Baicao Traditional Chinese Medicine
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Effects and Functions of Cinnamon
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Cinnamon is a unique medicinal substance in traditional Chinese medicine. Do you know about Chinese cinnamon? What are the effects and functions of cinnamon? What are the methods of use, dosage, and precautions? Let’s learn about the effects and functions of Chinese cinnamon, as well as its usage and precautions.
Introduction to Cinnamon
【Alias】: Yu Gui, Mu Gui, Jun Gui, Tong Gui, Da Gui, Bo Gui, La Gui, Gui.
【Properties】: Extremely hot in nature, with a spicy and sweet flavor.
【Harvesting】: The bark and branches of trees cultivated for 5-10 years are harvested in autumn, then dried in the sun or shade.
Effects and Functions of Cinnamon
【Functions】: Tonifies fire and assists yang, directs fire back to its source, disperses cold and alleviates pain, invigorates blood and regulates menstruation. Warms the spleen and stomach, eliminates accumulated cold, and opens the blood vessels. Treats kidney yang deficiency, cold limbs, weak pulse, yang collapse, abdominal pain and diarrhea, cold hernia, cold pain in the lower back and knees, menstrual disorders, yin sores, and floating yang with upper heat and lower cold.
【Indications】: Used for impotence, cold uterus, cold pain in the heart and abdomen, deficiency cold vomiting and diarrhea, amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, warming the meridians and promoting blood flow.
Dosage and Administration of Cinnamon
1-4.5 grams.
Precautions for Cinnamon
Contraindicated in cases of yin deficiency with excess heat, internal heat, blood heat causing bleeding, and in pregnant women. Avoid with red ochre.
1. “Yao Dui”: Avoid red ochre.
2. “Ben Cao Tong Xuan”: Avoid exposure to fire.
3. “De Pei Ben Cao”: Contraindicated for phlegm cough, throat pain, blood deficiency with internal dryness, pregnant women, and postpartum blood heat.
4. “Ben Cao Qiu Zhen”: Strictly avoid in cases of essence deficiency and blood loss, and excessive liver fire.
Selected Formulas with Cinnamon
1. For treating headaches: Gui (remove coarse skin), Bi Ba, Xi Xin (remove sprouts and leaves). Grind these three ingredients into a powder. For use, take a mouthful of warm water and inhale the powder through the nose; use according to the side of the headache. (“Sheng Ji Zong Lu” Gui Xin San)
2. For treating all types of cold cough: Zao Jiao (remove skin and seeds, fry with oil), Gan Jiang (crack and roast), Gui (remove coarse skin) each 50 grams. Grind these three ingredients into a powder, form into pills the size of a wutong seed. Take 19 pills with rice wine at any time. (“Sheng Ji Zong Lu” Wu Sou Wan)
3. For treating menstrual obstruction: Cold hernia pain around the navel with tight pulse. Cold qi obstructs the blood chamber, causing blood stagnation. Use Dang Gui, Chuan Xiong, Shao Yao, Gui Xin, E Zhu, Mu Dan Pi each 2.5 grams, Ren Shen, Gan Cao, Niu Xi each 3.5 grams. Grind and take 10 grams with one and a half cups of water, decoct until reduced to 80%, strain and take warm. (“Fu Ren Liang Fang” Wen Jing Tang)
4. For treating chronic cold accumulation, heart and abdominal pain, side rib distension, diarrhea, and spontaneous sweating: (“Ju Fang” Da Si Han Wan)
5. For treating nine types of heart pain and oppression: Gui Xin 25 grams. Grind, use one cup of wine, decoct until half a cup remains, strain, and take warm. (“Sheng Hui Fang”)
6. For treating persistent diarrhea: Gui (remove coarse skin), Fu Zi (crack, remove skin and navel), Gan Jiang (roast), Chi Shi Zhi each 50 grams. Grind these four ingredients into a powder, form into pills the size of a wutong seed. Take 20 pills with rice wine before meals, three times a day. (“Sheng Ji Zong Lu” Gui Fu Wan)
7. For treating cold hernia with intermittent abdominal pain: Gui Xin 200 grams, Sheng Jiang 150 grams, Wu Zhu Yu 100 grams. Cut these three ingredients, use one large cup of wine, decoct until three cups remain, strain, and divide into three warm doses, take after walking six or seven miles. Avoid raw scallions. (“Yao Seng Tan Ji Yan Fang” Gui Xin Tang)
Further Reading: Clinical Applications of Cinnamon
1. Used for elderly patients with kidney yang deficiency, fear of cold, cold limbs, weak spleen yang, cold pain in the abdomen, poor appetite, and undigested food.
2. Used for elderly patients with chronic illness, weakness, qi deficiency, and blood deficiency. This herb can invigorate spleen yang and promote blood circulation, often used for chronic illness with weakness, qi deficiency, and blood deficiency. A small amount of cinnamon can be added to qi and blood tonics such as Dang Shen, Bai Zhu, Dang Gui, and Shu Di Huang to enhance the growth of qi and blood.
Cinnamon contains flavonoid polyphenols, which can enhance insulin’s stabilizing effect on blood sugar levels and reduce insulin resistance. This function is achieved by: ① activating enzymes that stimulate insulin receptors. ② improving insulin signaling pathways in skeletal muscle tissue. Studies have found that cinnamon helps enhance insulin activity. The active components in cinnamon are beneficial for increasing the levels of three key proteins that significantly affect insulin receptors, glucose transport, and inflammatory responses, thereby promoting insulin activity or increasing the body’s sensitivity to insulin. Additionally, some components in cinnamon have been found to have insulin-like properties, which also help control blood sugar levels.
The Culture of Traditional Chinese Medicine is Profound and Extensive
Traditional Chinese Medicine emphasizes yin and yang; one cannot exist without the other. Where there is yin, there is yang; where there is up, there is down; where there is front, there is back; one thing controls another; no substance exists in isolation without constraints! Maintaining the balance of the entire universe, each dimension has its own very strict system of checks and balances! Therefore, every disease must have a corresponding remedy or method to subdue it!
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