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Friday Formula: Six Ingredient Pill with Rehmannia

Liu Wei Di Huang Wan / Six Ingredient Pill with Rehmannia

  1. Rhizoma Rehmanniae / shu di huang 240g
  2. Fructus Corni / shan zhu yu 120g
  3. Rhizoma Dioscoreae / shan yao 120g
  4. Rhizoma Alismatis / ze xie 90g
  5. Poria / fu ling 90g
  6. Cortex Moutan Radix / mu dan pi 90g

Preparation grind the herbs into powder and form 9g pills with honey to hold them together, take one pill three times per day.

This formula is an elegant combination of herbs that demonstrates the art of combining herbs into formulas rather than prescribing single herbs. When I was in school, one of my teachers told us that six ingredient pill with rehmannia was the most commonly purchased/prescribed formula in Japan. The primary pattern that six ingredient pill with rehmannia treats is Kidney Yin Vacuity. TCM categorizes pathology into patterns which have a common root or treatment principle to resolve them. The names of the organ systems, ie Kidney, are the same as the physical organs in the body and include those organs. However, when TCM talks about the Kidney with a capital K it encompasses much more than just the biomedical functions of the physical organ. It's entirely possible that an acupuncturist would diagnose a patient with Kidney Yin Vacuity when that patient has normal kidney function tests; this is not a mistake, but a difference of categorization of symptoms and bodily functions. Typically Kidney Yin Vacuity presents with sore knees and lower back, dark urination, and malar flush. Yin belongs to cold, so a relative lack, or vacuity, of yin presents with heat signs including five palm heat which is a subjective feeling of heat in the hands, feet, and the "fifth palm" of the heart or center of the chest. The primary system treated by six ingredient pill with rehmannia is the Kidney, but it also strengthens the Spleen and Liver systems. Kidney and Liver yin are very closely linked, Kidney is the water element and engenders the wood element which is Liver. Kidney is the source of pre-heaven essence while Spleen is the source of post-heaven essence. Essence belongs to yin, and this formula strengthens both the Kidney and Spleen to ensure that Yin is functioning correctly. Rhizoma Rehmanniae / shu di huang is the chief or primary herb in the formula, present in the largest dose. It focuses on the Kidney, and by having the largest dose confirms that this formula primarily treats the Kidney system.

Three to Strengthen Three to Drain

Six ingredient pill with rehmannia contains two groups of three herbs, the first group of herbs 1,2, and 3 strengthening the Kidney, Liver, and Spleen. The last three herbs drain those same systems. Rhizoma Rehmanniae (shu di huang) supports the yin/fluids of the Kidney while Rhizoma Alismatis (ze xie) drains heat from the Kidney. Fructus Corni (shan zhu yu) nourishes the Liver and prevents the leaking of essence, and Cortex Moutan Radicis (mu dan pi) clears liver fire and balances the warm properties of the other herbs, especially Fructus Corni (shan zhu yu). Radix Dioscoreae (shan yao) is Chinese yam, and helps to stabilize the Spleen system. Poria (fu ling) drains excess damp and phlegm from the Spleen, and offsets the cloying, sticky, nature of the other herbs, especially Rhizoma Rehmanniae (shu di huang). The combination of the three sets of two herbs shows that healthy yin is a process of balance, not a static unchanging state. Bio-medicine calls this homeostasis and six ingredient pill with rehmannia shows that traditional physicians in China and other areas understood this concept very well.

This blog is for information purposes only and is not medical advice. Never start, stop, or change the dose of any medication or supplements, including herbs, without talking to your doctor. Every effort has been made to present accurate information, but the accuracy of any information here is not guaranteed. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA or any other regulatory agency.
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  1. Sion BattleOctober 30, 2021 at 6:31 AM

    Awesome Resources The Acupuncture in Ellicott City current approach of pharmaceutical drugs and surgery may be effective for life threatening and severe conditions, but may be very limited and only provide symptomatic relief when applied to everyday or chronic health issues

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