Artemisiae Rhizoma has a wide range of medicinal uses. Simply put, it can promote protein synthesis, effectively lower blood sugar, and treat abdominal distension and flatulence. In addition, it also has the effects of improving digestion, diuresis, anti-cancer, expectorant, hypnotic, and sterilization. However, when using Artemisiae Rhizoma, one must pay attention to its side effects.
[Suitable Population for Artemisiae Rhizoma]
Artemisiae Rhizoma is not suitable for people with Yin deficiency and internal heat or bleeding, and should be used with caution by those with Qi deficiency and excessive sweating.
[Dietary Effects of Artemisiae Rhizoma]
Artemisiae Rhizoma has a pungent and bitter taste, with a warm nature. It belongs to the Spleen and Stomach meridians. It is aromatic, drying, and dispersing. It can rise and fall, and move without sticking. It has the effects of drying dampness, invigorating the spleen, expelling filth and turbidity, dispelling wind and cold, and improving vision. It is mainly used to treat dampness obstructing the spleen and stomach, epigastric distension, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, leukorrhea, epidemic diseases, malaria, cholera, rheumatism, cold and dampness-induced arthralgia, foot edema, paralysis, and night blindness.
[Food Incompatibilities with Artemisiae Rhizoma]
Artemisiae Rhizoma should not be taken with cilantro or garlic.
[Preparation Guide for Artemisiae Rhizoma]
1. Artemisiae Rhizoma can be combined with Houpo, Chenpi, and Gancao to dry dampness, regulate the spleen, and promote qi circulation in the stomach. If the spleen is damp and stagnant, with unclear distinction between clear and turbid, diarrhea, and scanty urine, it can be used together with Houpo, Fuling, and Zexie to invigorate the spleen, dry dampness, increase urine output, and solidify the stool. For the treatment of infantile cholera and diarrhea, it can be used together with ginseng and papaya. If the spleen has been damp for a long time and has developed a craving for drinks, with flank pain, reduced appetite, and sour taste, it can be used alone as powder or combined with jujube flesh to dry dampness, invigorate the spleen, and transform phlegm and dampness.
2. For cold and damp epidemic diseases, with symptoms such as headache, body pain, no sweating, and similar to typhoid fever, it can be combined with Qianghuo, Gaoben, and Baizhi. For mountain mist malaria, with symptoms of cold and heat, and abdominal distension, it can be used together with Huangcen, Chaihu, and Qianghuo. For seasonal malaria, with symptoms of cold and heat occurring intermittently, it can be combined with Houpo, Binglang, and Changshan. For summer and autumn heat and dampness causing cholera with vomiting and diarrhea, it can be combined with Huoxiang, Banxia, and Houpo.
3. For wind-cold with dampness attacking the surface, with symptoms of no sweating, headache, stiff neck, and limb soreness, it can be combined with Qianghuo, Fangfeng, Chuanxiong, and Baizhi.
4. For improving vision, it can be decocted with pig liver or sheep liver.
