https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/A4PeQB2Vq1CW8xtc-5KQOA
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418. Northern Radix Glehniae (Bei Sha Shen)
It reminds me of the famous scene where Ip Man breaks the biscuit, saying, “There are southern and northern fists, but are there southern and northern countries?” However, the fact is that everyone inevitably labels themselves by region, ethnicity, or country, then feels closer to those with the same label and rejects those with different labels.
This is vividly reflected in Northern and Southern Radix Glehniae. Books compiled in the south often put Southern Radix Glehniae first, while those compiled in the north usually put Northern Radix Glehniae first. It’s a pity that just adding the characters “south” and “north” causes such division.
The dried Northern Radix Glehniae looks a bit like Atractylodes Macrocephala (Bo Bai Zhu), but after brewing, it doesn’t resemble it anymore. It looks quite rugged but tastes like mulberry leaves, a combination of mulberry leaves + Houttuynia cordata, quite sweet, not unpleasant, and even has a taste reminiscent of cough syrup. After drinking, the throat and nasopharynx feel a bit uncomfortable with slight phlegm — but you can’t blame it; within the Apiaceae family, it’s already one of the better-tasting ones.
After drinking, it truly moistens the lungs, spleen, stomach, and intestines, and also provides some nourishment to the heart.
Effects: Moistens the lungs, spleen, stomach, intestines (to treat internal dryness), nourishes heart fluids.
419. Southern Radix Glehniae (Nan Sha Shen)
The taste of Southern Radix Glehniae is somewhat… industrial. Purely sweet, but not very pleasant, like drinking a mouthful of artificial sweetener.
Southern Radix Glehniae belongs to the Campanulaceae family. Objectively, it’s definitely better than plain water, but even for the purpose of nourishing Yin fluids, it doesn’t seem to have an advantage over Platycodon (Jie Geng). As for resolving phlegm and boosting Qi, it’s hard to say where those come from.
My evaluation is that it’s not as good as Platycodon.
420. Lily (Bai He)
Medicinal lilies are generally the Dragon Tooth Lily, and the reason is simple: Dragon Tooth Lily is more expensive than the Rolled Lily. Since they are both cultivated, why not grow the more valuable one?
However, their effects are actually quite similar, and not only these two, even culinary lilies aren’t that different; they all have the expected effects and taste better (medicinal lilies have less sweetness and more bitterness, so their overall flavor is inferior to culinary lilies) — rumors are rumors, but tasting for yourself is the truth. Knowledge obtained from books (or phones) is always shallow; to truly understand, one must practice.
Lily is a very delicious medicine, so I first ate soaked lily bulbs. The texture is dense and soft, with the sweetness of starch and a slight bitter-sour unique to lily. However, as with the previous tangerine peel water, apart from being tasty, I didn’t feel much medicinal effect. The first sip of the soaked water was not very pleasant, with a strange indescribable taste, but I could sense interaction with the body. The second sip revealed the flavor fully; host and guest harmonized, both thoroughly pleased.
After drinking, the first sensation is moistening, from lungs to spleen and stomach, then back from spleen and stomach to lungs, circulating throughout the body’s meridians, with a slight swelling sensation in the wrists; besides being moistened, the meridians also feel expanded, the Qi flow more unblocked, and even the chest and heart feel more open.
Effects: Moistens lungs, spleen, and stomach; moistens meridians and blood vessels; expands the meridians; opens the chest and regulates Qi.