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Fu Ling

Poria

sweet, bland, neutral

PRIMARY FUNCTION:

Drain Dampness

CLASSICAL MANIFESTATIONS:

Fu Ling enters the lung, heart, spleen, and kidney systems. It is sweet, bland, and neutral. Fu Ling is a major herb to support the waterways of the body and can treat many dampness related pathologies.

Fu Ling’s sweet property is especially useful in treating dysfunctions of the digestive system as it nourishes the spleen. In Oriental Medicine theory, the spleen likely includes the pancreas which has both exocrine and endocrine functions. The exocrine function is the production of enzymes to digest food in the upper portion of the gastrointestinal tract. This explains the ability of Fu Ling to treat many conditions related to poor digestive function. The endocrine function of the pancreas is the secretion of two hormones that manage fat and sugar as fuels (glucagon and insulin, respectively). This explain Fu Ling’s ability to treat patterns of dysglycemia.

Fu Ling also enters the heart to treat insomnia and palpitations. There is very likely a relationship to thyroid function here and may explain how Fu Ling is used to treat metabolic disorders.

Channels: lung, heart, spleen, kidney

COMMON APPLICATIONS AND CLINICAL POSSIBILITIES:

Formulas:

Contraindications: Fu Ling should be used cautiously with patients that have patterns from deficiency of yin, spleen qi sinking patterns, or cold from yang deficiency with spermatorrhea

Zoo Image: a pig is balancing in a window, a music note is coming through, he is wearing a barbell necklace, phlegm is squirting from his mouth, and there is a heart on the window shade

Cassone Wellness