---
title: "Bai Dou Kou"
url: "https://books.drcassone.com/21/traditional-medicines-of-east-asia/398/bai-dou-kou"
---

 ![bai dou kou, amomi fructus rotundus.jpg](/u/bai-dou-kou-amomi-fructus-rotundus-tkU9Jd.jpg) 

# Bai Dou Kou

### Amomi Fructus rotundus

_acrid, warm, aromatic_

#### PRIMARY FUNCTION:

_**Aromatic Herb that Transforms Damp**_

CLASSICAL MANIFESTATIONS:
- Vomiting
 - Due to dampness in the middle jiao
 - Due to poor spleen and stomach
functions
- Epigastric fullness
 - Due to dampness
- Indigestion
 - Due to poor digestive functions
 - Spleen
 - Stomach
- Reduced appetite
 - Dampness in the middle jiao
- Greasy coating on the tongue

Bai Dou Kou is acrid, aromatic, and warm. It enters the stomach,
spleen, and lung systems to break up patterns of damp
accumulation especially when there is cold. In Traditional East
Asian Medicine, the spleen system involves the digestive system
including the pancreas. A failure in digestive function results in
unwanted accumulation of dampness and eventually phlegm. The
pH of the stomach is very acidic which is considered heat. Poor
production of hydrochloric acid results in poor digestive function
and cold patterns such as the type that Bai Dou Kou treats. Bai
Dou Kou is a branch treatment until the root can be treated to
improve the functions of the lung, stomach, and spleen systems
which prevents the dampness from accumulating.

This type of cold-dampness can build up in the lung system to
cause cough or in the gastrointestinal system to compromise
digestive function.

**Channels:** lung, stomach, spleen

COMMON APPLICATIONS AND CLINICAL
POSSIBILITIES:
- Indigestion
 - Cold plus dampness obstructing functions of
the upper gastrointestinal tract
- Stomach ache
 - Dampness irritating mucosal lining
- Abdominal bloating
 - Dampness causing fullness in the middle jiao
- Distention
 - Accumulation of dampness
- Borborygmus
 - Poor stomach functions
- IBS
 - Irritation due to poor digestive function and
eventual accumulation of dampness
- Fullness in the chest
 - Accumulation of dampness in the upper jiao
affecting lung system
- Nausea
 - Poor digestive function plus dampness
- Vomiting
 - Poor digestive function plus dampness
- Fatigue
 - Poor spleen functions
- Weight gain
 - Dysfunction of splenic system with dampness
accumulating
- Weakness of limbs
 - Decline of splenic functions that control muscle
- Dysglycemia
- Insulin resistance
- Hyperinsulinemia

**Formulas:**
- Gan Lu Xiao Du Dan
- Ge Hua Jie Cheng San
- Huo Po Xia Ling Tang
- San Ren Tang
- Xiang Sha Yang Wei Tang

**Contraindications:** do not prescribe Bai Dou Kou to patients
that present with deficiencies of yin or blood

**Zoo Image:** a skunk angel far from hell with a cold middle shot an arrow
through a cloud to a spleen while a stomach tries to lift a qi star

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