bai zhu, atractylodis macrocephalae rhizoma.jpg

Bai Zhu

Atractylodis macrocephalae Rhizoma

bitter, sweet, warm

PRIMARY FUNCTION:

Tonify Qi

CLASSICAL MANIFESATIONS:

Bai Zhu is bitter, sweet, and warm. In enters the spleen and stomach systems to nourish and improve digestive function. It is a very important herb for digestion and health related to assimilation and elimination disorders.

Digestion requires hydrochloric acid in the stomach to liquefy the bolus of food into a substance called chyme. This process must be complete before the pyloric sphincter can open to let the digested food into the duodenum where the pancreas adds enzymes and the gallbladder adds bile. Enzymes continue to refine the digestion of food material and bile emulsifies fat. Bai Zhu helps to improve this entire process of digestion so that proper filtration, assimilation, and elimination can take place in the rest of the lower gastrointestinal tract.

Keep in mind that when there is poor stomach function, the pancreas compensates with extra secretions of enzymes. Since the pancreas is both an exocrine (enzymes) and an endocrine (hormones) gland the ability to manage blood sugars is compromised (insulin and glucagon come from the pancreas). This explains why many patients that present with dysglycemia also present with gastrointestinal complaints and vice versa.

Channels: spleen, stomach

COMMON APPLICATIONS AND CLINICAL POSSIBILITIES:

Formulas:

Contraindications: do not prescribe Bai Zhu to patients with deficiency heat patterns

Zoo Image: a husband and sweaty pregnant wife ferret visit a medieval torture exhibit, he sweats onto her umbrella while her baby’s feet poke out of her belly, and they see a ferret undergoing water torture and a spleen being forced to eat ice cubes

Cassone Wellness