What Herb am I? - Katja Görts, DVM, CVA, CVC, CVCH
I am a root. Besides my root my essential oil is used in TCM, Ayurvedic, Unani, Siddha, and Tibetan medicines. I am warm, pungent and bitter. I smell like goat faeces and my English name is ‘fragrant wood’. I enter the Stomach, Spleen, Large Intestine and Gallbladder.
I belong to the group of Qi regulating herbs. I am a strong Qi-mover and move Liver Qi stagnation, middle Jiao Qi stagnation and clear intestines Damp/Heat. I strengthen the Spleen and improve digestion. I dilates the biliary duct and have a strong effect on histamine-induced broncho- and intestinal spasms.
Conventional indications I can be used for are chest pain, epigastric pain, bitter taste, fullness sensation in the abdomen, abdominal pain, diarrhea, dysentery, tenesmus, poor appetite, vomiting and indigestion.
I appear not only but amongst others in the following formulas: Gui Pi Tang, Xiang Sha Liu Jun Zi Tang and Shao Yao Tang.
I should be used with caution in patients with Yin deficiency.
I have anti-inflammatory, anti-protozoal, gastrointestinal, hepatoprotective and immune effects.
My name is Mu Xiang, Costus, Saussurea or Radix Aucklandiae.
References:
- Bensky D, Gamble A, Kaptchuk T, Chinese Herbal Medicine Materia Medica, Revised edition, Eastland Press Inc.: Seattle, WA, USA 1993
- Xie H, Preast V, Xie´s Chinese Veterinary Herbology, 1st Ames, IA:Wiley-Blackwell, 2010
- https://naturalmedicines.therapeuticresearch.com/databases/food,-herbs-supplements/professional.aspx?productid=855#mechanismOfAction