【Dan Shen】

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) believes that Dan Shen (Salvia miltiorrhiza) has a bitter taste, is slightly cold, and enters the Heart and Liver meridians. It has the effects of promoting blood circulation and removing stasis, nourishing the blood and calming the spirit, and cooling the blood and reducing swelling. It is primarily used to treat blood stasis-related headaches, chest, flank, and abdominal pain, menstrual irregularities, dysmenorrhea, postpartum abdominal pain due to stasis, joint pain, contusions, irritability due to warm diseases, palpitations due to blood deficiency, and various skin conditions such as sores and carbuncles.

According to the Compendium of Materia Medica: it promotes blood circulation, opens the pericardium, and treats hernia pain.

【Effects and Functions】

1. Promoting Blood Circulation and Removing Stasis

The active components in Dan Shen stimulate the proliferation and development of hematopoietic stem cells after absorption by the body, reduce resistance to blood flow, and accelerate blood circulation, thus achieving the effect of promoting blood circulation and removing stasis. This is particularly beneficial for patients with thrombosis and those with elevated blood sugar and lipids.

2. Delaying Aging

Dan Shen contains a large amount of vitamins, organic nutrients, and minerals that are easily absorbed by the body, providing excellent antioxidant effects that can combat aging, making it suitable for women.

3. Preventing Thrombosis

Dan Shen can inhibit platelet aggregation and resist thrombosis. The components danshensu and tanshinone in Dan Shen can inhibit the activity of platelet lipase, increasing the levels of adenosine monophosphate, thereby suppressing the synthesis and release of adenosine, effectively inhibiting platelet aggregation.

4. Enhancing Oxygen Supply to the Body

Dan Shen enhances the oxygen-carrying capacity of body tissues, ensuring that vital organs such as the brain and heart receive adequate oxygen, thereby improving the body’s tolerance to hypoxia and reducing damage to organs like the kidneys, lungs, brain, and heart, facilitating better cellular repair.

【Contraindications】

1. Pregnant women should not consume it.

2. It should not be consumed with spicy foods.

3. Long-term use may lead to hypokalemia; potassium supplementation may be necessary, or long-term use should be avoided.

【Dan Shen Medicinal Dishes】

1. Dan Shen with Frog

【Ingredients】 15g Dan Shen, 250g frog, appropriate seasonings.

【Preparation】 Clean the ingredients, skin the frog, wash it, and soak it in a medicinal pot with an appropriate amount of water and Dan Shen for a while. After cooking, season and consume the soup and frog. Take one dose daily for 10-15 days as one course of treatment, with 1-2 courses continuously.

【Function】 Promotes blood circulation and removes stasis, regulates qi and harmonizes the stomach. Suitable for stabbing pain in the upper abdomen or pain like a knife, fixed and unmovable, severe pain may be accompanied by cold limbs, sweating, and pain radiating to the chest and back, or recurrent vomiting of blood, black stools, dark purple tongue or spots of stasis, wiry or thin and rough pulse.

2. Hawthorn and Dan Shen Porridge

【Ingredients】 15g Dan Shen, 30g hawthorn, 6g peach kernel, 50g rice.

【Preparation】 Clean Dan Shen, place it in a medicinal pot with an appropriate amount of water, soak for a while, boil for 15-20 minutes, strain to obtain the liquid, then add hawthorn, peach kernel, and rice with an appropriate amount of water, boil vigorously, then simmer to make porridge. Take one dose daily for 7-10 days as one course of treatment, with 2-3 courses continuously.

【Function】 Promotes blood circulation and removes stasis, opens the meridians and alleviates pain. Suitable for cervical spondylosis of qi stagnation and blood stasis type.

3. Dan Shen and Red Date Porridge

【Ingredients】 30g Dan Shen, 100g glutinous rice, 30g red dates, 20g brown sugar.

【Preparation】 Clean Dan Shen and red dates, place them in a medicinal pot with an appropriate amount of water, soak for a while, boil for 15 minutes, strain to obtain the liquid, and cook the glutinous rice with the liquid until done, then add brown sugar before consumption. Take one dose daily, divided into two servings, for 7-10 days as one course of treatment, with 2-3 courses continuously.

【Function】 Regulates qi and alleviates stagnation, promotes blood circulation and removes stasis. Suitable for rheumatic heart disease with qi stagnation and blood stasis, symptoms include dull complexion or purplish-red cheeks, cyanotic lips and nails, dizziness and fatigue, palpitations, severe cough leading to hemoptysis, chest tightness and shortness of breath, or heart pain, lumps under the ribs, and limb swelling, with a dark purple tongue or stasis spots, and a thin rapid pulse.