https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/A4PeQB2Vq1CW8xtc-5KQOA
Welcome everyone to share your own experiences with the herbs in the replies to facilitate other students’ research and learning.
414. Ejiao (Donkey-hide Gelatin)
Ejiao indeed has a donkey meat flavor, tastes better than deer antler gelatin, with a rich texture and a bit sweet. Actually, eating Ejiao feels like hard candy, slowly dissolving in the mouth, with a slight sweetness.
After drinking it, although physically it flows down the esophagus to the stomach, my body sensation is almost as if it goes straight to the heart. I even thought of an advertising slogan: DongX Ejiao, every drop goes straight to the heart.
Besides the heart, it also flows to the two livers and pancreas, and about 5 minutes later reaches the lower abdomen, starting to nourish the Dantian; for women, this roughly corresponds to the uterus and ovaries.
As a type of gelatin, its adhesive effect is also quite obvious. Ejiao’s adhesive power mainly concentrates inside the torso’s five viscera. When defensive Qi (Wei Qi) flows here, it gets stuck, causing the limbs’ Wei Qi to be relatively deficient compared to the torso. Of course, this is in the context of the whole body; locally, Ejiao adheres more Qi at the blood vessel level and can even repair damage to blood vessels. This is also why Ejiao is suitable for patients with blood loss or uterine bleeding.
Effects: Nourish heart blood, nourish liver blood, nourish Dantian, consolidate Qi and blood, repair blood vessel damage, stop bleeding, stop uterine bleeding.
415. Raw He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum)
The base taste is sweet with a slight bitterness and astringency, quite pleasant. Chewing it directly, the texture is crisp, with mainly bitter and astringent flavors, possibly because the sweetness has all been infused into the water.
After drinking, before sleep, the sensation shoots up to the head, directly reaching the scalp, which feels tingling and numbing; this tingling also extends to the back of the neck and upper back. The energy that actually flows into the stomach first stays there for a while, giving a mild warm sensation in the stomach (excluding the factor of water temperature), then flows to the liver, heart, and lower abdomen—only warming and smoothing, not replenishing essence.
He Shou Wu’s special feature is that besides flowing throughout and nourishing, it also clears turbidity and toxins; it can wash away the turbid toxins from the head and face, brain, stomach, heart, kidneys, intestines, prostate, and vas deferens along this path.
Effects: Flow through head and face (the basis of hair growth and darkening), nourish stomach, warm lower abdomen, clear turbidity.
417. Cuscuta Seeds (Tu Si Zi)
After steeping, Cuscuta seeds float an oily layer on the surface. The soaked seeds become sticky like Tu Si Zi (Cuscuta chinensis), though slightly less viscous. The taste is relatively light but sweet, with a bit of barley tea aroma, and the texture is somewhat smooth; it tastes quite good.
After drinking, there is a warm flowing sensation on the forehead, cheeks, occiput, back of the neck, and upper back. The energy distributes from the stomach to both livers. Most liver-targeting herbs have obvious effects on the right liver (liver) but little on the left liver (spleen) (of course, this is also because the Qi and blood thickness differ between the two sides). However, Cuscuta seeds are specialized for the left liver; the fullness of the left liver is only about 50% of the right liver (and for most herbs, the left liver’s response is only 10% of the right), meaning Cuscuta seeds have fivefold specialization for the left liver. The left liver’s ability to promote growth is greatly stimulated, continuously drawing energy from the left kidney to the heart, making the heart feel slightly swollen.
The branch going to the right liver continues to distribute energy to the lower abdomen, with a portion ultimately conveyed to unspeakable regions.
Effects: Warm and open head and face, strengthen left liver, tonify right liver, nourish heart, assist Yang.