【Dan Shen】

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) believes that Dan Shen (Salvia miltiorrhiza) has a bitter taste, is slightly cold, and belongs to the Heart and Liver meridians. It has the functions of activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis, nourishing blood and calming the spirit, and cooling blood and reducing swelling. It is primarily used to treat blood stasis-related headaches, chest, flank, and abdominal pain, accumulations, irregular menstruation, dysmenorrhea, postpartum abdominal pain due to stasis, joint pain, bruises from falls, irritability due to warm diseases, palpitations due to blood deficiency, and sores and swellings.

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

【Efficacy and Functions】

1. Activating Blood Circulation and Removing Blood Stasis

The active components in Dan Shen, once absorbed by the body, stimulate the proliferation and development of hematopoietic stem cells, reduce resistance to blood flow, and accelerate blood circulation within the body. This achieves the effect of activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis, which 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 resist aging, making it suitable for women.

3. Preventing Thrombosis

Dan Shen can inhibit platelet aggregation and resist thrombosis. The components danshensu and salvianolic acid in Dan Shen can inhibit the activity of platelet lipase, increasing the content of adenosine monophosphate, thereby effectively suppressing the synthesis and release of adenosine, which in turn inhibits platelet aggregation.

4. Enhancing Oxygen Supply Capacity

Dan Shen enhances the oxygen-carrying capacity of body tissues, ensuring that vital organs such as the brain and heart receive sufficient oxygen, thereby improving the body’s tolerance to hypoxia. This helps reduce damage to organs such as 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 Dan Shen and an appropriate amount of water for a while. Cook until done, season, and consume the soup and frog. One dose daily, for 10-15 days as one course, repeat for 1-2 courses.

Function: Activates blood circulation and removes blood stasis, regulates qi and harmonizes the stomach. Suitable for stabbing pain in the upper abdomen or pain like a knife cut, fixed and unmovable, severe pain may be accompanied by cold limbs, sweating, 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, add 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, and cook into porridge. One dose daily, for 7-10 days as one course, repeat for 2-3 courses.

Function: Activates blood circulation and removes blood stasis, opens the meridians and alleviates pain. Suitable for cervical spondylosis with qi stagnation and blood stasis.

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, add an appropriate amount of water, soak for a while, boil for 15 minutes, strain to obtain the liquid, and cook with glutinous rice until done. Add brown sugar before consumption. One dose daily, divided into two servings, for 7-10 days as one course, repeat for 2-3 courses.

Function: Regulates qi and alleviates stagnation, activates blood circulation and removes blood stasis. Suitable for rheumatic heart disease with qi stagnation and blood stasis, symptoms include dull complexion or purplish cheeks, cyanotic lips and nails, dizziness and fatigue, palpitations, cough with possible hemoptysis, chest tightness and shortness of breath, or heart pain, lumps in the flank, and limb swelling, with a purple or dark tongue, or stasis spots, and a thin rapid pulse.

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