yam

　　Yam is the rhizome of the Dioscorea opposita Thunb. Mainly produced in Henan Province, but also produced in Hunan, Jiangnan and other places. It is customary to believe that the ones produced in Henan (Huaiqing Prefecture) have the best quality, so they are called "Huaiqing Yams". It is excavated after frost, scraped off the rough skin, and dried in the sun or oven to become "hairy yam"; or reprocessed into "glossy yam". Moisten it thoroughly, cut into thick slices, use raw or fried with bran.

　　[Medical properties] Sweet, flat. Returns to the spleen, lung, and kidney meridians.

　　[Efficacy] Nourishes the spleen and stomach, promotes body fluids and benefits the lungs, nourishes the kidneys and astringes essence.

　　【application】

　　1. Spleen deficiency syndrome. This product has a sweet and mild taste, can replenish the spleen and qi, and nourish spleen yin. It is mostly used for vaginal discharge in women with weak spleen or Qi and Yin deficiency, weight loss, lack of food, loose stools, or spleen deficiency, poor transportation, and dampness. However, he also takes food and medicine. "The qi is light and slow, so he is not suitable for full-time work." For severe cases of qi deficiency, he often feels that he has insufficient strength. For example, Shenling Baizhu Powder ("Heji Bureau Prescription") is used to treat spleen deficiency, less food and loose stools, and Wandai Decoction ("Fu Qingzhu Nvke") is used to treat leucorrhea. These products are used as auxiliary drugs for ginseng, Atractylodes and other drugs. Because it contains more nutrients and is easy to digest, it can be made into food for long-term consumption. It is a good product for those who are chronically ill or weak and thin after illness, need nutritional supplements and have poor spleen transportation.

　　2. Lung deficiency syndrome. This product can nourish lung qi and nourish lung yin. Although its power to nourish the lungs is relatively mild, for those with both lung, spleen, and yin deficiency, supplementing the earth can also help generate metal. It is suitable for cough and asthma caused by lung deficiency. It can be used together with Radix Pseudostellariae and Nansha Ginseng, which are both spleen and lung tonics, to jointly have the effect of nourishing the lungs and relieving asthma.

　　3. Kidney deficiency syndrome. This product can also replenish kidney qi and nourish kidney yin. For those with both kidney and spleen deficiency, it can nourish the acquired nature and also help to nourish the innate nature. It is suitable for symptoms such as soreness and weakness of the waist and knees due to kidney qi deficiency, frequent nocturia or enuresis, premature ejaculation of semen, thin vaginal discharge in women, weight loss, soreness and weakness of the waist and knees, and spermatorrhea due to kidney yin deficiency. This product is included in many famous kidney-tonifying prescriptions, such as Shenqi Pills ("Synopsis of the Golden Chamber") and Liuwei Dihuang Pills ("Pediatric Medicine Zhijue").

　　4. The syndrome of thirst and qi and yin deficiency. Diabetes is a disease related to the spleen, lungs and kidneys, and deficiency of both Qi and Yin is its main pathogenesis. This product not only nourishes the qi of the spleen, lungs and kidneys, but also nourishes the yin of the spleen, lungs and kidneys. It is often used together with astragalus, trichosanthes, anemarrhena and other products, such as Yuye Decoction ("Yi Zhong Shen Xi Lu").

　　[Usage and Dosage] Decoction and take, 15~30g. Stir-fried bran can enhance the spleen-tonifying and anti-diarrheal effect.

　　[Abstract from ancient books]

　　1. "Shen Nong's Materia Medica": "tonifies the middle, replenishes qi and strength, and grows muscles."

　　2. "Compendium of Materia Medica": "Replenishes kidney qi and strengthens the spleen and stomach. ”

　　3. "Compendium of Materia Medica": "Secondly, the Qi is light and slow, so it is not suitable for full-time use. Therefore, to nourish the spleen and lungs, it must focus on ginseng and techniques. To nourish the kidneys, the water must be Jun Zhu and Di. The astringency and turbidity must be broken, so grind them together, and use dodder to cure the diarrhea."

　　【Modern Research】

　　1. Chemical composition: This product contains diosgenin, mucilage, choline, starch, glycoprotein, free amino acids, analgesics, vitamin C, amylase, etc.

　　2. Pharmacological effects: Chinese yam has preventive and therapeutic effects on the experimental rat model of spleen deficiency, has a two-way regulating effect on isolated intestinal movement, helps digestion, has a strong promoting effect on the cellular immune function and humoral immunity of mice, and has hypoglycemic, antioxidant and other effects.

　　3. Clinical research: According to reports, 62 cases of autumn diarrhea in children and 22 cases of diarrhea in infants and young children were treated by grinding yam into powder, adding an appropriate amount to cold water and mixing thoroughly, decoction or paste. ); use equal amounts of fried yam and fried coix kernels to make a total of fine powder, cook 10 to 15g each time into porridge, add an appropriate amount of brown sugar, take 1 dose a day, divided into 2-3 times, add digestive enzymes, and take oral rehydration for dehydrated patients, which is effective in treating indigestion (Journal of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine 1986, 11: 694). This product has also been reported to treat indigestion, ulcerative stomatitis, eczema and other diseases.