lily calms the heart and spirit. Once yin is restored and heat subsides, the spirit becomes tranquil and sleep comes naturally.
This formula also has laxative effects and can be used for habitual constipation.
Contraindicated for those with spleen-stomach cold-dampness and diarrhea.
[Formula Four]
20 red dates, 10g green onion whites. Wash red dates, split them open, and boil together with green onion whites. After boiling for 15–20 minutes, remove and filter the liquid. Drink once nightly, warm.
Red dates are sweet and moist, excellent for strengthening the spleen, boosting qi, nourishing blood, and calming the spirit. Any condition involving palpitations, restlessness, forgetfulness, or insomnia due to heart-spleen deficiency commonly uses red dates for regulation.
Green onion whites are the bulbous base of the onion plant, also known as "green onion head." They are pungent and warm, dispersing and promoting yang energy throughout the body. This formula uses green onion whites to counteract the richness and stickiness of red dates, preventing dampness and heat accumulation while allowing red dates to exert their nourishing effects.
This formula strengthens the spleen and qi, nourishes blood, and calms the spirit—ideal for those with heart-spleen deficiency, palpitations, fatigue, poor appetite, and insomnia.
[Formula Five]
10g licorice, 5 red dates, 10g wheat. Soak all three herbs in cold water, then simmer gently for half an hour per decoction. Prepare two batches, combine the liquids. Consume twice daily, in the morning and evening, warm. Drink the broth and eat the dates.
This formula centers on cool, sweet wheat, which nourishes heart yin and qi to calm the spirit. Licorice, sweet and neutral, supplements the spleen and nourishes heart qi. Red dates, sweet and warm, strengthen the spleen, boost qi, soothe the liver, and moisten dryness. Together, the three herbs balance warmth and coolness, combining tonification and clearing, offering gentle, moist nourishment and soothing tension.
According to *Journal of the Japan Society of Oriental Medicine*, this decoction can inhibit abnormal brain nerve excitement, normalize hyperactive nervous systems, and reduce brain excitability, facilitating easier entry into sleep.
It is suitable for insomnia, night sweats, mental confusion, irritability, and sadness caused by heart qi deficiency, yin deficiency, and liver qi stagnation.
[Formula Six]
3 pears, 25g rock sugar. Wash pears, peel, slice, boil in water for 20 minutes, add rock sugar to taste. Divide into two servings, consume the broth and eat the pears.
This original formula treats "wind-heat invading the heart, causing restlessness, confusion, and unstable spirit." Wind-heat invading the heart disturbs the spirit, leading to restlessness and insomnia. Treatment should clear heat, dispel wind, and calm the heart. Pears are fruits of species like white pear, sand pear, and autumn pear. They are sweet and slightly sour, cool in nature, effective for clearing heat, resolving phlegm, and generating fluids. Combined with rock sugar, which tonifies the spleen and moistens the lungs, this becomes a formula for clearing heat, resolving phlegm, and calming the spirit. Suitable for insomnia and restlessness due to phlegm-heat disturbing the heart or heat injury to body fluids, weakening the heart’s nourishment. If wind pathogen is prominent, add mint or chrysanthemum to dispel wind.
[Formula Seven]
1 pig heart, 250g wolfberry greens,适量 green onion whites, soybean paste. Clean the pig heart thoroughly, cut into small pieces; chop wolfberry greens and green onion whites. Place soybean paste in a pot, add water, boil to extract the broth. Add pig heart, wolfberry greens, and green onion whites to the broth, add wine and salt, simmer gently into a stew.
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine theory, the heart governs spirit and blood vessels. Heart deficiency leads to palpitations, fear, insomnia, forgetfulness, and discomfort. Using animal hearts to treat human spirit disorders often yields good results. Generally, animal hearts have a nourishing and calming effect on the heart, with pig heart being the most commonly used.
This formula uses pig heart as the main ingredient to nourish the heart and calm the spirit. Wolfberry greens clear heat and nourish deficiency; green onion whites promote yang energy in the chest; soybean paste clears heart fire and relieves irritability. The entire formula nourishes the heart, calms the spirit, clears heat, and relieves irritability—ideal for those with heart deficiency combined with heat symptoms.
[Formula Eight]
1 section of fresh lotus root, 1 pear. Wash lotus root, remove the node and outer skin; wash pear, remove skin and core, chop finely. Extract juice separately using clean gauze, mix the two juices, and drink as tea.
Raw and cooked lotus root have different effects. Cooked lotus root is sweet and warm, best for heart and spleen, strengthening the spleen and stimulating appetite, nourishing blood and heart. Raw lotus root is sweet and cold, able to clear heat, relieve irritability, cool blood, and resolve stasis. Both have calming effects. This formula uses raw lotus root to clear heat and calm the spirit, paired with pear juice, which clears heat and resolves phlegm—forming a formula for clearing heat, resolving phlegm, relieving irritability, and calming the spirit. Regular consumption improves sleep for those with heat-related insomnia, especially effective for upper-jiao phlegm-heat causing irritability, thirst, cough, phlegm, and insomnia.
[Formula Nine]
60g lean meat, 60g taro, 30g carrot, 45g vegetable oil, meat broth, soy sauce, rice wine, cornstarch, monosodium glutamate, salt, and other seasonings. Slice meat along the grain, marinate with salt, rice wine, and cornstarch. Heat oil to seven-tenths, stir-fry meat until done, set aside. Stir-fry taro and carrot slices, then add meat and seasonings back into the pan. Add a little meat broth, simmer briefly, then add monosodium glutamate and stir-fry evenly.
This formula clears heat and dampness, improves vision, and calms the spirit.
[Formula Ten]
1 lamb heart, 50g rose flowers, 6g saffron,适量 salt. Clean lamb heart, slice; crush rose flowers to extract juice, place in a small pot with water and saffron, simmer briefly to extract the decoction. Add salt. Skewer lamb heart on stainless steel skewers, brush with rose juice, grill over fire repeatedly until fully cooked. Serve with meals.
This formula nourishes the heart and liver, relieves depression, calms the spirit, improves sleep, and enhances mood.
[Formula Eleven]
1 yellow croaker (1000g), 100g egg white, 2 tomatoes, small amounts of dried mushrooms, bamboo shoots, carrots, green peas, cooking wine, refined salt, monosodium glutamate, white pepper powder, chicken oil, salad oil, cornstarch, clear broth, scallions, ginger, garlic, and other seasonings. Remove gills, scales, and internal organs from the yellow croaker, wash, remove head, tail, bones, and skin, cut meat into rectangular pieces. Mix egg white with a little cornstarch to form a foam. Marinate fish slices with salt, cooking wine, white pepper powder, and monosodium glutamate. Coat each piece evenly in the foam, fry in hot oil until golden, arrange on a plate. Chop scallions, ginger, and garlic, sauté lightly in a wok, add clear broth, refined salt, monosodium glutamate, cooking wine, thicken with cornstarch, drizzle with chicken oil, pour over fish slices. Cut tomatoes into wedges, place around the plate as garnish.
This formula strengthens the spleen and stomach, stimulates appetite, and calms the spirit—suitable for those with weak spleen and stomach or malnutrition.
[Formula Twelve]
250g beef, 20g lotus seeds, 20g yam, 20g Poria cocos, 15g red dates, 30g fennel seeds, and a little salt. Wash beef, cut into chunks, boil with lotus seeds until half-cooked. Add Poria cocos (wrapped in cloth), red dates, fennel seeds, yam (washed and sliced), and salt. Slow-cook until beef is tender and falls apart.
This formula is fragrant, tender, and not greasy. It strengthens the spleen and qi, nourishes essence, and calms the spirit—ideal for those recovering from illness with qi and blood deficiency.