The Powerful Efficacy of Mountain Bean Root for Treating Sore Throat and Gum Pain

The most common folk remedy for treating sore throat is to boil mountain bean root in water. However, mountain bean root is extremely bitter, even more so than the bitterness of Huanglian. Many people cannot tolerate its taste. Below, I will introduce the efficacy of mountain bean root.

【Efficacy of Mountain Bean Root】

1. Sore throat

Mountain bean root has a strong bitter and cold nature. It is effective in clearing lung heat, eliminating fever toxins, and reducing swelling in the throat. It is an essential medicine for treating sore throat caused by the accumulation of heat toxins.

For mild cases, it can be used alone, such as grinding the mountain bean root and taking it with vinegar. For severe cases, it is often used in combination with other herbs like Jie Geng, Zhi Zi, and Lian Qiao, as in the Qing Liang San formula. If treating pharyngeal paralysis, it can be combined with She Gan, Hua Fen, and Mai Dong, as in the Shandougen Tang decoction.

2. Gum swelling and pain

Mountain bean root has a bitter and cold nature. It enters the stomach meridian and clears stomach fire. Therefore, it can be used to treat gum swelling and pain, as well as oral ulcers caused by stomach fire. It can be used alone as a decoction for rinsing the mouth, or combined with Gypsum, Huang Lian, Sheng Ma, and Mu Dan Pi, etc.

【Methods of Consuming Mountain Bean Root】

Mountain bean root and Mai Dong tea

Ingredients: 1g of mountain bean root, 3g of Mai Dong, 3g of She Gan, 3g of Tian Hua Fen, 5g of Gan Cao, 3g of green tea.

Method: Boil 300ml of water with mountain bean root, Mai Dong, She Gan, and Tian Hua Fen until the water boils. Then, brew Gan Cao and green tea for 5-10 minutes. Add an appropriate amount of sugar if desired. It can also be directly brewed and consumed.

Efficacy: Clearing heat, purging fire, detoxifying, and soothing the throat.

Indications: Swelling and congestion in the throat caused by wind and cold stagnation; oral ulcers; sores and abscesses.

【Side Effects of Mountain Bean Root】

Mountain bean root is an essential medicine for treating throat problems, but it has serious toxic side effects. It is widely used in the treatment of sore throat, viral hepatitis, and certain tumors, among other diseases.

Mountain bean root has a bitter and cold nature. It has the effects of clearing heat, detoxifying, and reducing swelling in the throat, but it also comes with serious toxic side effects. The commonly used dosage is 3-9g.

Modern pharmacological research has shown that mountain bean root mainly contains alkaloids and flavonoids. Alkaloids include huai guo alkaloid, ku shen alkaloid, and oxidized ku shen alkaloid, among others. Flavonoids include sophoraflavanone and sophoraflavasone.

In recent years, there have been many cases of poisoning from mountain bean root, especially from excessive consumption.