🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Summer brings dry, scorching waves, causing excessive sweating and symptoms like dizziness, headache, insomnia, palpitations, poor appetite, and fatigue—requiring prompt rehydration. Professor Zheng Shaozhou, a nationally renowned TCM physician and chief physician at the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, believes despite numerous drinks available today, sugary sodas like cola are unsuitable, and many commercial green teas have oxidized components—both inappropriate for middle-aged and elderly people. China’s tea culture is ancient. If one selects 3–4 herbs tailored to individual constitution for brewing tea, it can greatly enhance physical condition and prevent/treat diseases. Based on common clinical symptoms, he categorizes people into four constitutions and prescribes four herbal teas for regular consumption.
1. Yin Deficiency with Fire Excess Type: Recommended to nourish Yin and clear heat
Professor Zheng explains that those with this constitution show red tongue with little coating, dry mouth and nose, hot palms and soles, irritability, dizziness, palpitations, and insomnia—symptoms worsen in dry, hot, rainless summers.
Recommended herbal tea: Ophiopogon 15g, gardenia 10g, adenosma 10g.
Additions: For sore throat, omit gardenia, add shegan and isatis root; for dark urine and difficulty urinating, add white rush root and bamboo leaf; for dizziness, add chrysanthemum; for oral ulcers, add lotus seed heart and honeysuckle; for poor sleep, add kuding tea. Professor Zheng emphasizes that kuding tea clears heart-fire, calms the spirit, and lowers lipids—counteracting caffeine’s stimulating effect. Generally, poor sleepers should avoid tea; if fond of tea, adding kuding tea is acceptable.
2. Liver Yang Rising Type: Recommended to pacify liver and subdue yang
These individuals often experience dizziness, tinnitus, irritability, elevated blood pressure, flushed face, insomnia, vivid dreams, bitter taste, and dry mouth—symptoms worsen under prolonged high temperatures.
Recommended herbal tea: Chrysanthemum 10g, gastrodia 3g, uncaria 10g.
Additions: For blurred vision or constipation, add cajuput; for high cholesterol or obesity, omit chrysanthemum, add coix seed and hawthorn; for red eyes, add sophora flower. Professor Zheng notes that while many people add goji berries to tea, they’re suitable for yin deficiency and liver yang rising types in spring, summer, and autumn—but not recommended for summer use.
3. Phlegm-Dampness and Heat Accumulation Type: Recommended to resolve phlegm and drain dampness
Those with this constitution show thick, greasy tongue coating, dizziness, chest tightness, poor appetite—symptoms worsen in hot, rainy, continuous weather.
Recommended herbal tea: Capillaris 10g, trichosanthes 12g, magnolia bark 10g.
Additions: For severe dizziness, add calamus; for nausea, omit capillaris, add agastache and patchouli; for recurrent urinary tract infections, omit magnolia bark, add plantain herb and bamboo leaf; for constipation, increase rhubarb. If damp-heat persists chronically, add job’s tears and coix seed. Professor Zheng notes these phlegm-dampness herbs generally reduce blood viscosity and improve microcirculation. Prepare by adding 1500ml water to a clay pot, simmer slightly, strain, pour juice into cup, add rock sugar, and consume in portions.
4. Qi Deficiency with Blood Stagnation Type: Recommended to tonify qi and resolve stagnation
These individuals show shortness of breath, fatigue, poor appetite, and a swollen, tooth-marked tongue with pale color. Excessive sweating and fluid loss worsen symptoms.
Recommended herbal tea: Angelica 15g, astragalus 15g, ophiopogon 15g.
Additions: For severe dizziness, add ge gen—this herb selectively improves microcirculation in heart and brain, safe for long-term use. For chest pain and purple tongue, add red peony root—also cools blood, resolves stagnation, and detoxifies.
Professor Zheng concludes: In ancient China, tea and medicine were inseparable. The Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing records: “Shen Nong tasted a hundred herbs, encountering seventy-two poisons, found tea to neutralize them.” Early tea preparation involved boiling tea leaves in a cauldron—similar to decocting herbs. During the Song Dynasty, with the rise of literati enjoying tea, the method evolved from boiling to directly pouring boiling water into teacups. Thus, these herbal teas can be steeped with boiling water, lightly simmered, or ground into coarse powder, packaged in filter paper bags for soaking. Adjust sweetness with a little rock sugar per preference. If unsure of your constitution, consult an experienced TCM practitioner for a personalized tea prescription to achieve optimal results.